German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 516/4, 1919-1924. Photo: May-Film. Mia May and Ernst Matray in Hilde Warren und der Tod (Joe May, 1917), scripted by Fritz Lang.
Famous actress Hilde Warren rejects the marriage proposal of her theatre manager (Mierendorff), preferring her art. When Death (Georg John) tempts her, she rejects him. She falls in love with the handsome criminal Hector Roger (Bruno Kastner), who dies in a shootout with the police. Hilde is desperate when she discovers she is bearing his child, so Death visits her again, but in vain. Years after, the father’s vices seem inherited in their son Egon, and Hilde feels she is responsible. The theatre manager still wants to marry Hilde, but she cannot accept his condition to abandon her son. Death visits her third time but to no avail. The spoiled Egon (Ernst Matray), once an adult, turns into a criminal when Hilde refuses him money. Fleeing for the police, he asks his mother for money to get away, but she menaces him with a gun. In a fight, she shoots him. Condemned to jail, she finally welcomes Death.
Mia May (1884-1980) was one of the first divas of the German cinema. She starred in many films of her husband, producer, writer and director Joe May. Ernst Matráy (1891-1978) was a Hungarian dancer, choreographer, actor and film director. In Berlin, he worked with Max Reinhardt and Ernst Lubitsch. Together with his wife Maria Solveg, he later did the choreography for some classic Hollywood films.
Loading contexts...
