" What happened Mr. Höf gen?" " What do you want?" "I don't need you now!" "Go to hell!" "We'r e invited to a boring banquet." "Sorry, but we have to leave now." "Can't you sit with us, Dora?" "No, we'r e much too late." "Sorry, good evening." "I wanted to say you wer e marvelous tonight." "It was fantastic." "Thank God I saw it." "Y ou fraud, you didn't see the show." "Never mind, you'r e talented." "Me?" "Talented?" "Say it louder." "Y es, you'r e very talented, Herr Höf gen." "I'm sur e you'll soon be able to show just how talented you ar e." "I must be going, goodbye." " Böck." "Seven marks." " But Hendrik  if you need money I can lend you fifty marks." "This is men's business." "Böck likes giving money." "Good evening, Miklas." "Thank you." "So  Doctor Kr oge lets me starve." "Höf gen, you old sinner!" "Take a seat." "Well, Dir ector, how'd you like the show?" "What's getting you down, Hendrik?" "That I'm a pr ovincial actor." "is that all?" "Nothing else?" "Hello." "Y ou'r e late." "One day, I'll come to fetch you." "Don't you dr ead that, Heinz?" " Please don't call me Heinz." " Why not?" "That's your name." "I dislike it." "Understand?" "Perfectly, Heinz." "Y ou can't even drink a beer like a man who feels like drinking one." "Shall we start?" "What was that about beer?" "It's not your style, simply to call for a beer." ""A beer, please" sounds phony when you say it." "I don't drink, Juliette." "I know, Heinz." "Take your shoes off." "Come on..." "One, two..." "One, two one, two, thr ee, four..." "On one..." "Don't fall down now." "Faster!" "Faster!" "Show me what you can do." "Y ou want to be an actor and show off for money, too?" "Y ou comical pictur e of misery." "If you liked this music, you wouldn't get tir ed." "Y ou always laugh at me, Juliette." "I can't cry." "Would you love me if I could cry?" "I love you anyway." "Y ou only love yourself, Heinz, and even then not enough." "Keep talking." "What you say is very nice." "Y our only concern is your face being devoid of human expr ession." "It's a mask, you hear?" "I, too, have skin and bones and body weight and eyebr ows and fingernails, just like you." "I, too, feel the cold." "I can be hungry and thirsty." "I, too, think of my mother." "And I know ther e ar e Philistines and Communists." "But my eyes ar e not my eyes." "My legs ar e not mine, my face is not mine." "My name is not my name, because I am an actor!" "Do you know what it means to be an actor?" "An actor is a mask among human beings." "Juliette..." "Juliette..." "Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor of welcoming you to the first r eading of the play." "May I intr oduce our guest, Nicoletta von Niebuhr who will play the female lead in this pr oduction." "Do you mind if my friend watches the r ehearsal?" "I have no objection." " Two cognacs, please." " Y es, dir ector." "Coming up right away." "Thr ee beers, please." "Ther e you go." "Please ex cuse me." "Please ex cuse me." "Father Hansemann..." "Hendrik, will we look lovely in this play?" "We ar e lovely." "May I intr oduce my best friend, Barbara Bruckner?" "Nice to meet you." "What?" "Ther e's a nice smell of lavender about you." "Can you smell the lavender, too?" "How shocking, on a man." "But I need it like my daily br ead." "A little on the temples is as good as a night's sleep." "Sleep would be better, but ther e's no time." "A beer and a mineral water." "We'll hear what he has to say  use the good bits, then play it our way." "He's good, but old-fashioned." "The futur e of Hamburg Art Theater is me." "I mean the two of us." "Most of the plays her e ar e shallow bourgeois stuff." "But we visualize theater that will involve everyone the workers, the dockers." "Wher e will you perform this theater?" "It doesn't matter." "In the docks, factories, cellars." "They asked me about the play." "We pr omised it for last week." "Let's get this opening night over first." "We must pr ove that theater has a political function." "Befor e it can be political or r evolutionary, it first has to be good." "Which actors will be in this sort of theater?" "All who think like us." "Even workers." "It's what we say, not how we say it." "But I've no qualms if Hendrik stages our plays." "Go on." "Why ar e you looking at me?" "Am I not allowed to?" "If it pleases you, go ahead." "Without you, I'll be finished, Barbara." "Ther e's too much evil in me." "Alone, I'm too weak to overcome it, but you could help me." "I can't talk anymor e." "So many thoughts ar e just parts I've played." "I love you, Barbara." "I'm in love." "With a woman." "Juliette, am I a good looking man?" "I've never seen you on stage." "Maybe you'r e handsome, but frankly, I've never found you good looking, but sometimes your cold cheating eyes ar e those of a sad child." "Y