The Auteur's Selection In the Shadow of Livets Gøglespil: Cult Guide

Dir: Holger-Madsen

A peace-loving prince and his followers dream of eternal peace. So far, they have been successful only within the realm. Is the vision of global peace just a naive dream, or will his followers be able to see it through?

Dir: Holger-Madsen

A man has to choose between two women. One that is bad for him and one that is quite the opposite. Fate says that one tends to choose the wrong one.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Retten sejrer perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

An upperclass war widow marries again. The new husband is also an officer, and soon he has to go to the next war. At the outbreak, she's the only one who does not cheer about it. And the terrors of war soon bring almost all of her friends and relatives, among them generals and high government officials to the same conclusion: War does not pay.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

Count Croisset proposes to the dancer Odette Blant, on condition she leaves the theater. Odette accepts, assuring herself that she will not miss dancing when she has become a countess. But one day, she receives an offer she can't refuse.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Down with Weapons perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

Dr. Warren, a reserved man of a seemingly stern, cold nature, which is roused only in behalf of his loved profession, is an army surgeon, stationed in India. In the pursuit of his duties, he leaves his beautiful, pleasure-loving wife, Alice, to her own devices. Captain Richard Alston, a handsome young officer, tries to make up for the husband's neglect by paying the pretty wife decided attention. Dr. Warren's suspicions are aroused, but at this juncture he is called away by an attack of plague at the river camp, some distance away, where a serum that he has discovered is demanded to stem the death rate. Dr. Warren works heroically among the wretched huts of the natives, nursing the sick and burning down the hovels to prevent the spread of the infection. In her loneliness, Alice sends for Captain Alston. On the road he encounters a child stricken with the plague. Alston puts the little one on the saddle before him and gallops away toward the hospital. When later he arrives at the Warren villa he reels with an awful sickness; the deadly infection has overtaken him. Alice, horrified and distressed, suddenly discovers a note to her husband, advising him of the plague at the river camp. This is her first knowledge of the reason for his absence, and suddenly she realizes that it is her husband she fears for most, and loves most, after all. At this moment the Indian servant announces the approach of Dr. Warren, returning after successfully accomplishing his surgical labors. Alice drags Alston into an adjoining room and goes to meet her husband. The doctor wonders at her nervous, frightened manner, when there is a sudden crash in the next room. The doctor rushes in, his terrified wife following, and finds Captain Alston prostrate on the floor. Alice springs between the angry husband and the helpless officer. Dr. Warren pushes her aside, and going into his laboratory, selects a revolver from the wall. As he turns to go, Alice confronts him and forcefully reminds him of his duty as a soldier and a surgeon. Torn by conflicting emotions but moved by his sense of professional duty to suffering humanity, the doctor hesitates only a moment. Forgetting all other impulses, he treats and cures the stricken captain. After Alston recovers, he goes to the doctor and promises to do whatever may be asked of him as atonement. The doctor asks him to promise to leave the country forever. Then, turning to his wife, he tells her to choose whether she will go with the captain or remain with him. Alice, now awakened to the full nobility of her husband, asks him to let her remain. The doctor, too, realizes his neglect of Alice, and husband and wife are at last united on the basis of a greater understanding and a truer and more abiding bond.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Unjustly Accused perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

The social storm after World War I divides the people. In the eye of the storm are three brothers fighting for the lower classes, each in his own way.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Penalty of Fame perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Holger-Madsen

Spoiled Ysabel marries a man of respectability but he later turns out to a criminal. Consequently, her mother breaks down, and on her deathbed, Ysabel wows to become an evangelist.