Hoffmann

ref. 51-7121 — Berlin: circa 1923. Original silver print. 30 x 21.5cm. Signed and titled verso in pencil by the photographer who was also the cinematographer of the fil. .Carl Hoffmann's cinematography profoundly shaped German Expressionism particularly through his innovative use of lighting and composition in films like F.W. Murnau's Faust 1926 where he crafted atmospheric visuals blending stark shadows and ethereal effects to evoke supernatural themes. His techniques also influenced epic filmmaking during the Weimar Republic emphasizing dynamic camera movements and visual storytelling that prioritized mood over realism. Following World War II these Expressionist methods were carried to Hollywood by émigré filmmakers impacting the stylistic development of American genre films including film noir and fantasy productions.Posthumously his work has been acknowledged in key film scholarship such as Lotte H. Eisner's The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema 1952 which praises the technical prowess of Expressionist cinematographers like Hoffmann for advancing cinematic aesthetics. Contemporary recognition includes the restoration and screening of his silent films at festivals underscoring his enduring influence on visual narrative techniques.He alos orked as a film and theater photographer. Lucie Mannheim was a principal actress of the Berlin Theatre until expelled by the Nazis. She sang "Lili Marleen" a anti-Hitler version for BBC in 1943 in G.reat Britain. Lucie Mannheim was married to Marius Goring until her death. .Mannheim was born in Berlin–Köpenick where she studied drama and quickly became a popular figure appearing on stage in plays and musicals. Among other roles she played Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House Marie in Büchner's Woyzeck and Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. She also began a film career in 1923 appearing in several silent and sound films including Atlantik 1929 – the first of many versions of the story of the ill-fated RMS Titanic. The composer Walter Goetze wrote his operetta Die göttliche Jette 1931 especially for Mannheim. However as a Jew she was obliged to stop acting in 1933 when her contract at the State Theatre was cancelled. She promptly left Germany first to Czechoslovakia then to Britain. She appeared in several films there notably as the doomed spy Annabella Smith in Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 version of The 39 Steps.During World War II she appeared in several films as well as broadcasting propaganda to Germany – including performing an anti-Hitler version of Lili Marleen in 1943. In 1941 she married the actor Marius Goring.She returned to Germany in 1948 and resumed her career as an actress on stage and in film. In 1955 she joined the cast of the British television series The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel as Countess La Valliere. She made her final English-language film appearance in the 1965 film "Bunny Lake Is Missing." Her last appearance was in a 1970 TV movie. She died in the German spa town Braunlage.Provenance: Estate of Lucie Mannheim Berlin: circa 1923 unknown