Lotte Neumann

Lotte Neumann (1896-1977) was one of the most successful actresses in the early days of the German silent cinema, and she also worked as a screenwriter and a producer. Neumann was the lovely star in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee / Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 636/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for the Ernst Lubitsch comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee / Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920). The man on the left, dressed as an antique hero, is Julius Falkenstein as Paris. The others are Jakob Tiedtke (Herr Capulethofer), Marga Köhler (his wife), Lotte Neumann (Julia) and Gustav von Wangenheim (Romeo Montekugerl).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-sterne series, no. 94/2. Photo: NBFMB / Karl Schenker.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 340/5, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / Maxim Film.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 5694. Photo: Atelier Eberth, Berlin.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 9894. Photo: J. Braae Photokunst, 1917.


German postcard by Rotophot, Berlin, in the Film-Sterne Series, no. 150/1, 1925-1935. Photo: Becker & Maass.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2095. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Lotte Neumann in Die Richterin / The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Sherlock Holmes

Lotte Neumann was born as Charlotte Pötler in Berlin, Germany, in 1896.

She attended the Königliche Luisenschule (Royal Louise School) in Berlin, after which the Wagnersche-Klinkhardsche Höhere Mädchenschule (Wagnerian-Klinkhardsche Higher School for Girls).

She began her theatrical career as a 13-year-old choir singer at the Komische Oper (Comic Opera) and at the Komödienhaus (Comedy House) in Berlin.

In 1912, director Max Mack gave her her first film role in Die Launen des Schicksals / Whims of Fate (Max Mack, 1912) with Hanni Weisse.

In the following years, she acted in productions of the German Mutoscope and Biograph GmbH like Ketten der Vergangenheit / Chains of the Past (N.N., 1914), the Sherlock Holmes-film Ein seltsamer Fall / An Unusual Case (Max Mack, 1914), Der eiserne Ring / The Iron Ring (Paul von Woringen, 1915) and In letzter Sekunde / In the Last Second (Walter Schmidthässler, 1916).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2091. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Der Mut zum Glück / The Courage to Happiness (Paul von Woringen, 1917). This was the first film Neumann produced herself with her company, Lotte Neumann-Film.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, K. 2096. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann and Ernst Rückert in Hinter verschlossenen Türen / Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2103. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Der Geigenspieler / The Violin Player (Paul von Woringen, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2168. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film, Berlin. Lotte Neumann in Die Ehe der Charlotte von Brakel / The Marriage of Charlotte von Brakel (Paul von Woringen, 1918).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Maxim Film. Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern / The Fate of Carola von Geldern (Carl Froelich, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 620/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea / Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919).

Shadows of the past

Lotte Neumann also appeared as a singer and actress on Berlin stages. Soon, she was so well-known that the studio shot a series of Lotte Neumann films.

In 1916, she founded the Lotte Neumann Film GmbH, which existed until 1919.

To these productions belong Hinter verschlossenen Türen / Behind Closed Doors (Paul von Woringen, 1917), Die Richterin / The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917), Das Schweigen im Walde / The Silence in the Forest (Paul von Woringen, 1918), Das Spiel mit dem Feuer / The Play With Fire (Paul von Woringen, 1918) and Schatten der Vergangenheit / Shadows of the Past (Paul von Woringen, 1919) - for which she was also the producer.

In 1918, she wrote her first screenplay, for Die Töchter des Herrn Dornberg / The Daughters of Mr. Dornberg (Paul von Woringen, 1918).

From 1919 on, she was committed to the Ufa.


German postcard by Photochemie, no. 5881. Photo: Willingen. Alice Hechy (here as Alice Scheel-Hechy), Lotte Neumann (here as Lotti Neumann), and Georg Baselt in the stage comedy 'Hochherrschaftliche Wohnungen' (Stately Homes) (1913), performed at the Komödienhaus, and written by Toni Impekoven. Caption: Are there at the Kadewe [department store] only such pretty ladies? Under the pseudonym Peter Panter, Kurt Tucholsky wrote a review of the play in Die Schaubühne (16, 17.04.1913).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1812.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 339/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / Maxim Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 339/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass / Maxim Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 320/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Rembrandt / Maxim Film. Caption: Lotte Neumann in ihrer garderobe (Lotte Neumann in her wardrobe).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 320/6, 1919-1924. Photo: Rembrandt / Maxim Film. Caption: Lotte Neumann in ihrer garderobe (Lotte Neumann in her wardrobe).

