Vampires of Warsaw
{{short description|1925 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Vampires of Warsaw
| image = Image:WAMPIRY WARSZAWY1925.jpg
| caption = A scene from the film.
| director = Wiktor Biegański
| producer =
| writer = Wiktor Biegański (based on his own stage play)
| narrator =
| starring = Oktawian Kaczanowski
Halina Labedzka
Maria Balcerkiewiczówna
Igo Sym
| music =
| editing =
| cinematography = Ferdynand Vlassak
Antoni Wawrzyniak
| studio = Merkurfilm
| released = {{Film date|1925|10|28|df=yes}}
| runtime = 36 minutesWorkman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p.294. {{ISBN|978-1936168-68-2}}.
| country = Poland
| language = Silent
Polish intertitles
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Vampires of Warsaw (Polish: Wampiry Warszawy) is a 1925 Polish silent crime film directed by Wiktor Biegański and starring Oktawian Kaczanowski, Halina Labedzka and Maria Balcerkiewiczówna. It was Biegański's most popular film, and displayed the influence of Soviet cinema on his work.Haltof p.14 The film is considered lost, so it is difficult to describe the plot in detail, but from what can be gathered the film appears to have been a murder mystery whodunit featuring a pair of Russian aristocrats who are determined to marry a wealthy father/daughter and murder them for their inheritance. Despite the title the film did not actually feature any vampires of the supernatural variety.{{Cite web |last=Bretan |first=Juliette |date=August 22, 2018 |title=Lost & Destroyed: In Search of Classic Polish Films |url=https://culture.pl/en/article/lost-destroyed-classic-polish-films |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=Culture. PL}}
Actor Igo Sym, who later shared billing in films with top name stars like Marlene Dietrich, became a Nazi informant in WWII and turned in a number of fellow Polish actors and theater owners who were aligned with the Resistance forces in Poland. In 1941, some Polish freedom fighters assassinated Sym, and the Nazis retaliated by executing 21 hostages and sending dozens of others to Auschwitz.Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 295. {{ISBN|978-1936168-68-2}}.
Cast
- Oktawian Kaczanowski as Pradowski
- Halina Łabędzka as Urszula Pradowska
- Maria Balcerkiewiczówna as Countess Tamarska
- Igo Sym as Tadeusz Wyzewicz, lawyer
- Lech Owron as Baron Kamiłow
- Marian Kiernicki as Antoni, lokaj
- Wiera Pogorzanka as Tonia
- Katarzyna Dworkowska as Przelozona klasztoru
- Piotr Hryniewicz as Prosecutor
- K. Marczewski as Lichwiarz
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- Haltof, Marek. Polish National Cinema. Berghahn Books, 2002.
External links
- {{IMDb title|0877727}}
{{Wiktor Bieganski}}
Category:1920s Polish-language films
Category:Films directed by Wiktor Bieganski
Category:Polish black-and-white films
{{Poland-film-stub}}