Contemporary Review
Abdul the Damned (1935)
Film Weekly, September 20th, 1935
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B.I.P.
A.
British, 109 mins
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Abdul Hamid II
Kislar, His Double
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Fritz Kortner
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Kadar Pasha
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Nils Asther
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Ali, the Grand Eunuch
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Esmé Percy
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Talak Pasha
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John Stuart
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Therese
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Adrienne Ames
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Hassan Bey
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Walter Rilla
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Hilmi Pasha
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Charles Carson
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Abbas
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Alfred Woods
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Omar
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Patric Knowles
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Young Turk Conspirator
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Eric Portman
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Doctor
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Clifford Heatherly
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General of the Bodyguards
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Henry Longhurst
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English Lady
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Annie Esmond
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Chief Inquisitor
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H. Saxon Snell
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Officer of the Firing Squad
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George Zucco
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Opera Singer
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Robert Naylor
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Young Turk Singer
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Warren Jenkins
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Malik, a Spy
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Henry Paterson
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Modiste
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Charlotte Francis
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Directed by Karl Grune
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Strong drama of a sinister Sultan tortured by fear of assassination,
magnificently acted by Fritz Kortner. Interesting, impressive and,
for the most part, gripping entertainment.
Ostensibly, the picture's theme is the overthrow of Sultan Abdul
Hamid in an uprising hastened by his own misdeeds. With Fritz Kortner
as Abdul, however, it has become substantially a character study -
an intense psychologically sound portrait of a man terrorised by the
repercussions of his own reign of terror!
With extraordinary subtlety and remarkable economy of expression,
Kortner exposes the tortured mentality of a foolish despot whose
weakness is revealed only too plainly in the atrocities with which
he seeks to maintain his power and safeguard his person.
Friendless, surrounded by enemies, respected by none, he brings
about his own downfall and is pathetically glad of ignomious exile
when it is offered to him at the end.
It would have been better for the picture as a whole if the director
had abetted the star in making Abdul Hamid, the man, more important
than the events revolving round him. Too much time is given,
especially at the beginning, to the obscure and not very exciting
plottings of Turkish political parties. And there is an unworthy
subsidiary story of a Viennese dancer (Adrienne Ames), who is
compelled by the unscrupulous Turkish Police Chief (Nils Asher)
to enter the Sultan's harem in return for the life of her lover.
The acting honours are natuarally coniscated by the star - all of them
- although Esmé Percy, as the Grand Eunuch, succeeds in turning
in a notable supporting performance, and Nils Asher is theatrically
effective as the Chief of Police.
**
Born September 22, 1842, Abdul Hamid II became Sultan of Turkey
in 1876, on the deposition of his brother. His long reign saw many
changes in the country - chiefly for the worse. A sutle diplomatist,
he cleverly played the European Powers against each other, but his
empire was always in disorder, and the Armenian massacres of 1896
earned him the titles of The Great Assassin and Abdul the Damned.
In April 1909, he was deposed and put in captivity, by the Young
Turks under Evan Bey. He died in Constantinople, February 11, 1918.
Before the picture started, a B.I.P. unit filmed exteriors in
Turkey for use as "atmosphere" and in "back projection shots".
The rest of the film was made at Elstree.
Fritz Kortner, Shaksperian star of the German theatre, came to
England last year to make "Chu Chin Chow" and "Evenong". Recently
finished "The Crouching Beast", from Valentine Williams's spy
thrilleer. "The Man with the Club Foot". Has been called "the
Jannings of the talkies".
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