Protracted divorce case

During the 1920s, Lotte Neumann remained a popular film actress who embodied aristocratic young women.

In 1920, she acted under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch in the comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee / Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920), set in a 19th-century Alpine village.

Her biggest successes include the film operetta Die Brigantin von New York / The Brigantine, New York (Hans Werckmeister, 1924), Die Frau für 24 Stunden / The Woman for 24 hours (Reinhold Schünzel, 1925) with Harry Liedtke, and Der gute Ruf / The Good Reputation (Pierre Marodon, 1926).

She had film contracts in Austria, Italy and the Balkan States, for example, with Gaumont-Aubert in Paris and with Maldaria in Prague.

Because of her protracted divorce case, which ran from 1929 to 1932, she had to end her career as an actress. Her last film was Die Liebesfiliale (Carl Heinz Wolff, 1931) before she retired from the screen.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 150/4. Photo: Becker & Maass.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 150/5. Photo: Becker & Maass.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 338/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Maxim Film / Becker & Maass.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1789. Photo: Berliner Illustrierte Ges. [Gesellschaft], Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1799. Photo: Berlin Illustrierte Ges., Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 276/6, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.

Screenplays

From 1933, Lotte Neumann worked as a film writer under the pseudonym C.H. Diller. Diller was the maiden name of her mother.

In 1935, she married screenwriter Walter Wassermann and also started a professional partnership with him, which lasted until 1944.

She wrote a total of 25 screenplays, including Kora Terry (Georg Jacobi, 1940) for Ufa; Friedrich Schiller (Herbert Maisch, 1939) for Tobis; together with Walter Wassermann, Die Nacht in Venedig / The Night in Venice (Paul Verhoeven, 1941), and Altes Herz wird wieder jung / Old Heart Young Again (Erich Engel, 1942), both for Tobis.

After the war, she continued her work with two more screenplays for small productions until 1958.

She went to live at the residence of her mother in Gmund am Tegernsee, and later lived in Gaißach. Lotte Neumann died in 1977 in Gaißach, Germany.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 276/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 276/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 194/1. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 150/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin.


German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 2001/7. Photo: Becker & Maass. Also on Film Sterne, no. 194/3.


German postcard by MMB, no. 456. Part of the German colour postcards in the Moderne Künstler series by MMB, published in the late 1910s. Photo: F.J. Wesselsky.

Sources: Gabriele Hansch / Gerlinde Waz (Filmpionierinnen in Deutschland - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Philippe Pelletier (Cineartistes - Now defunct), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Romeo und Julia im Schnee (1920)

After his smash hit Kohlhiesel's Töchter/Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1920), Ernst Lubitsch made another comical variation on a Shakespeare play, Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920). This comedy is set in the 19th century in the small village Schwabstedt in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) where two farmers families are feuding. Romeo is played by unknown Gustav von Wangenheim and Julia by star Lotte Neumann. This was Lubitsch’s last short comedy.


German postcard. Ross Verlag, No. 636/1. Lotte Neumann in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy Romeo und Julia im Schnee (Romeo and Juliet in the Snow, 1920), a Maxim Film production. The man on the left dressed as antique hero could be Julius Falkenstein as Paris. The others are from left to right Jakob Tiedtke (Herr Capulethofer), Marga Köhler (his wife), Lotte Neumann (Julia) and Gustav von Wangenheim (Romeo Montekugerl).


German postcard. Ross Verlag, no. 638/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920), with Lotte Neumann (Julia) and Gustav von Wangenheim (Romeo Montekugerl).

Sugar-water and snowballs

With Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920), Ernst Lubitsch 'deconstructs' Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet into an amsusing farce, set in a a wintry Tyrolean village. The script was written by Lubitsch with Hanns Kräly. The two would go on to work together for a long time, and for Kräly, this collaboration would later in his career result in an Oscar.

In Kräly's script, Romeo and Juliet love each other but they can't marry because their families, the Capulethofer and the Montekugerl, are feuding. They are enemies since Mr. Capulethofer (Jakob Tiedtke) and Mr. Montekugerl (Ernst Rückert) wanted to bribe the village judge during a process with a sausage and therefore both were sentenced to pay the process costs.

Julia (Lotte Neumann) is supposed to marry the young Paris (Julius Falkenstein), but at first she falls in love with Romeo (Gustav von Wangenheim), the son of the house Montekugerl, who has returned to the village after a year of military service. A mask festival is scheduled, on which Paris wants to court Julia. Romeo, however, manages to make him drunk and to slip into his costume.

