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The Serpent's Egg

 
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The Serpent's Egg

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The Serpent's Egg
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  • Director: Ingmar Bergman
  • AMG Rating: starstar
  • Genre: Drama
  • Movie Type: Political Drama, Psychological Drama
  • Themes: Crisis of Faith, Suicide, Finding a Way Back Home
  • Main Cast: Liv Ullmann, David Carradine, Gert Fröbe, Heinz Bennent, James Whitmore
  • Release Year: 1977
  • Country: US/WG
  • Run Time: 120 minutes

Plot

The Serpent's Egg, or Das Schlangenei is director Ingmar Bergman's second English language production (The Touch was his first). It is, however, his first completely non-Swedish production, made after his voluntary self-exile from Sweden over taxation issues. Set in Berlin in the early 1920s, it explores the fear and despair the city evokes in Manuela and Abel Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and David Carradine), two Jewish trapeze artists. The suicide of Manuela's husband (Abel's brother), has stranded them in Berlin. Berlin is shown to already possess the sinister elements of cruelty and anti-Semitism which laid the groundwork for the later Nazi takeover. A series of misadventures gets them sent to a medical clinic for treatment. However, the clinic is actually a site for Nazi-type "racial" experiments on humans, which generally either madden or kill the subjects. Das Schlangenei was savaged by the critics for its improbable-seeming story and more particularly, for casting David Carradine (best known for his earlier appearances in the Kung Fu U.S. television series) in a crucial role. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Cast

Isolde Barth - Girl in guard uniform; Paul Barks - Cabaret Comedian; Toni Berger - Mr. Rosenberg; Paula Braend - Mrs. Hemse; Ema Brunell - Mrs. Rosenberg; Gaby Dohm - Woman with baby; Hans Eichler - Max Rosenberg; Kai Fischer; George Hartmann - Hollinger; Edith Heerdegen - Mrs. Holle; Rosemarie Heinikel - Girl in guard uniform; Grischa Huber - Stella; Harry Kalenberg - Couil's Doctor; Andrea L'Arronge - Girl in guard uniform; Lisi Mangold - Mikaela; Beverly McNeely - Girl in guard uniform; Günter Meisner; Kyra Mladeck - Miss Dorst; Hans Quest - Dr. Silbermann; Charles Regnier - Doctor; Walter Schmidinger - Solomon; Fritz Strassner - Dr. Soltermann; Glynn Thomas - Monroe; Glynn E. Turman - Monroe; Hertha Von Walther - Woman in street; Wolfgang Weiser - Civil servant; Ralf Wolter; Heino Hallhuber - "Bride"; Gunther Malzacher - Husband; Paul Burian - Experiment person; Emil Feist - Cupid; Ellen Umlauf - Hostess; Christian Berkel - Student; Renate Grosser - Prostitute

Credit

Werner Achmann - Art Director, Friedrich Thaler - Art Director, Heino Hallhuber - Choreography, Charlotte Flemming - Costume Designer, Ingmar Bergman - Director, Petra Von Oelffen - Editor, Rolf Wilhelm - Composer (Music Score), Rolf Wilhelm - Songwriter, Rolf Zehetbauer - Production Designer, Sven Nykvist - Cinematographer, Dino de Laurentiis - Producer, Horst Wendlandt - Producer, Ingmar Bergman - Screen Story, Ingmar Bergman - Screenwriter

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Wikipedia: The Serpent's Egg (film)
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
The Serpent's Egg
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Written by Ingmar Bergman
Starring David Carradine
Isolde Barth
Heinz Bennent
Toni Berger
Christian Berkel
Liv Ullmann
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
MGM Home Entertainment (DVD)
Release date(s) October 28, 1977
Running time 120 min
Language English/German

The Serpent's Egg is a 1977 United States / West German co-produced film (with English and German dialogue) directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring David Carradine as Abel Rosenberg, which is set in 1920s Berlin. This was Bergman's one and only Hollywood film. The title is taken from a line spoken by Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:

And therefore think him as a serpent's egg

Which hatch'd, would, as his kind grow mischievous;

And kill him in the shell.