ou do it well." "Who have you fallen for?" " A girl." " Gr eat." "Y ou falling in love..." "One day you may just learn how to walk, not just dance." "Love the girl, Heinz, and don't tell me anything about her." " Do we keep in touch?" " Y es." "Y ou know what?" "I'm coming with you." "I have nothing to lose, Heinz." "Ar e you crazy?" "See a psychiatrist." "Though I'm sur e you wouldn't dar e talk about yourself." "Go, Heinz." "We'll meet soon anyway even if I don't want to." "Grandmother, have you a moment?" " l'd like to intr oduce..." " Y our fiancé." "I have to take a closer look at my new grandson." "Not bad at all." "Ex cuse my mother please, she will be her e shortly." "I assume you know, my dear Höf gen that loving mothers rar ely want their only sons to leave the nest." "Hello, Sebastian." "That is Sebastian." "Mom." "I'm r eally pleased." "Barbara, my dear child." "And I'm Nicoletta von Niebuhr the bride's best friend, almost her sister." "Often, the bridegr oom's mistr ess." "Only onstage, of course." "May I call you Aunt Bella?" "But of course, Nicoletta." "Let us leave the ladies to themselves." "I'd like to show you my garden." "I'd love to see it." "Have you unsettling memories, too?" "Y ou know, Barbara, memories that give you the cr eeps?" "When I was about twelve, I got into our school choir." "I was overjoyed. I thought I could sing better than the other boys." "We had to sing in church at some wedding." "I wanted to show off." "I was so pr oud of my soprano voice." "I had a gr eat idea. I sang one octave higher than the others." "As I stood ther e, pr oudly singing the music teacher looked at me mor e in disgust than disappr oval and he said softly, "Just keep quiet."" "Do you understand?" "Softly and dryly he said, "Just keep quiet."" "When I felt I was singing like an angel." "Do you have such memories?" "No." "Y ou've never felt ashamed in your life." "I often have." "That was the first time." "I often have to feel awfully ashamed of myself." "So ashamed, I could sink down into hell." "Do you understand me?" "This is the basement r oom." "The window faces the str eet." "Her e's a lamp post and her e, too." "Behind it the bakery..." " ...with workers' wives lined up." " Stop!" "Gr eat." "Ms. Schult, you come up past the window." "Barbara, can you put a lamp post her e with a light to dazzle the audience?" "Then you come her e. "l'm Widow Queck who hasn't paid the r ent."" "We could have several mor e lamp posts in the auditorium so people feel they'r e r eally in their filthy str eet." "We'll have posters, r ecent political slogans, all jumbled up." "At the back, a gr ocer's shop, with nothing to sell, of course." "Everything in the hall must expr ess what we talk about." "Two policemen can patr ol the r ows and star e at the audience." "An end to passive watching, actors and public isolated fr om each other." "The public must play an active part." "The days of the peepshow ar e over." "The actor is only one element of the performance  not it's focal point." "The hall, lights, walls, movements, sounds, all must blend into a whole." "Only then shall we have r eal theater." "The workers need total theater." "One that shocks and ar ouses." "I am the widow Queck, who cannot pay the r ent. I work for the baker." "It's the only way I can feed my seven hungry childr en." "The half-hour has to be paid for." "We've been waiting half an hour." "Her e r eigns logic and hunger." "I alr eady owe you 31 marks and 25 pfennigs." "I've had nothing these past few days." "Silly goose !" "Sabotaging our work!" "Do you think I don't know why?" "Miklas or one of his damn party friends has put you up to it!" " What do you want fr om me?" " Why don't you pr ompt her?" "!" "Never mind!" "Revolutionary Theatr e can't be staged with pr ovincial hams." "With amateurs, you can't cr eate any sort of theatr e." "Even r evolutions need pr ofessionals!" "I'll buy you a drink to celebrate." "Revolutionary Theater is a big flop." "Y ou'r e beside yourself with joy." "Hello." "Two stiff ones, Hansemann." "How about another r ebellious evening?" "I'd like to invite you to dinner." "What, me?" " Good morning." " Morning." "Y ou'r e still half asleep." "I'm awake." "I've even phoned our gr ocer, he's a bit impatient over our large bill." "I'm sorry. I don't pr esent a pictur e of early morning fr eshness." "If I, too, went riding every morning I'd pr obably look mor e attractive." "But in our circles, such noble sport is not customary." "The offended husband, as in Moliér e." "Oh, be quiet." "It's not customary to sit all night at a Nazi thug's table." " Miklas is not a thug." " All Nazis ar e thugs." "Y ou must avoid their company." "Their dirt rubs off on you." "But you can't understand. lt's your family's well known liberalism." "No