Mystery of Room No.100
(Tajemnica pokoju nr 100)
Poland 1914, 20'
Director: unknown
Cast: Halina Starska, Aleksander Zelwerowicz, Stefan Jaracz, Karol Wojciechowski, Stanisław Jarniński, Ludwik Dybizbański
Producer: Kosmofilm
35mm
Source: FINA
The movie that started it all. Its discovery in 2001 led to the creation of the Silent Movie Festival, as it was the very first movie we showcased. To celebrate the 20th anniversary edition of our festival, we want to revisit this exceptional work.
Alongside Les Martyrs de la Pologne (1908), it is the oldest discovered Polish feature film. Before 2000, no one knew even the basic outline of its plot. It was then that two Krakow film scholars, Jerzy Maśnicki and Kamil Stepan, discovered the film in an Amsterdam archive. They first uncovered pre-war censorship notes in Germany that shed light on the plot of The Mystery of Room No. 100. Based on them, they located the movie itself, with German subtitles, at the Nederlands Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. The movie is missing its first act, but this does not hinder its enjoyment today, as the opening has been reconstructed using contemporary descriptions and surviving stills.
The very dramatic structure of the movie is typical of the pre-war farces (the contemporary press even referred to it as a "spicy farce") The movie tells the story of Bella, who is in love with Julius and wants to marry him, but her father opposes this idea and tries to marry her off to his friend – Waszłapski. The eponymous room number 100 is located in a Warsaw hotel, where all the characters arrive and where Bella and Juliusz try to embarrass Waszłapski. The viewers will witness dress-up games, accidental flirts, arguments, and pillow fights.
The Mystery of Room No. 100 features several modern narrative techniques. When the intrigue reaches its climax, Karol Wojciechowski, disguised as a woman, cuts off the one in the number 100 on the door of the room, making the symbol look like the entrance to the restroom. He then glances at the camera, smiling mischievously at the viewer. This way, the actor broke the accepted convention in front of the camera, which is an example of the creators seeking new means of expression and ways to emotionally connect with the viewer.
The director of the movie remains unknown, not only because of the lack of opening credits. Back when the movie was made, the most important entity mentioned in its promotion was the studio – the director’s name was not even to be found in the press notes from the premiere in 1914.
By Piotr Śmiałowski
In 2003, the National Film Archive acquired a copy of the film, which underwent restoration and had Polish subtitles added. The digital restoration of the film was done by Studio Filmowe Śmietanka i Syn / Digital Lab.