Fiction / USA / 1923 / 110’ / Black & White
Intertitles: English / Subtitles: Turkish
Set in 17th-century Spain, Spanish Dancer is a passionate romance. A nobleman without a penny Don Ceasar organises a party in his castle. In the party, beautiful dancer Maritana reads Don Ceasar’s palm and sees love, poverty, and death. Struck by what she sees, she cannot tell them to Don Ceasar but keeps to herself. Sharing this special moment, Don Cesar and Maritana fall in love. But their love will have to endure many obstacles, including the King’s desire to have Maritana.
The beautiful star Pola Negri, a famed star of the period due to her apperance in Ernst Lubitsch films, plays the lead role in Spanish Dancer, which is the first film she made in Hollywood following her successful carreer in Germany. Spanish Dancerattained huge success when it was released.
The restoration by EYE Filmmuseum in the Netherlands in 2012 revealed that almost half of the film was missing. The film was then restored as closest as possible to its original script by combining scenes from a number of surviving copies. The restored version will be screened first time in Istanbul.
Director: Herbert Brennon
Cast: Pola Negri, Antonio Moreno, Wallace Berry
Live music by Günter Buchwald (Piano) & Franck Bockius (Percussion) & Burak Ayrancı (Cello)
Presentation by Elif Rongen Kaynakçı (Eye Filmmuseum)