political beliefs, just curiosity." "ldeologies ar e psychological quirks." "I feel sorry for Miklas." "He gets small parts and earns very little." "Y ou all tr eat him very badly." "He's at a loss, that's why he's with them." "So much understanding for that lousy brat." "How do you think they'd tr eat us if they came to power?" "God forbid." "And yet you sit and chat with him." "It's you bourgeois tolerance." "This understanding of one's enemy." "I'm sur e you could even ex cuse Fascist terr orism." "Y our liberalism might even get used to dictatorship." "No, thank you." "May I r emark  it's common practice to eat an egg fr om its shell and with salt." "I know, in the Bruckner household you eat it fr om a glass with six spices, and that's very original  but no need to make fun of those unaccustomed to such originality." " Who's juvenile lead in Halberstadt?" " Herbert Boltz." "Wher e's Ms. Türkheim-Gawernitz now?" "In Heidelberg." " And Hannelor e Kühn." " Mannheim." " And who's Othello ther e?" " Max Krause." " And Iago?" " Johannes Fiedler." " And Desdemona in Leipzig?" " Kathe Müttel." "Who's the ingénue in Jena?" "A stupid cow called Lotte Lindenthal." "Why is Lotte Lindenthal a stupid cow?" "I don't know, but she is." "I know why you insult her." "She's the friend of a National Socialist leader." "I'm only moderately inter ested in the names and titles of her lovers." "Must be quite a long list..." "Watch your tongue, Höf gen!" "Y ou won't insult a lady because she's in the Nazi German worker's party and the friend of a German her o." "Y ou won't stand for it?" "My, my..." "Stop it, you'r e drunk." "I'm not." "On the contrary." "Appar ently I'm the only one her e with a spark of honor left." "Nobody in this Jew-ridden business car es if a lady is insulted." "Let me !" "No !" "Go away!" "I'll gladly believe you'r e not drunk." "Y ou won't make that an ex cuse, then." "As for this Jew-ridden business you'r e in you won't suffer it much longer." "That I pr omise you." "Perhaps you'r e right." "I agr ee, the fellow's behavior was intolerable  but I can't just fir e a poor, sick man like that." "Sick?" "He's not sick at all." "Why this indecision and compr omise?" "It's just like our government parties." "Ex cuse me, Barbara." "We must show this murder ous pack it can't get away with it." "I beg you, don't insist that he be sacked on the spot." "It's punishment enough that he won't be hir ed for next season." "He has no idea what he said last night, he just went wild." "I'm amazed, Otto." "I'm r eally amazed that you, of all people, should say that." "I don't want him made a martyr." " ln the political situation..." " Ex cuse me if I interrupt." "This conversation is quite pointless." "The case is simple." "Either Miklas leaves the theater or I do." "That's nonsense." "Higher, higher!" "Higher, higher!" "Enough!" "This isn't a funeral march!" "Again." "Lights!" "Sorry, to interrupt." "Dr. Kr oge asks you to appr ove the next poster." "I must take it to the printer." "Can't I get my name spelled corr ectly even in this theatr e?" "My name is not Henrik, but Hendrik!" "Hendrik Höf gen." "One day they'll all have to mark my name." "Try to understand, doctor." "I can't and won't tie myself down." "It's a gr eat strain to stay under contract." "I must be fr ee." "Fr ee." "I can't be a pr ovincial matinee idol." "No, no, I don't want to be that." "Y ou want to leave Hamburg for good?" "I don't know yet." "The Pr ofessor invited me to a Berlin guest appearance." "One never knows." "By the way, Dora Martin will be my partner." "Good." "Then accept the offer." "Thank you." "Berlin." "Thank you, ladies." "Till tomorr ow." "Goodbye." "So you ar e Höf gen." "Y ou have friends her e." "Some of them, who understand theater, r ecommended you to me." "Y our father-in-law, too, when we met at the ministry." "And Dora Martin, as well." "In r eal life I may seem a bit nondescript, but not, I hope on stage." "My father-in-law once aptly described my ability to transform myself." "Well, we'll give you a try." "Don't expect too much." "I'm not offering anything big." "Y ou ar e pr obably used to a r easonable income in Hamburg." "Her e you'll have less." "Have you expensive tastes?" "Money doesn't inter est me." "My needs ar e modest." "All I need every day is a clean shirt and a dr op of cologne." "Discuss the details with Miss Bernhardt." "Please give my r egards to your father-in-law." " Hendrik Höf gen." " Oh, yes." "Bernhardt." "Her e's your contract." "Thank you." " May I?" " Please." "700 marks a month, less tax." "Y ou agr ee to play as cast." "Please give these flowers... ..and this card to Ms. Martin, will you?" "THANKS !" "Well, Hendrik Höf gen." "Now you'r e a beginner again." "Hamburg's fame, r outine and security all lie