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Between Two Worlds. The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910–1933, by S. S. Prawer. New York: Berghahn Books, 2005/2007. 228 pp. $25.00.
Prawer’s impressively comprehensive book aims to show “some of the ways in which Jews participated in the manifold work needed to create a film: as producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, designers and actors—in harmony with non-Jewish colleagues amid a spattering of voices raised to discriminate between them” (p. viii). He successfully achieves his goal, while providing an excellent overview of popular genres of this period, such as the street film, the “sexual enlightenment” film, the Heimat film, and the mountain film, as well as particular types of comedies and musicals. Prawer also actively takes part in various debates that are central to scholarship on this period, such as his implicit critique of Siegfried Kracauer’s argument that German film before 1933 documents the conditions that led to the rise of Hitler (p. viii), and his assertion that films containing “[a]mused or sorrowful contemplation of Jewish failings and imperfections should not be confused with ‘self-hatred’” (p. 198).
In around 200 pages, Prawer accomplishes a great deal. The strengths of this volume include its in-depth sociohistorical background information on a great number of films, astute inter-filmic connections, and even some technical analysis. In his discussions of film titles, dialogues, and songs, the multilingual author lucidly explains the relevant nuances of German, Yiddish, and dialects that would be lost on most viewers of a subtitled version.
The book has neither footnotes nor endnotes, a feature that can be both refreshing and frustrating. Prawer is clearly informed about his subject matter, but a bibliography alone is not always enough for the reader’s reference. For instance, when he alludes to recent interpretations of Paul Wegener’s The Golem as an antisemitic film (pp. 36–41), a premise with which Prawer strongly disagrees, reference to specific sources in a note would have been helpful. The appendix of Jewish artists and administrators working in the German and Austrian film industry in 1929 is an interesting resource, however, as well as the sixteen pages of photographs and movie stills.
Prawer mentions in the Acknowledgements that he has consciously avoided film-theoretical jargon because he wishes “to appeal to readers whose interest in Jewish, German and Austrian affairs is not confined to the cinema” (p. xii). This is a noble intention, yet it is still hard to imagine that many non-cinema buffs will be drawn to this book. Prawer discusses in detail the plots of films that are well known, but also of many that are obscure and not readily accessible. For the film enthusiast, though, this book is a treasure-trove of information. Prawer gives numerous facts on production, distribution, and reception that can be difficult to locate, he addresses the role of music by Jewish composers such as Paul Dessau and Hanns Eisler in “silent” film and beyond, and even provides post-1933 biographical information, for example when he describes how actors Hans Albers and Hans Moser supported their Jewish partners during the Nazi period (p. 209). This book’s density might be less appealing to more casual readers or those without previous expertise in early film history, but scholars in the field should consider Between Two Worlds a definitive resource on this topic.
Jennifer Marston William
Purdue University
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