Romeo and Juliet decide to marry the same night. Julia, however, should now be betrothed against her will with Paris and Juliet’s father even threatens to cut off Julia’s hair. Faced with their parents opposition to their match, the desperate lovers decide to poison themselves. But unlike in the Shakespeare play, Lubitsch and Kräly serve us a happy ending.

The apothecary gives the loving couple sugar-water instead of poison. They don't die, of course, but Julia has left a farewell letter to her family, and the excitement is great. Convinced their children are dead, the two families admit their faults. The happy lovers leap up and say "Surprise!" And everybody else falls down on an icy patch.

All the characters Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow are played for comic effect, especially the ridiculous feuding fathers, and many snowballs are hurled in the film. Shooting took place in the Black Forest and also in the Maxim Studios on Blücherstraße in Berlin.

The world premiere of of the film was on 12 March 1920 in the Mozartsaal and in the U.T. Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. This was three days after the release of Lubitsch's other Shakespeare adaptation Kohlhiesel's Töchter/Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1920). That comedy would become the bigger success of the two films, but nowadays reviewers like the Romeo and Julia parody as well.

At IMDb, P. Steier reviews: "A bright comedy. Plenty of low humor. Nice sets and costumes. The best costumes were for scenes at a costume ball."

Another IMDb reviewer, Netwallah adds: "The costume ball is particularly fun to watch, with cousin Tübalder in armor and an absurd winged helmet, and the authorized suitor in a yellow curly wig and angel wings. Better still are the five or six costumes involving enormous papier-maché heads."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 638/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920), with Lotte Neumann (Julia) and Gustav von Wangenheim (Romeo Montekugerl).


German postcard. Ross Verlag, no. 636/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Romeo und Julia im Schnee/Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920), with Lotte Neumann (Julia) and Gustav von Wangenheim (Romeo Montekugerl).

Sources: Thomas Elsaesser (Weimar Cinema and After: Germany's Historical Imaginary), P. Steier (IMDb), Netwallah (IMDb), B.U.F.V.C., Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Die Richterin (1917)

In the silent German melodrama Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917), Lotte Neumann stars as a young woman who brings tragedy to her fiance and herself by being a moral judge. Neumann produced the film herself for her own company. The postcard series was published by the well-known Berlin firm Photochemie.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no K. 2092. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Publicity still for Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no K. 2093. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Publicity still for Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

A Moral Bride of Yore

Fritz Rönninger (Carl Clewing) owns a large printing works. One day, the businessman falls in love with his neighbour's daughter (Lotte Neumann), who was brought up in strict order by her father (Magnus Stifter).

Fritz turns out to be a kind and sincere candidate for her favour, and so one day the girl agrees to his request to marry him. Since Fritz does not want to go into marriage with a lie, he admits her a misstep, but one which took place a long time ago: in his youth he had once falsified a check and went to jail.

The strict paternal principles of custom and morality have turned Rönninger's future bride into a moral judge, and so she lets the upcoming marriage burst at the last moment.

Deeply saddened, Rönniger decides to give up his previous life completely. He sells his company and goes to Monaco with his new lover. There he leads a licentious life, probably only to numb his painful loss.

When he is finally broke, Fritz kills himself. In his farewell letter he blames his 'moral' bride of yore on his downfall. She had 'judged' him with her unforgiving morals. As she reads the letter, she realises her injustice towards Rönninger and also takes her life, by drowning herself.

Die Richterin was produced by Lotte Neumann herself and shot at the Mutoskop studio in Berlin-Lankwitz. It was the fourth part the Lotte Neumann-serie. The script was by Hans Land, pseudonym of Hugo Landsberger.

In October 1917 it was presented to the German Board of Censorship and quite soon after it was released. IMDb dates the film in 1918 because of the premiere of the film in Hungary on 28 January 1918.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no K. 2094. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Publicity still for Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no K. 2095. Photo: Lotte Neumann-Film. Publicity still for Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen, 1917).

Sources: Wikipedia (German), The German Early Cinema Database, Filmportal.de and IMDb.

Arme Thea (1919)

The Maxim Film production Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) was a star vehicle for German actress Lotte Neumann. It was the first film in the 'Lotte Neumann-Serie'. Besides being one of the most successful actresses of the early German silent cinema, she also worked as screenwriter and producer. Ross Verlag produced a series of six sepia postcards with film scenes.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 620/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) with Lotte Neumann.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 620/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) with Lotte Neumann and Adolf Klein.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 620/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) with Adolf Klein, Lotte Neumann and Ernst Hofmann.

