Film and finance in Weimar Germany: the rise and fall of David Schratter's Trianon-Film, 1923-1925.

MOTION pictures; MOTION picture studios; SCHRATTER, David; HISTORY of the motion picture industry; GERMAN films; VERTICAL integration; STILLER, Mauritz; GARBO, Greta, 1905-1990; FINANCE; MOTION picture history

After World War I, German cinema witnessed the emergence of many smaller firms which competed for profile and profits alongside a handful of larger and better known corporations. Thanks to an ambitious director and generous loans, one of these, Trianon-Film, quickly expanded into a vertically integrated company with international connections, including a planned co-production with Mauritz Stiller. Allegations of loan irregularities and financial mismanagement resulted in a legal investigation in 1925 which proved fatal for Trianon. Yet for the short period in which it flourished, it exemplified, in its setbacks as well as achievements, the strategies pursued (and challenges faced) by the motion picture business in Weimar Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]