Films
Themes
News
About us
Search
Danish
Danish Silent Film
We found 439 results
439 results
Mavedanserinde
Peter Elfelt, 1905
Erotic dance performed by an unknown female dancer.Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866-1931) was Denmark's first filmmaker. He made his first recording in early 1897, the one-minute reel 'Driving With Greenland Dogs', and the following ten years he documented every important national event as well as daily life in Denmark.
Wania Tartakoff
Peter Elfelt, 1902
Spirited Ukrainian trepak dance, performed by Russian soloist Wania Tartakoff.Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866-1931) was Denmark's first filmmaker. He made his first recording in early 1897, the one-minute reel 'Driving With Greenland Dogs', and the following ten years he documented every important national event as well as daily life in Denmark.
Livjægerne paa Amager
Peter Elfelt, 1906
Ballet by August Bournonville 1871. With Hans Beck, Valborg Borchsenius (née Guldbrandsen) and Ellen Price.Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866-1931) was Denmark's first filmmaker.
Zigeunerdans af Troubaduren
Dance from the opera ‘Il Trovatore’ (1853) by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). Choreography by August Bournonville, 1865. Performed by Valborg Borchsenius (née Guldbrandsen).
Faustinus
The short clip shows a spiritualist séance featuring a medium and two ‘spirits’, shot in Peter Elfelt’s studio. Dr Faustinus (1868–1946 – real name Faustinus Edelberg Pedersen), after whom the film is named, was an active figure within the field of spiritism and the occult.The spiritualist movement, which had its breakthrough in Denmark around 1890, can be seen as a response to the void caused by the general erosion of religion.
Sylfiden
Peter Elfelt, 1903
Solo from ’La sylphide’ (1836), ballet by August Bournonville. Performed by Ellen Price (1878-1968), soloist from 1903. Ellen Price’s dancing in Hans Beck’s ballet ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1909) was the inspiration for Edvard Eriksen’s statue of the same name (1911).
Orfeus og Eurydike
Dance from the 1762 Italian opera 'Orfeo ed Euridice' by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787); choreography by Hans Beck, 1896. Performed by Valborg Guldbrandsen (later Borchsenius), Ellen Price, Elisabeth Beck (1865-1946), and Anna Marie Agerholm (1875-1929).Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866-1931) was Denmark's first filmmaker.
Tarantellen af Napoli
‘Napoli’ (1842), ballet by August Bournonville (1805-1879), soloist, head of the royal ballet, and choreographer. Performed by Hans Beck (1861-1952), soloist and head of the royal ballet, and Valborg Guldbrandsen (later: Borchsenius), soloist (1872-1949). The scenes were performed in Elfelt’s studio, due to the lighting requirements, which then gave rise to a problem of lack of space.
Pas de deux
A joyful pas de deux, performed by Clara Rasmussen and Margrethe Andersen. Clara Rasmussen/Wieth/Pontoppidan (1883-1975) was to become one of the most famous actresses of Danish silent cinema; one of her most notable performances is in Dreyer’s 'Leaves from Satan’s Book' (1921), in which she plays Siri in the last of the four sections.Royal court photographer Peter Elfelt (1866-1931) was Denmark's first filmmaker.
Børnedansen af Elverhøj
The Children's Dance from 'Elverhøj', performed by Gudrun Christensen and Helga Smith.Elverhøj (1828; literal translation, Elves’ Hill) by Johan Ludvig Heiberg, with music by Frederik Kuhlau, is considered the Danish national play. It was commissioned by King Frederik VI for the marriage of his youngest daughter Vilhelmine Marie to Frederik Carl Christian (later King Frederik VII).
Sherlock Holmes i Bondefangerklør
Ubekendt, 1910
Jens Larsen has worked hard to become a wealthy man in America, and when he travels home to visit Denmark, the people he meets are extremely acommodating. A little too acommodating, as it turns out.
Fra Sibirien til Moskva
'From Siberia to Moscow' (1876) was August Bournonville’s last long ballet. It was inspired by an 1874 trip to Russia, where Bournonville met Marius Petipa and saw several of his ballets. The music was composed by Carl Christian Møller.