Meissner Porzellan
Meissen Porcelain
Franz Porten
In 1906, actor and film pioneer Franz Porten was commissioned to direct six »Tonbilder« for Messters Projektion GmbH: short motion films with images played to almost synchronized sound from specially produced records to create the illusion of living, talking and singing photographs on screen. In Meissen Porcelain, the director’s daughters, Henny and Rosa Porten, made their first film appearance. To the sound of the eponymous Salon Gavotte from composer Karl Alfredy, the daughters appear as delicate, prancing Rococo porcelain figures.
Franz Porten
Franz Porten initially worked as an opera singer, actor and theatre director. Self-taught, he began producing sound films and, from 1910, he found his way into the film industry. From the outset, his daughters Henny and Rosa Porten took leading roles in his films. Henny Porten soon became one of the most famous film stars of her time, while Rosa increasingly worked as a screenwriter and co-producer.