Pillars of Society (1936)
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Henrik Ibsen's 1877 play Samfundets Stotter (Pillars of Society) was the source for this German drama. The plot centers upon a flagrant case of municipal corruption, carried out by the town's "finest" people. The selfishness of the elite results in widespread tragedy, yet still the perpetrators hypocritically blame everyone but themselves. The director of Stutzen der Gesellschaft was Detlef Sierck, who as "Douglas Sirk" would later expose the peccadilloes of the rich and powerful in such American films as Written on the Wind. The Ibsen original was earlier adapted to the screen in 1915, with H. B. Walthall in the lead.
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Keywords
carnival, daughter, family-secrets, father, Germany, illegitimacy, indiscretion, magnate, past, responsibility, return, secrets, shipping-tycoon, town, truth
