The Cocaine Rush

Carl Alstrup, 1925, 18 min
FRAGMENT | The eccentric Tom Nigel strolls through Copenhagen. Psychedelic dreams and grotesque coincidences propel him from one insane situation to the next. Via a personal ad he never submitted, he meets a mysterious woman with giant teeth and cannot get rid of her again. She chases him through the city while he tries to ingratiate himself with a beautiful woman who keeps crossing his path. At a café, he overhears a conversation about a cocaine temple and promptly sets out to find it.

The beginning and end are missing. The film contains Danish intertitles without subtitles. No programme survives, so we cannot map out the full plot of the film or identify the names of all the characters. However, an interview with the director and main character, Carl Alstrup, survives; he takes the film’s poor reception in his stride and is clearly able to laugh at himself.

The film's photographer is George Schnéevoigt who, among other things, shot four of Carl Th. Dreyers early films – including 'Master of the House' (1925), which is also availabe on Danish Silent Film.

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