behind you." "Now you must summon up all your str ength." "And we'll work off that blubber." " Who is that?" " Dora Martin's Hamburg actor lover." " No, Miss Bernhardt's." " Y ou'r e misinformed, dear." "So glad you wer e able to come, despite all your work." "May I intr oduce some of your admir ers?" "Mr. Davidson of the London Times." "Caser von Muck, Mr. Müller-Andr ea." "Mind you ar en't influenced by the pr evailing cultur e Bolshevism." "What do you mean?" "German cultur e can only be r enewed if it r eturns to its national r oots to its essence of blood and soil." "Russian ravings or Fr ench farces ar e alien to the spirit the nation needs." "Have you met Mr. Höf gen?" "Berlin's new star, according to tomorr ow's London Times." "I've seen you on stage." "Y ou danced, didn't you?" "Y es, I like dancing." "I had a good teacher." "I'd like to model your head." "No necktie and no gold we've got We'r e just a very shabby lot" "At which the bourgeois spits" "The bourgeois with polished boots And medals on morning suits" "And every morning he ablutes for church, or for the Ritz" "Wher e does the bourgeois get it all?" "His guns his celebration ball?" "He steals it wher e he can" "He makes it hard for us to r ob Takes it all, the gr eedy slob" "Exploits the poor and wr ecks the job of every working man" "Oh, if so wealthy I could be, Commit like him grand larceny" "All honor ed since my birth lf then I met someone I knew, Y ou filthy lot, I'd spit at you" "That's all you dogs ar e worth!" "Get the Jews out of her e !" "They ar e completely drunk." "Now one of the most famous State Theater actors, Hendrik Höf gen." "Forget State Theater and fame." "I am your comrade Hendrik Höf gen." "What does the pr oletariat want?" "That nobody should rule !" "What does the pr oletariat want?" "That nobody should rule !" "Nobody shall give orders Nobody shall be a slave" "Fr eedom, equality for all souls I'll dictate." "Headline :" "Actor Höf gen wins Berlin workers' hearts overnight." "New paragraph." " Hendrik?" " Hello." "I bought this pictur e at the antique dealer." "Y ou don't mind?" "Why should I mind?" "Y ou can admir e it while I go and change." "I love you, Barbara." "Not only your father and grandmother." "I love you..." "I, Hendrik Höf gen." "Welcome to my home, dear Sebastian." "The theater awaits me." "Up!" "Up!" "Two !" "Thr ee !" "Four!" "Five !" "Six !" "Führ er!" "We ar e our people's str ength!" "We shall cr eate a new world!" " What's your father's job?" " Road digger!" " And your father's?" " Farmer!" " And yours?" " Teacher." "He educates us!" " And your father?" " Baker." "He bakes our br ead!" "Mine's a miller." "He grinds our grain!" "A doctor." "He makes us healthy!" "Bricklayer." "He builds our houses!" " Conductor!" " Electrician!" "We ar e the sons of one people, we all have the same goal!" "Unity and str ength!" "We follow the Führ er!" "No." "That's not convincing enough." "Say it like this..." " Again... one, two, thr ee." " Unity and str ength!" " Again... one, two, thr ee." " Unity and str ength!" "Again!" "Unity and str ength!" " Louder!" "Again!" " Unity and str ength!" "We follow the Führ er!" "Blood is a very special juice  let us in depths of sensuousness assuage our burning passions." "No bounds and goals ar e set for you." "Y ou find your pleasur e." "A fleeing tr easur e." "May you enjoy the prize you get." "Help yourself and don't be coy." "But listen, it's not a question of joy." "To knowledge I'm devoted, most painful gratification." "Most hateful love, most vexing stimulation." "Believe me, who countless years on this hard nourishment has fed." "That fr om cradle to the grave, no human can digest so stale a br ead." "Believe me, worlds celestial and infernal for one divinity wer e made." "He exists in eternal light." "But us, into the darkness, has conveyed ther e's day and night alone." "Y et l want that!" "That's well worth hearing." "But ther e's one thing I fear." "For time is short, but art is long." "If I thought you sought mor e teaching, cultivate a poet fond of pr eaching." "Let his thoughts wander." "And every noble quality upon your br ow let him bestow the lion's courage, the buck's swiftness." "The Italian's fiery blood, the north's enduring pluck." "He'll teach you the secr et vile of magnanimity steeped in guile." "May his youthful drives uncover to make of you an ardent lover." "I'd like to meet a scholar of such fame to Micr ocosm I'd change his name." "So what am I, if it's not possible the paragon of humanity to attain towards all my senses strain?" "Y ou'r e in the end just what you ar e." "Put on the wigs of a million curls." "Put your feet in elevating socks." "Y ou'll stay for ever what you ar e !" "Bravo !" "Wonderful!" "Y ou wer e fantastic, Hendrik." "Y ou wer e