Jew Süss (1934 film)
| Jew Süss | |
|---|---|
1934 UK cinema poster
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| Directed by | Lothar Mendes |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Screenplay by |
Dorothy Farnum A. R. Rawlinson |
| Based on |
Jud Süß (novel) by Lion Feuchtwanger |
| Starring | Conrad Veidt |
| Music by |
Jack Beaver Bretton Byrd Charles Williams |
| Distributed by | Gaumont British |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £120,000 |
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.
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.
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