Jew Süss (1934 film)
6.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Lothar Mendes Story by Lion Feuchtwanger Duration Language English | 6.2/10 IMDb Genre Drama, History, Romance Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cast Conrad Veidt (Josef \'Jew Süss\' Oppenheimer), Benita Hume (Marie Auguste), Frank Vosper (Duke Karl Alexander), Cedric Hardwicke (Rabbi Gabriel)Release date 4 October 1934 (1934-10-04) (UK & US)
1 November 1934 (1934-11-01) (US wide) Based on Jud Sus (novel)
by Lion Feuchtwanger Writer Lion Feuchtwanger (novel), A.R. Rawlinson (scenario and dialogue), Dorothy Farnum (adaptation) Music director Jack Beaver, Charles Williams, Bretton Byrd Similar movies Jud Sus (1940), Tudor Rose (1936), Richard III (1955), The Iron Duke (1934), Naked Among Wolves (1963) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jew Süss (in the US retitled Power – Jew Suss) is a 1934 British historical romantic drama film based on Lion Feuchtwanger's 1925 novel Jud Süß, about Joseph Süß Oppenheimer. Directed by Lothar Mendes, the film stars German actor Conrad Veidt in the role of Oppenheimer. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Farnum and Arthur Rawlinson.
Unlike the Nazis' antisemitic film Jud Süß (1940), the British film is sympathetic to Jews, and generally considered to be a faithful adaptation of Feuchtwanger's novel. It was intended to be a condemnation of antisemitism, not a justification of it. The German version is considered by some to be an antisemitic response to Mendes' philo-semitic film.
Release
The film premiered simultaneously at the Tivoli Cinema on the Strand in London and Radio City Music Hall in New York on 4 October 1934, with Prince George and Queen Maria of Romania being the guests of honour at the UK premiere. A blurry telephoto picture of Prince George attending the London premiere was shown for the audience in New York, which - due to the time zone difference – saw the film some five hours later. According to The Times correspondent, "the reproduction was indistinct, but the picture was notable as the first attempt to use a radio photograph on the screen".
When the film went on general release in the US on 1 November 1934, it had been retitled Power – Jew Suss.