Forbidden Paradise
(Forbidden Paradise)
dir. Ernst Lubitsch, USA, 1924
cast: Pola Negri, Rod La Rocque, Adolphe Menjou, Pauline Starke and others.
DCP, 73'; restoration 2018
Source: Museum of Modern Art, New York
A tradition of the Warsaw Silent Film Days, is to exhibit our domestic film production. This year, the Polish accent will be the Empress with Pola Negri in the title role, presented at the opening of our celebration. It is a US-produced grotesque satire on Empress Catherine the Great, known for her numerous high-profile romances.
Until recently, The Empress was only known in incomplete versions. Thanks to the collation of two nitro copies and two duplicate negatives of different European distribution versions, approximately 90% of the film has been reconstructed. The original content of the intertitles was reconstructed thanks to a script from the University of Southern California's collection, while their layout was reconstructed on the basis of other Paramount films from 1924.
section: Treasures of Silent Cinema
introduction to the film: Michał Pieńkowski
live music: Marcin Wasilewski