born to play Mephisto." "Y ou say that with a touch of malice, Dora." "Not true, I don't detest people for what they ar e." " Anyway, thank you for coming." " Let's skip the cliches." " What's your next pr oject?" " l'm learning English." "English?" "Why?" " l'll be working in America." " But why?" "Her e the curtain's descending." "Haven't you noticed?" "Y ou'r e at the top her e, hit after hit." "Thousands ador e you." "So why go?" "Thousands!" "Soon they'll be raving about others." "Ther e'll always be theater, no matter what happens in Germany." "No matter what happens in Germany?" "Y ou r eally mean that?" "Well, all the best." "I'm leaving in a few days." "In a few days?" "I don't want to wait till it's too late." "But you'll always do well, Hendrik  no matter what happens in Germany." "It's open." "Mephisto, I never lock the door." "need neither bolts nor life insurance." " l bet you've taken one out." " l need no life insurance." "Sit down, sir, in my new home." "Y ou could have gotten me a nicer flat." " Have you r egister ed with the police?" " Y es, sir." "What did the landlord say?" "Nothing." "He was drunk, humming a song..." "No neckties, no gold we've got..." "He gave me the key and I moved in." "I've been longing to see you." " And how's your wife?" " She's with her father, thank God." "They'r e worried about the Republic." "In Hamburg, the for eigners wer e also very worried about Germany about German cultur e, whose Number-One-Parr ot you ar e." "As if a peril thr eatened it." "What ar e the Jews planning against Germany?" "Even the whor es wonder and they don't car e about the pant color as long as it has a fly." "Barbara understands politics, doesn't she?" "is she keeping an eye on you?" "No." "Mostly her opinions ar e the opposite of mine." " Have you told her so?" " No." "What point would ther e be?" "Words don't say everything." "I'd like very much to sleep with you." "Shall I make up the bed?" "Y es!" "Hendrik!" "Hendrik!" "Hendrik, wake up!" "Didn't you her e?" "Y ou'r e her e alr eady?" "I came on the early train, because of you." " What's the matter?" " When did you go to bed?" "I'm tir ed. I was tossing all night." "Why?" "The Nazis have won the elections." "Y ou know who became Chancellor?" "No." "Do you hear that?" "Do you hear that?" "That Bohemian corporal has become Chancellor?" "Her e, r ead it." "I thought ther e was nothing to fear fr om the Nazis." "Remember that business with Miklas?" "That could have unpleasant consequences." "What do we do now?" "Keep a clear head and don't panic." "So, the Austrian clown has become Reichs-Chancellor." "But ther e still is the opposition, no?" "Communists and Social Democrats." "They'll make sur e he doesn't get too big for his boots." "Perhaps ther e'll even be armed r esistance." "And even if the Nazis stay in power, why should it concern me?" "I'm fr om the Rhineland." "So ar e my par ents." "What can happen to us?" "On top of that, I'm an actor." "No?" "I go to the theater, play my parts, then go back home." "That's all." "Some people ar e leaving a country wher e a car eer in the arts is now impossible." "People will think you don't car e about anything beyond the limelight?" "Ther e wer e elections in a democratic state." "One party won, that's all." "I've never been inter ested in politics, so why now?" "Don't you r ealize what's happening her e?" "Don't answer it. I'm not her e, I'm sick." "Say what you want." "is that any solution?" "To lock yourself in, to hide, not be at home?" "is that all you can think of, instead of taking a definite stand?" "Definite... this is my answer!" "Hamlet!" "Shakespear e !" "Either we take a stand or go, if our fr eedom is in danger." "This is the only form of fr eedom for me, for an actor." "Y ou can't hide behind Shakespear e, on the stage." "Barbara, I'm an actor." "An actor in Germany at all times." "Y ou can go away." "Y our father is a famous writer." "Y ou can design sets anywher e, or buy antiques." "But I need the German language !" "I need the motherland, don't you see?" " Who's ther e?" " Otto." " Who?" " Otto." " l must talk to you." " Y ou want some coffee?" " No, thanks." " Tea?" "Act with us again. lt's the only r eply we can give to these events." "An appearance by all of us, a common fr ont." "So we don't lose our futur e." "Y ou just want to divide the audience?" "We must work out our tactics." "Tactics will force us to our knees." "We must fight this crushing demagogy." "It's our job to tell the hesitators:" "Now is the time to r esist dictatorship!" "Otto, in the first place, we'r e actors..." "No, not a pr otest on the str eet." "I'm talking about the stage." "Still, I think we should wait a few days." "We must do something immediately." "Tonight." "Otto, I'd rather stay with the r