Were it not for Marlene Dietrich's appearance in this film, CAFE ELEKTRIC would be an unlikely candidate for a DVD release, especially considering that it is incomplete (the restoration done by the Filmarchiv Austria summarizes the missing ending). Yet this film by Gustav Ucicky—the son of the painter Gustav Klimt—is really an ensemble melodrama, with Dietrich no more the star than the other featured actors (her legs, however, do receive plenty of screen time).
The story concerns the interaction between two poles of contemporary Viennese society (not Berlin, as a fellow reviewer mistakenly states): the upper-crust bourgeoisie, represented by the capitalist Göttlinger (Fritz Albert) and his daughter Erni (Dietrich); and the prostitutes and petty criminals that hang around the Café Elektric. Of these, we are introduced to Fredl (Willi Forst), a pickpocket who's always short on cash, and his sometime girlfriend Hansi (Nina Vanna), who longs to escape from her circumstances. In the course of the film, Erni and Hansi's fates play out in counterpoint with each other, although the two never actually meet. While Hansi struggles upward towards societal respectability in a life with Max (Igo Sym), Erni descends from her privileged existence thanks to the negative influence of Fredl.
Ucicky's direction is competent but not remarkable or visually distinctive. The most sympathetic character is Hansi, both because her plight gives us someone to root for, and due to the charismatic performance given by the lovely Nina Vanna. Silent film accompanist Gerhard Gruber provides an excellent piano score on the Austrian DVD edition.
The story concerns the interaction between two poles of contemporary Viennese society (not Berlin, as a fellow reviewer mistakenly states): the upper-crust bourgeoisie, represented by the capitalist Göttlinger (Fritz Albert) and his daughter Erni (Dietrich); and the prostitutes and petty criminals that hang around the Café Elektric. Of these, we are introduced to Fredl (Willi Forst), a pickpocket who's always short on cash, and his sometime girlfriend Hansi (Nina Vanna), who longs to escape from her circumstances. In the course of the film, Erni and Hansi's fates play out in counterpoint with each other, although the two never actually meet. While Hansi struggles upward towards societal respectability in a life with Max (Igo Sym), Erni descends from her privileged existence thanks to the negative influence of Fredl.
Ucicky's direction is competent but not remarkable or visually distinctive. The most sympathetic character is Hansi, both because her plight gives us someone to root for, and due to the charismatic performance given by the lovely Nina Vanna. Silent film accompanist Gerhard Gruber provides an excellent piano score on the Austrian DVD edition.