Der var engang
A beautiful but imperious princess refuses all offers of marriage, often condemning her suitors to death. The prince of Denmark comes seeking her hand and, aided by magic objects given to him by a mysterious spirit, seeks to win h...
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"Sometimes-though not often-you find an aristocrat who behaves improperly and in a bizarre way not in keeping their privileged condition. It would seem that strange conduct among aristocrats is not uncommon in Denmark as some English playwright wrote some centuries back. Such odd behaviour can also be found in the film "Der Var Engang" (Once Upon A Time) directed by Herr Carl Theodor Dreyer in the silent year of 1922. The film depicts the case of the Prince of Denmark who travels to the land of Illyria where lives a princess who knows pretty well her exalted role and acts accordingly..."
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The recent DVD of the extant portions of this film, produced by the Danish Film Institute for sale to the public - though playable only in the European Region - reveals it is based on an operetta, which in turn was based on Shakespeare's "The Taming Of The Shrew". The first third (almost all of the sequences in the castle) survives, followed by a series of takes of low comedy [prince's servant and kitchen maids] scenes, followed by the last segment of the film (the forest scenes). Anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour is missing in the middle of the film. No shooting script or review exists so timing is not certain. The DVD runs for about 75 minutes and is all we have left of the film. This information was derived from Jean and Dale Drum's biography of Carl Dreyer: MY ONLY GREAT PASSION.
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A beautiful but imperious princess refuses all offers of marriage, often condemning her suitors to death. The prince of Denmark comes seeking her hand and, aided by magic objects given to him by a mysterious spirit, seeks to win h...