The Transformation of Dr. Bessel
The Transformation of Dr. Bessel is a 1927 German silent film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Jakob Tiedtke, Sophie Pagay and Hans Stüwe. The film was based on a novel by. It premiered at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo. It has thematic similarities with Ernst Lubitsch's 1932 film The Man I Killed. Whereas that film featured a French soldier partially assuming the identity of a dead German, in Oswald's film a German is able to survive by pretending to be French.
The film's sets were designed by the art director Franz Seemann and Bruno Lutz.
Synopsis
During the First World War, a German soldier escapes capture on the battlefield by taking the uniform of a French soldier. He then marries and settles down in Marseille, abandoning any sense of national identity. Due to his language skills he is able to become a major success in international commerce.Cast
- Jakob Tiedtke as Fabrikant Julius Bessel
- Sophie Pagay as Frau Bessel
- Hans Stüwe as Alexander, ihr Sohn
- Agnes Esterhazy as Helene Bissel, Alexanders Frau
- Gertrud Eysoldt as Frau Pelagie Trouille
- Agnes Petersen-Mozzuchinowa as Germaine, ihre Nichte
- Kurt Gerron as der Grieche Georgakopoulos
- Angelo Ferrari as der Spanier Pedro de Ferrante
- Betty Astor as Karin Lundbye, ein Modell
- Sig Arno as Chevallier, ein französischer Soldat
- Rosa Valetti as Die Wirtin des Hotel garni
- Hella Kürty as Paulette, Hotelstubenmädchen
- Hermann Picha as Ein französischer Buchhändler
- Max Neufeld as Ein französischer Major
- Otto Wallburg as Ein französischer Sergeant
- Curt Bois as Simche Regierer
- Ilka Grüning as Frau Regierer
- Ferdinand Bonn as Oberst Jovan Simonitsch
- Lydia Potechina as Frau Simonitsch
- Hertha von Walther as Eine Miß
- Georg Burghardt as Ein französischer Offizier
- Eva Speyer
- Jaro Fürth
- Hugo Döblin
- Friedrich Kühne
- Harry Nestor