The Imp

Das Teufelchen

The Imp

Wanda Treumann (Artist), Dr. R. Portegg (Rosa Porten, Franz Eckstein)

DE
1917
Feature Film
58’
Back on the Screen Again

Self-reflexive storylines that dealt with film-making, visiting the cinema and the film industry itself were popular material in the early days of film. A classic example here is the comedy Das Teufelchen (The Imp), missing for decades and only rediscovered and restored in 2014 by the Austrian Film Museum. The co-producer of the film, Wanda Treumann, herself played the leading role of a young typist who marries her much older boss, making her rich but far from happy. Even before the wedding, someone films her without her knowing as she flirts with an impoverished artist. When this recording is made public, it leads to a scandal – and finally to Wanda’s new career as a film star.
The themes of class differences as well as entanglements involving money and love, the subject of so many films by Rosa Porten, are given an interesting new twist in this modern fairy tale. Dressed up as a light comedy, Das Teufelchen is a vehicle for what is a truly feminist concern: a confident woman hailing from disadvantaged social circumstances for whom the prison of marriage constitutes a far less attractive prospect than a career in film.

Wanda Treumann first worked as an actress from 1910 to 1922, then also as a producer in the film business. Together with husband Karl Treumann and Danish actor and film pioneer Viggo Larsen, she founded the Treumann-Larsen-Film-Vertriebs-GmbH in 1912, for whom Rosa Porten and Franz Eckstein, among others, made several films. As a producer, Treumann was responsible for over eighty films.

Recent film history research revealed that behind the pseudonym» Dr. R. Portegg« were the couple Rosa Porten and Franz Eckstein. Born 1884, Rosa Porten was previously, if at all, known as the sister of silent-movie star Henny Porten, yet she was one of the first women involved in the early days of film, as a performer, writer and director of many comedies and dramas. IFFF Dortmund+Köln in 2015 showed Wanda’s Trick and Der neueste Stern vom Varieté, both of which she directed.

Director

Dr. R. Portegg (Rosa Porten, Franz Eckstein)

Cast

Wanda Treumann, Hermann Seldeneck, Fritz Achterberg

Production

Treumann-Larsen-Film-Vertriebs- GmbH

Contact

Österreichisches Filmmuseum, Wien

Wanda Treumann (Artist)

Wanda Treumann first worked as an actress from 1910 to 1922, then also as a producer in the film business. Together with husband Karl Treumann and Danish actor and film pioneer Viggo Larsen, she founded the Treumann-Larsen-Film-Vertriebs-GmbH in 1912, for whom Rosa Porten and Franz Eckstein, among others, made several films. As a producer, Treumann was responsible for over eighty films.

Dr. R. Portegg (Rosa Porten, Franz Eckstein)

Recent film history research revealed that behind the pseudonym» Dr. R. Portegg« were the couple Rosa Porten and Franz Eckstein. Born 1884, Rosa Porten was previously, if at all, known as the sister of silent-movie star Henny Porten, yet she was one of the first women involved in the early days of film, as a performer, writer and director of many comedies and dramas. Dortmund | Cologne IWFF in 2015 showed Wanda’s Trick and Der neueste Stern vom Varieté, both of which she directed.