Die Schauspielerin Thea Rosenquist

Newly restored films by the silent film star

Although unknown today, it is impossible to imagine the Austrian cultural scene of the 1910s and 1920s without her name. Thea Rosenquist's theatre career began in Lübeck, but she reached the zenith of her acting career in Austria. In Vienna, she quickly became a favourite with theatre audiences. She also made a career in film - first with Wiener Kunstfilm, then with Vienna's Helios-Film. Rosenquist emigrated to Canada in 1938.

With SO FALLEN DIE LOSE DES LEBENS and DIE JÜDIN VON TOLEDO, the Filmarchiv Austria is showing two central Rosenquist films in newly restored versions.

In DIE JÜDIN VON TOLEDA - an adaptation of Grillparzer's drama of the same name - Thea Rosenquist plays the high-spirited Jewess Rahel, who gains unauthorised access to the palace gardens and surprises the royal couple. The king falls under the young woman's spell and forgets his duties to his country, which is under threat from King Jussuf. Seething with jealousy, the queen decides to have her mistress eliminated ...

SO FALLEN DIE LOSE DES LEBENS tells the story of two unequal sisters: the reckless Mela is guilty of theft, which the good-natured Anna takes upon herself. She serves the prison sentence in Mela's place, while Mela indulges in unscrupulous pleasure. Embedded in a pessimism marked by the turmoil of war, the film tells of the injustice of life - those who act conscientiously are not always rewarded. (Jona Haidenthaler/Kristina Höch)

With an introduction by Jona Haidenthaler and live musical accompaniment by Florian C. Reithner

The Jewess of Toledo
Director: Otto Kreisler
Country: A
Year: 1919
With: Thea Rosenquist, Emmy Flemmich, Franz Höbling, Ida Norden, Josef Viktora, Theodor Weiß
Version: German intertitles
Length: 30 min

Thus fall the lots of life
Director: Friedrich Rosenthal
Country: A
Year: 1918
With: Thea Rosenquist, Liane Haid, Hans Rhoden, Hermann Benke
Version: German intertitles
Length: 43 min