The daughter of a bailout

Lotte Neumann plays in Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) Thea von Hoffäcker, daughter of a chamberlain, Freiherr von Hoffäcker (Adolf Klein).

Georg Textor (Ernst Hofmann), man about town and son of a well-to-do merchant, is betrothed to Thea. When one day Georg flunks at the races, and his future father-in-law bets on the wrong horse, Textor’s one namely, the situation is alarming. Hoffäcker, suddenly very short of cash, wants to borrow 50,000 Mark from his friend Raschdorf.

The promised money-sum does not arrive fast enough with the chamberlain, whose creditors are already on his neck. Hoping that the 50,000 marks arrive shortly, Hoffäcker writes a check secured by Raschdorf. But when Raschdorf suddenly dies of a stroke, Hoffäcker’s world collapses. His aristocratic relatives advise him to shoot himself, as is common in their milieu, but the man refuses and instead serves a one-year sentence for bribery in prison.

Poor Thea, unknown to what has fallen upon her father, is said he is on a secret diplomatic mission to the Far East. After one year Hoffäcker is released and with his former bookmaker Heinlein (Guido Herzfeld) he finds a small job at the editorial office of Turflaterne, a second rate racing track magazine.

Thea learns that her father has returned from his 'diplomatic mission' to Berlin. Immediately she visits him in his new, humble domicile. Nothing has remained of the proud representative of the upper-class official caste. Thea cannot explain the outer decay of her father and does not get any response from him.

Georg doesn’t know any more. He has just returned home from a trip to Mexico, where he tried - unsuccessfully - to initiate rescue measures for the family company that had been in a state of misery. Textor is now also broke, and as luck would have it, he also lands with Heinlein and his shabby magazine. Georg meets his future sister-in-law, learns of Hoffäcker's descent, and makes it clear to him that he does not intend to marry the daughter of a bailout.

However, Georg quickly regrets his harsh words and wants to apologise to Thea and her father. But Hoffäcker has finally followed his blue-blooded 'advice' and has shot himself. The guilt has now been eradicated, so Georg asks Thea to marry him.

Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) was based on a novel by Rudolph Stratz. The sets were designed by Hans Sohnle. The film premiered in August 1919 at the Berlin cinema Kammerlichtspielen. Jupp Wiertz designed an elegant poster for the film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 620/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) with Lotte Neumann and Adolf Klein.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 620/5. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) with Lotte Neumann.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 620/6. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Arme Thea/Poor Thea (Carl Froelich, 1919) with Lotte Neumann.

Source: The German Early Cinema Database, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (1919)

Today a post on a series of Ross Verlag postcards for the silent salon melodrama Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern/The destiny of Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919). The young aristocratic Carola of the title is played by Lotte Neumann, one of the most successful actresses in the early days of the German cinema.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

Destiny

Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern/The destiny of Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919) was adapted by Ludwig Wolff from the novel Der grosse Rachen (1915) by Olga Wohlbrück-Wendland.

The melodramatic story tells about the destiny of a mother and daughter. Carola von Geldern's mother (Grete Ebinger) has an affair with a gambler and dies. Carola (Lotte Neumann) herself loves a benefactor. When she has caused an accident, he kills her.

The postcards don't give a clear view of the story nor the timeline. They are focused on the star of the film, Lotte Neumann (1896-1977), who seems to play Carola in different phases of her life (in the last cards of the series, she plays a young girl with long tails). Neumann was not only a successful actress of the early German cinema, but she also worked as a screenwriter and a producer.

Who's who on the postcards is not clear to us.The other cast members were little known actors like Rudolf Lettinger (the husband, Jack von Geldern), Eduard Rothauser (Von Glienen/Von Glidien), Martin Lübbert (Dr. Graebner), Margarete Ferida (Von Glidien's girlfriend), Paul Kaufmann (Dr. Ertzky) and Mrs. Klein-Rohden (housekeeper).

Our sources differ about who is the director of the film. Possibly scriptwriter Ludwig Wolff was the (co-)director of the film, together with Carl Froelich. Cinematographer was Otto Tober, set designer Hans Sohnle.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/5. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/6. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.


Sources: The German Early Cinema Database, Filmportal.de and IMDb.