Dreyfus (1930 film)

Dreyfus
Directed by	Richard Oswald
Written by	Bruno Weil (novel) Heinz Goldberg Fritz Wendhausen
Produced by	Richard Oswald
Starring	Fritz Kortner Grete Mosheim Heinrich George Oskar Homolka
Cinematography	Heinrich Balasch Friedl Behn-Grund
Edited by	Max Brenner Jean Oser
Production company	Richard-Oswald-Produktion
Distributed by	Süd-Film
Release date	16 August 1930 (1930-08-16)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Dreyfus is a 1930 German drama film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Fritz Kortner, Grete Mosheim, and Heinrich George. It portrays the Dreyfus affair and is based on a novel by Bruno Weil. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Franz Schroedter and Hermann Warm. It premiered at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin. In the United States the film was released under the alternative title The Dreyfus Case.

The film was remade the following year in Britain with Cedric Hardwicke in the title role.

Synopsis

In the late nineteenth century Alfred Dreyfus, a French army officer of Jewish heritage, is falsely accused of espionage. Found guilty of treason he is drummed out of the army and sent to prison on Devil's Island. His family take up the case of the wronged officer, as does the writer Emile Zola who believes the original investigation was marred by anti-Semitism. Eventually, the true culprit Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy is exposed.

Cast

• Fritz Kortner as Alfred Dreyfus
• Grete Mosheim as Lucie Dreyfus
• Erwin Kalser as Mathieu Dreyfus (brother of the accused)
• Heinrich George as Émile Zola
• Albert Bassermann as Col. Picquart
• Oskar Homolka as Maj. Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy
• Nora Mestom as Marguerite Pays (his girlfriend)
• Ferdinand Hart as Maj. Henry
• Fritz Rasp as Maj. Du Paty de Clam
• Paul Bildt as Georges Clemenceau
• Fritz Kampers as Labori (defense counsel)
• Paul Henckels as Edgar Demange (defense counsel)
• Ferdinand Bonn as Gen. Mercier
• Leopold von Ledebur as Gen. De Boisdeffre
• Bernhard Goetzke as Gen. Pellieux
• Fritz Alberti as Godefroy Cavaignac
• Eduard Rothauser as Capt. Lauth
• Josef Reithofer as Maj. Forzinetti (prison governor)
• Bruno Ziener as Alphonse Bertillon
• Sigmund Nunberg as Chairman of the Jury Court
• Elsa Bassermann as Parisian lady
• Fritz Reiff as Jean Jaurès
• Bernd Aldor as Dubois
• Ferry von Gorup as Officer in military prison, Cherche-Midi

Bibliography

• Prawer, Siegbert Salomon (2005). Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910–1933. New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-84545-074-8.

External links

• Dreyfus at IMDb