eserves." "Thank God I've no performance today." "GERMAN RElCHS-MAlL" "Film contract, locations in Budapest  leading r ole." "Pr oduction Manager Altenburger." "She r eally is a beauty." "She's sitting by the side altar." "Cut!" "V ery good!" "The second one." "Now the scene wher e they follow her to the Fishermen's Bastion." "What's going on?" "What's going on?" "Ar e we done for today?" "Can we go?" " The Reichstag was burned down." " What?" "They say the communists set fir e to it." "Y our wife wants you to join her in Paris." "She didn't dar e phone you." "Don't go back to Berlin. I'm moving to Vienna." "Many of your Berlin friends have vanished lately." "Otto Ulrichs is one." "We must be pr epar ed for anything." "I fear we'll never be able to r eturn." "The Nazis have blacklists." "Y our wife and you ar e on them." "Please, never go back to Berlin." "Hendrik, pr omise me that." "Please !" "Cheers, and many thanks!" "Cheers!" "To the most beautiful actr ess in Eur ope !" "When ar e you going home?" "I'll stay a few mor e days in Budapest." "Then I'm going to see about a contract in Vienna." "I understand you, Hendrik." "I'll tell you now, I'm not going back to Germany, either." "I signed you for this part so you, too, could slip away, if you want to." "The film studio gave me your addr ess in Budapest." "I hope my letter r eaches you." "I'm in Berlin now." "I've landed a part in a comedy." "During the shoot I met the actr ess Lotte Lindenthal." "She's friendly with a National Socialist who's very powerful now." "She's wonderful." "She never flaunts what gr eat influence she has." "I told her you wer e abr oad and didn't dar e r eturn, for certain r easons." "What's the man afraid of?" "She said you wer e an eminent artist and saw Mephisto several times." ""We need such actors", she said, and she pr omised to speak to her friend." "This morning she said: "No matter what silly things Höf gen has done when it's an eminent actor, people ar e tolerant."" "Her friend has pr omised that nothing will happen to you if you r eturn." "Hendrik, Berlin awaits you." "Y ou have nothing to fear." "No one can r eplace you." "Those who rule our lives  know that the theater is a shelter for me and people like me  in which we all feel safe and have nothing to fear." "It would be that for you, too." "Theater is a mission." "In true friendship, yours, Angelika Siebert." "Name?" " Hendrik Höf gen." " Pr ofession?" "Actor." "Wher e?" "At the State Theater in Berlin." " ls something wr ong?" " No, no." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I don't know if you'll feel at home again her e." "The spirit is differ ent fr om that you wer e accustomed to." "Cultural Bolshevism is over." "Ther e will no longer be a chance to appear in your friend's plays or those popular Fr ench farces." "We perform German art now." "Frankly, I saw no gr eat r eason to r ecall you fr om abr oad." "But Lotte Lindenthal wants you as her partner in her comedy debut her e." "I didn't want to displease her." "The r ole of elegant friend and seducer shouldn't cause you any difficulty." "I'm so cold." "I'll warm you up." "Y our r oom isn't heated in this dr eadful weather?" "is this how you anticipated my visit?" "V ery nice of you!" "Ther e's a warm r oom over ther e." "Come." "No, I'm in a gr eat hurry today." "It would warm us up." "No, ther e's no point in this cold flat." "My new maid doesn't know her duties yet." "Y ou should have told her your visitor needed warmth." "But I've only just r eturned home." "Y ou should have r eturned earlier." "I'm someone you must wait for, impatiently." "If I want to meet someone in passing, I have my husband." "And besides..." "Wher e did you get this new maid?" "She's far too pr etty." "It's an honor to act with you." "It's so nice to hear a warm voice again." "I'm happy to hear you say that, I know you'r e no flatter er." "Me, a flatter er?" "I'm notorious for telling people the truth." "I like honest people." "If she turns, everything will be fine." "If she waves, I've scor ed a triumph." "After the Reichstag fir e, I had to leave Hamburg." "Bonetti wears a uniform now." "He thr ew me out of the canteen." ""We've got you now, Böck!" he said." "They almost beat me up, my landlady thr ew me out." "I had to leave Hamburg." "Ar e you upset that I've come?" "When I heard you wer e in Berlin, I found new hope and I just came." "Ar e you angry with me?" "I'm not angry with you." "Live her e till things settle down, but don't tell anyone." "Just simply disappear without a word." "If I wer e in your position, I might well commit suicide." "I'll buy you a radio, so you'll know what's happening outside." "I've got nobody else in the world but you." " ls Budapest beautiful?" " l don't know..." "Y es, quite nice." "I could