DAS BLAUE LICHT [THE BLUE LIGHT] (1932) German photo

Vintage original 9 x 11″ (23 x 30 cm.) double weight glossy silver gelatin print still photo, Germany. Leni Riefenstahl, Mathias Wieman, Beni Fuhrer, Max Holsboer, Martha Mair, dir: Leni Riefenstahl; Sokal. Slight creasing at very bottom right hand corner and a bit of creasing and tiny tear in blank white margin towards right edge side near studio logo. About fine.

A beautiful character portrait of the legendary actress, director, writer, editor and producer, Leni Riefenstahl. Riefenstahl performed all these creative tasks on this film for her own production company.

This is the story of Junta, a woman hated by the people of her village, who suspect her of being a witch. She is the only person who can climb the nearby mountains and has discovered the mysteries of the blue light during her climbs. She is cast out of the town and goes to live in the mountains. She shares the secret of the blue light with one man, but he betrays her.

Groundbreaking filmmaking at the time, it was an early sound film (though a silent version was also made) to be shot on high mountain locations and employed the people who lived in the mountains as the supporting players. Riefenstahl had made a series of mountain films with director Arnold Fanck in the years prior and was now ready to make her own films. So impressed by this film was Adolf Hitler that he asked Riefenstahl to make Triumph of the Will.

This stunning portrait features the film’s title and L.R. Studio credit at the bottom margin and a German blindstamp at the bottom right corner. The still is numbered 44.