Full credits

  • Original title: Ormens ägg/Das Schlangenei/The Serpent's Egg.
  • Production: Rialto Film (Berlin), Dino De Laurentiis Corp. (Los Angeles).
  • Distribution: Fox-Stockholm.
  • Director: Ingmar Bergman.
  • Producer: Dino De Laurentiis.
  • Set construction: Rolf Wilhelm.
  • Editor: Petra von Oelffen.
  • Sound: Karsten Ulrich.
  • Artistic direction: Erner Achmann.
  • Costumes: Charlotte Flemming.
  • Make-up and hairdressing: Raimund Stangl and others.
  • World premiere: October 28, 1977.
  • Duration: 119 minutes.
  • Cast: Liv Ullmann (Manuela Rosenberg), David Carradine (Abel Rosenberg), Gert Fröbe (Inspector Bauer), Heinz Bennent (Hans Vergérus), James Whitmore (Priest), Glynn Turman (Monroe), Georg Hartmann (Hollinger), Edith Heerdegen (Mrs Holle), Kyra Mldeck (Miss Dorst), Fritz Straßner (Doctor Soltermann), Hans Quest (Doctor Silbermann), Wolfgang Weiser (Official), Paula Braend (Mrs. Hemse), Walter Schmidinger (Solomon), Lisi Mangold (Mikaela), Grischa Huber (Stella), Paul Bürks, Toni Berger (Mr. Rosenberg), Erna Brunell (Mrs. Rosenberg), Isolde Barth, Rosemarie Heinikel, Andrea L'Arronge, Beverly McNeely, Hans Eichler (Max), Kai Fischer, Harry Kalenberg, Gaby Dohm, Christian Berkel (Student), Paul Burian, Charles Regnier, Günter Meisner, Heide Picha, Günter Malzacher, Hubert Mittendorf, Hertha von Walther, Ellen Umlauf, Renate Grosser, Hildegard Busse, Richard Bohne, Emil Feist, Heino Hallhuber, Irene Steinbeisser.

External links

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v • d • e
The films of Ingmar Bergman
1940s

Crisis (1946) • It Rains on Our Love (1946) • A Ship to India (1947) • Music in Darkness (1948) • Port of Call (1948) • Prison (1949) • Thirst (1949)
1950s
To Joy (1950) • This Can't Happen Here (1950) • Summer Interlude (1951) • Secrets of Women (1952) • Summer with Monika (1953) • Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) • A Lesson in Love (1954) • Dreams (1955) • Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) • The Seventh Seal (1957) • Wild Strawberries (1957) • Brink of Life (1958) • The Magician (1958)
1960s
The Virgin Spring (1960) • The Devil's Eye (1960) • Through a Glass Darkly (1961) • Winter Light (1962) • The Silence (1963) • All These Women (1964) • Persona (1966) • Hour of the Wolf (1968) • Shame (1968) • The Rite (1969) • The Passion of Anna (1969)
1970s
Faro Document (1970) • The Touch (1971) • Cries and Whispers (1972) • Scenes from a Marriage (1973) • The Magic Flute (1975) • Face to Face (1976) • The Serpent's Egg (1977) • Autumn Sonata (1978) • Faro Document 1979 (1979)
1980s
2000s
Saraband (2003)
TV plays
Mr. Sleeman Is Coming (1957) • The Venetian (1958) • Rabies (1958) Storm Weather (1960) • A Dream Play (1963) • Don Juan (1965) • The Misanthrope (1974) • Hustruskolan (1983) • After the Rehearsal (1984) • De två saliga (1986) • Markisinnan de Sade (1992) • Backanterna (1993) • The Last Gasp (1995) • In the Presence of a Clown (1997) • The Image Makers (2000)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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