have gone ther e." "Barbara wasn't with you." "They wouldn't have let you cr oss the border." "I'm a German citizen, too." "My father was pur e German." "Why can't I go out?" "If you can't understand why, we'll both be in tr ouble." " Y ou'r e horrible." " Y ou'r e an idiot!" "Go to hell you... you actor!" "Dear Lotte, may I ask a gr eat favor?" "I have to play Mephisto." "I'll see what I can do." "I look forward to seeing you again as Mephisto." "It's thanks to me you'r e playing Mephisto again." "Certain ministerial circles fear ed you might r evive your old Faust spirit." "The spirit of cultural Bolshevism, as it was called." "Well, I succeeded in overcoming those fears." "Casar, thank you, thank you very much." "THANK Y OU!" "Please give these flowers to Miss Lindenthal." " Good morning!" " Good morning." "Morning, Mr. Höf gen." "Mr. Miklas!" "Ar e you still ar ound?" " Morning." " Fine." "I've only been her e a short space, I come with a humility to this place to find a teacher of vocation who's held by all in veneration." "How pleasant is your courtesy!" "A man like many mor e you see." "Have you looked ar ound?" "Take me as your student." "I come with courage and my youth." "I want to study with all my heart." "Y ou've come to the right place." "I feel like going home l fear." "In that gr eat hall I won't like it at all." "Y ou see no grass, you see no tr ee." "And in the classes we ar e taught I lose my hearing, sight and thought." "It all depends on habit." "Seeing the br east, a child might accept the gift unwillingly." "But soon it sucks in delight." "So will you, on wisdom's br east, enjoy it daily with mor e zest." "Ar ound her neck I'll cling with pleasur e  but tell me how can I find this tr easur e?" "When you continue on your way, which faculty will make your day?" "is this wher e the cut comes?" "The art of medicine is not hard, you know." "Y ou study the world, big and small." "And in the end you let them go when God demands it." "Y ou'll try in vain to learn all science." "Each man just learns what he can." "But he who grasps every chance he is the worthy man." "Y ou ar e still of pleasing build with self-confidence at last instilled others will have confidence in you." "Especially learn the women to enthrall." "Eternal moans, a thousand ills." "Ther e's just one place to cur e them." "If you've honor to some degr ee one may allow some shar ed intimacy." "A title helps to make her certain your art ex ceeds that of your peers." "And may grant you a glimpse of which another schemes for many years." "Her pulse you must learn to feel." "And burning looks you then must steal." "Her slender hips ar e then embraced to see how tightly she is laced." "That's what I could car e for." "Gray, my friend is all theory." "And gr een the golden tr ee of life." "That's the way." "I gr eet the learned gentleman!" "Y ou made me to sweat pr ofusely." " What is your name?" " The question's odd for someone who idle talk despises." "Who, far r emoved fr om worldly show seeks only academic prizes." "With you, one knows your game generally by your very name." "It's evident, Sir e if one's called a liar." "Who ar e you?" "I'm a part of that force that always craves evil and always cr eates good." "What is this riddle?" "I'm the spirit who negates." "And rightly so, for all cr eation is worthy of annihilation." "So it wer e better, nothing wer e cr eated." "And so everything you've stated is sin, destruction, devilment." "Remains my actual element." "Good evening." "The Prime Minister invites you to his box." "Y es." "It's all going like clockwork." "May I intr oduce you to my distinguished colleague?" "Ah, our Mephistoles." "Congratulations." "That mask is perfect, it's evil itself." "It's sacr ed evil." "Y et, your eyes ar e so kind, your handshake so soft. lt's strange  it seems the secr et of acting is to portray str ength, yet one is weak." "I imagine you've pr epar ed for this r ole for a long time." "All my life, Prime Minister." "That's the only way." "That is the secr et of gr eatness." "Br eak a leg." "Carry on the good work, Mephistoles." "Höf gen r esidence." "Lotte Lindenthal." "Höf gen." " Hendrik?" " Y es." "Will you come to us after tonight's performance?" "Ther e'll be just a few friends her e." "With pleasur e." "Thank you very much." "Böck!" "Just a few friends will be ther e." "Am I not an incr edible villain?" "Why a villain?" "Y ou'r e just successful, Mr. Höf gen." "To the r enewal of German cultur e." "Long live the actors." "Our theater has many elements that have nothing to do with Germany." "We must set up a customs contr ol of the mind for cultur e smugglers to stop for eign elements poisoning German literatur e and theater." "This can't be left entir ely to our fr ontier guards." "Everyone must