FILM ALBUM. Die Wut. [Berlin]: (Arnold Kühnemann-Film), [1928].

WEIMAR-ERA PRODUCTION ALBUM FOR A FILM ABOUT RABIES

[FILM ALBUM].
Die Wut [Rabies].
[Berlin]: (Arnold Kühnemann-Film), [1928].

Oblong folio (288 × 398 mm), 60 warm-toned gelatin silver photographs mounted on 35 card leaves. Contemporary full calf binding, spine and sides decorated in gilt, lettering to front in gilt and to rear in blind, inner dentelles in gilt, pink silk doublures and endleaves; light sunning to front, occasional wear. Cockling to mounts, prints in excellent condition with the exception of one which has some silver-mirroring to the edges and three incidental prints at the end which also have a little mirroring. Arnold Kühnemann-Film letterhead and another photograph laid in. In very good condition.

Arnold Kühnemann specialised in producing educational and instructional films between 1922 and 1935, mostly for the agriculture and veterinary industries. This album commemorates Die Wut, a film about Rabies which shows the influence of elements of German Expressionist cinema.

The first section contains photographs which show a man on a farm or small-holding who is bitten by a rabid dog. We are shown the bite itself and the victim’s subsequent concern, followed by a descent into delirium as he sleeps, a sequence which is introduced by a photograph of a dog printed in negative. The following five photographs show what is presumably a real rabies victim who is close to death and kept in a caged ward. Death is represented by a positive print of the dog photograph used earlier in the sequence. Followed by photographs showing other rabid rabbits, guinea pigs, cows and dogs displaying the identifying symptoms, and a man receiving a rabies shot in the stomach. The final two photographs show the camera zooming out from the sleeping couple on the bed to reveal the cameraman and other production staff in the studio.

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