A Daughter Of Destiny (1928) [N/A]
Featuring:
Brigitte Helm, Paul Wegener, Iván Petrovich
Written by:
Hanns Heinz Ewers
Henrik Galeen
Directed by:
Henrik Galeen
Release Date:
January 25, 1928
Original Title:
Alraune
Alternate Titles:
A Daughter of Destiny
Mandragore
Mandrake
Unholy Love
Genres:
Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Science Fiction
Production Companies:
Ama-Film
Production Countries:
Germany
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 108
Hanns Heinz Ewers' grim science-fiction novel Alraune has already been filmed twice when this version was assembled in 1928. In another of his "mad doctor" roles, Paul Wegener plays Professor Brinken, sociopathic scientist who combines the genes of an executed murderer with those of a prostitute. The result is a beautiful young woman named Alraune (Brigitte Helm), who is incapable of feeling any real emotions -- least of all guilt or regret. Upon attaining adulthood, Alraune sets about to seduce and destroy every male who crosses her path. Ultimately, Professor Brinken is hoist on his own petard when he falls hopelessly in love with Alraune himself. Alraune was remade in 1930, with Brigitte Helm repeating her role, and again in 1951, with Hildegarde Knef as the "heroine" and Erich von Stroheim as her misguided mentor.
A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse relationships throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she avenges herself against the professor.
