The Finances of the Grand Duke

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Director F.W. Murnau and scriptwriter Thea von Harbou both took a change of pace from their usual dramas with this satiric farce about Grand Duke Don Ramon XX (Harry Liedtke), whose idyllic country is threatened by revolution. The troublemakers are a trio of conspirators, working with a corrupt financier who intends to convert the landscape into a profitable sulfur mine. Don Ramon comes close to being hanged, but is rescued by Olga (Mady Christians), the Grand Duchess of Russia, who loves him and agrees to pay off all his debts. A compromising love letter from Olga falls into the conspirators' hands, but she and Don Ramon, with the help of the adventurer Philip Collins (Alfred Abel) are able to set their affairs right. Note who plays one of the conspirators: Max Schreck, who starred as the hideous vampire in Murnau's horror classic Nosferatu. ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Screen: Tint
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • Audio commentary by film historian David Kalat

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Harry Liedtke - Don Ramon XX
       Mady Christians - Olga
       Guido Herzfeld - Markowitz
       Hermann Valentin - M. Binzer
       Alfred Abel - Philip Collins
       Adolf Engers - don Esteban Paqueno
       Ilka Gruning - Augustine
       Julius Falkenstein - Ernst Isaacs
       Hans Hermann - Hunchbacked Conspirator
       Georg August Koch - Dangerous Conspirator
       Max Schreck - Sinister Conspirator

• Director:

  F.W. Murnau

• Producer:

  Erich Pommer

• Screenwriter:

  Thea von Harbou

• Book Author:

  Frank Heller

• Cinematographer:

  Karl W. Freund, Franz Planer

• Composer (Music Score):

  Ekkehard Wölk

• Set Designer:

  Rochus Gliese, Erich Czerwonsky