PATH OF SHAME
Path of Shame
(Szlakiem hańby) (Star-Film, Poland, 1929)
dir.: Alfred Niemirski, Mieczysław Krawicz; script: Anatol Stern based on the novel W szponach handlarzy kobiet by Antoni Marczyński; photog.: Albert Wywerka
cast: Maria Malicka (Marysia Żurkówna), Zofia Batycka (Iza Górska), Bogusław Samborski (Karol Wolak vel Andrzej Marczak), Lech Owron (Artur Klug), Wanda Zawiszanka (Franka Żurkówna), Seweryna Broniszówna (Señora Elwira), Justyna Czartorzyska (Róża Freundlich)
DCP, 100’; bw; intertitles: PL, subtitles: EN; source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute
An international group of women traffickers is becoming active in Poland. Its members operate both in the countryside, where they promise riches to the girls, and also in the capital, where they open a dance school and tempt young women with the possibility of being hired by an American film studio. Iza, one of the school’s students, is a secret police agent sent in to try to break up the gang, whose connections stretch all the way to Brazil.
The trafficking of women was a huge problem in the inter-war years. The export of Polish women abroad, especially to South America, was so large that in the big cities of Brazil and Argentina prostitutes began to be called “polaca” [Pole]. After the Polish president ratified the international convention on this issue, a social initiative led to the foundation of the Polish Committee for Combating Trafficking in Women and Children in 1923. And it was on the inspiration of this committee that Antoni Marczyński’s famous novel W szponach handlarzy kobiet [In the Clutches of Women Traffickers] was subsequently turned into a film.
This film by Niemirski and Krawicz was one of the country’s first socially engaged interventionist films. Critics praised it for its skilful combination of didactic elements with a high artistic level, appreciating the adeptly constructed script which, despite the complicated and multi-faceted plot, helped the action to move along at a brisk pace. The main female roles were played by the acclaimed theatre actress Maria Malicka and also Zofia Batycka, winner of Miss Polonia and runner-up in the Miss Europe 1930 contest. The main male role, meanwhile, was played by Bogusław Samborski, an outstanding actor specialising in the roles of villains. (MP)
introduction to the movie: Michał Pieńkowski
section: DIRECTION: POLAND
music by: Maciej Tubis
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 28
21:00 | screening room: MAŁA CZARNA
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PATH OF SHAME, source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute
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PATH OF SHAME, source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute
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PATH OF SHAME, source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute
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PATH OF SHAME, source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute
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PATH OF SHAME, source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute
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PATH OF SHAME, source: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute