LADY HAMILTON

 

While doing research for my last blog post on the silent historical epic THE DIVINE LADY, I discovered that there was a German silent film also about the affair between Lady Emma Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson, and that the British naval hero was played by none other than Conrad Veidt. LADY HAMILTON (1921) was directed and co-written by Richard Oswald, one of the leading filmmakers in Germany at the time, and a man who had already worked with Veidt on a number of occasions. I found a version of the film on the Internet Archive, a version with Russian intertitles but with English subtitles available for use.

LADY HAMILTON features Austrian actress Liane Haid as Emma, and charts her rise from a humble background to the top of European society. She's discovered by artist George Romney as a young woman, and gains more and more attention while fending off plenty of suitors. Emma winds up married to the much older Sir William Hamilton, ambassador to Naples (Werner Krauss), and begins an affair with British naval officer Horatio Nelson (Veidt). 

LADY HAMILTON is more drawing room melodrama than historical epic. Horatio Nelson doesn't arrive until about halfway through the story, and his deeds are more talked about than shown. A fair amount of money was spent on this production, with location shooting in England and Italy, and impressive set and costume designs credited to Hans Dreier and Paul Leni. I wouldn't say, however, that there was anything innovative or notable about the film's style. 

Liane Haid was apparently quite a major star in Europe at the time, and she's attractive enough to play Lady Hamilton, but from my perspective she didn't strike me as a woman who would automatically cause every man she meets to go mad over her, which happens in the film. Nearly every man Lady Emma encounters tries to have their way with her, except the upstanding Nelson (maybe that's why she falls for him in this story). Haid doesn't really have all that much to do here except be decorative. 

As for Conrad Veidt, he brings his usual striking presence to the role of Nelson, although I have to say it's hard to believe he's supposed to be English. His Nelson is a brooding, almost spectral figure, especially after he's lost an arm and an eye in battle. 

Conrad Veidt as Horatio Nelson

Werner Krauss really hams it up as William Hamilton, making the man as eccentric as possible. It should be said, however, that nearly every character in this film, other than Emma and Nelson, acts in an eccentric manner. The King of Naples is a useless lout, and Emma's many suitors are either fops or near-degenerates. (Was this a German statement about English society or the upper class in general??) 

One thing I must point out about the version of LADY HAMILTON that I viewed was that I don't believe it was the original cut. On the page for the film on IMDB, under the list of characters, the English Prince George is listed, but he wasn't in the version I watched. The version on the Internet Archive also ends rather abruptly--Emma finds out from William Hamilton (as he's in the act of dying) that she will receive nothing from his estate, due to his anger at finding out about her affair with Nelson. The story then moves to the Battle of Trafalgar, where Nelson lays dying while mooning over a small portrait of Emma. The movie then stops. I assume there has to be more to the story, such as what happened to Emma after Nelson's death. 

But we'll never know, unless someone does a full restoration of LADY HAMILTON. Considering that the movie stars German Expressionist superstars Conrad Veidt and Werner Krauss, it might happen someday--or, for all we know, there's a better and longer print out there that just hasn't been discovered yet. Honestly the main reasons to see LADY HAMILTON are Veidt and Krauss' extreme performance.