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» » Die schwarze Kugel oder Die geheimnisvollen Schwestern (1913)

Short summary

Their eyes heavy with grief, Edith and Violet, dancers, return from the funeral of their sister, Grace. They find a letter marked, "To be opened after my burial," which encloses a photograph. This, the dead sister identifies as the man who has wronged her and through his falseness has brought her to her death. Her request is that her sisters seek him out and avenge her. Strangely enough, she omits to mention his name and address. Conjuring before them the image of the beloved departed, Edith and Violet swear to find the unknown and wreak their worst upon him. Assuming new names to aid their search, the sisters are engaged to dance in a music hall. Here comes Viscount Henry, and a party of friends. This count is peculiarly attracted by the mysterious masked sisters. He asks the manager to introduce him. Violet's beauty is the source of particular attraction. The other sister fears danger and recalls to her her sister's fate. This count persists, although a likeness to the dead Grace, ...

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Makaitist
    A four part offering made in Germany. Its foreign atmosphere will help it. The story is very sentimental. Two sisters swear never to marry till they discover the man who had wronged a dead elder sister. They are on the vaudeville stage and the same man pays attention to one of them much to the other's distress. Later, she finds that he is the man they are seeking and, after a series of scenes not without merit as entertainment, the man, dying from a wound given by the older sister, begs forgiveness. The chase of one sister by the man's groom over the city; and the old-world, mysterious hidden rooms and hidden secret stairs of the man's castle through which the other sister chases him are the picture's best parts. It is a fair offering as a sensational melodrama. - The Moving Picture World, January 10, 1914
  • comment
    • Author: Opilar
    On first viewing, this film seemed to me a rather archaic mix of revenge drama and narratively illogical "attractions". But then I read Yuri Tsivian's essay in "A Second Life: German Cinema's First Decades", which drew attention to the symmetrical composition of many shots, especially involving the sisters. He seems to see this as an example of the director's stylistic imaginativeness, like his use of camera masking. But it also, it seems to me, has narrative implications: the mirror-like doubling of the sisters occurs when they are "of one mind". When, on the other hand, they are not pursuing the same goal, as when Edith is attracted to the viscount, or when she follows Violetta as she goes to confront him, the doubling is absent, thus adding psychological implications and complexity to the film.
  • Cast overview:
    Paul Meffert Paul Meffert - Vicomte Giron (as Herr Meffert)
    Mia Cordes Mia Cordes - Edith - die geheimnisvolle Schwester (as Frl. Cordes)
    Manny Ziener Manny Ziener - Violetta - die geheimnisvolle Schwester (as Frau Ziener)
    Ernst Pittschau Ernst Pittschau - Rolf
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