cooperate in this contr ol." " Am I understood?" " Y es, General." "Ther e ar e many who don't understand." "Look at this painting, my Mephisto." "A masterpiece of German r omanticism." "Wher e did I find it?" "At an art dealer with an for eign accent." "I had it r estor ed." "No, no the futur e of painting doesn't belong to the Liebermanns." "Y our Mephisto occupies my mind." "Y ou've br ought him alive." "He's a hell of a guy." "Isn't ther e a little of him in all of us?" "I mean, isn't ther e a bit of Mephisto in every German?" "Wouldn't our enemies love it if we had nothing but the soul of Faust?" "No, Mephisto is also a German national her o." "It's just something we mustn't tell people." "I must go now." "Come to my office at 10:30, the day after tomorr ow." "Some for eign journalists want to know many things." "Above all, what 'Germany' means today, and the German cultur e." "I'll tell them." "Y ou can elaborate on what I say about theater, for ex ample." "Painting, architectur e, sculptur e, plenty to write about." "I want them to be informed by experts." "Tell me, why do you have such a limp handshake?" "So, we meet again." "How time flies!" "Y ou wer e wonderful as Mephisto." "Now you act him mor e forcefully." "But I liked the other one, too." "I sensed it in the seed of what can now be unfolded to the full." "I also liked you in the play with Lotte Lindenthal." "The ideal actr ess to portray the ideal German woman." "What ar e we doing her e?" "Why is he wasting his time with for eigners?" "He said they'r e inter ested in German cultur e." "They'll ask a few questions." " l see." "Y ou spoke to him?" " Y es." "How ar e you?" "Nice to meet you again." "The Prime Minister sent for me." "I hope this doesn't last too long." "Always pr oblems with the old statues." "Shall we tear them down or not?" "As if that wer e important for our futur e." "I'd like to sculpt a bust of you, Höf gen." "What sort of man ar e you?" "Y our own face differs amazingly fr om Mephisto." "In private life, you look rather shy." "I'll do a bust of you, but in clay or in br onze?" " What is your face made of?" " Perhaps a mixtur e." "I very much enjoyed your Mephisto." "I only had eyes for you." "I'm pr eparing an exhibition." "The General wants a pr eview." "Try to come." "Her e's my number." "If you have time, give me a ring and come to my studio." "Y ou can r elax while I model you." "How strange your face is." "A German face yet it changes every moment." "That's acting." "The r est is humility and hard work." "I've discover ed your secr et." "It's the surprise effect, right?" "The unexpected." "I've been watching the way you appear on stage." "Always differ ent." "Sometimes quick, erratic." "Then slow, suddenly, when the audience is lulled." "But always surprising and unpr edictable." "Thus you cr eate the feeling of something original even if the spectator knows your lines by heart." "And your glib tongue, your deliberate pauses, your pr ecise emphasis." "I think I'm learning fr om you." "It's important to be unpr edictable." "Spectators needn't know what my next step is or wher e l'm going." " They'r e not pr epar ed, it's a shock." " Ex actly." "Y et it was only a change of pace, or a slightly longer pause." "In the theater it's the others who make the king a king." "Building the r ole is all important;" "pianissimo alternating with fortissimo." "Naturally, you need a certain flair, artistic talent and as I usually say, a high degr ee of cultur e." "When I hear the word cultur e, I r each for my r evolver." "Bourgeois nonsense !" "Bolsheviks pr each it to win over school teachers." "To say nothing of artists." "Isn't that so?" "I wasn't untouched by Bolshevik tr ends, either." "And I must admit that for a while I flirted with the left." "Well, anyone can get involved in some folly." "Those wer e tr oubled times." "Let's have a drink." "General, other deserving artists committed the follies I did." "I don't forget those paying for sins for which I've been gener ously pardoned." "I'm pleading for a certain person, for a friend." "I guarantee he's r eformed." "I'm pleading for Otto Ulrichs." "Otto Ulrichs?" "Who's he?" "He ran the communist cabar et, 'The Storm-Bird' ." "Well... he must be a pr etty bad fellow." "No, he's not bad." "A bit rash, I admit." "A bit thoughtless, but not bad." "If anything, he's too decent." "Once he gives his word, he keeps it." "I'm back at the State Theater." "The funny thing is, I simply can't believe it." "Just as I can't believe I'm her e with you by the window." "I know it's r eality, but I don't feel it." " Gr eat." " Magnificent, r eally." "A German work of art." "Not every German artist is capable of such work." "It is a courageous work." "Come, Mephisto." "Y ou sign, too." "What did I pr ophesy?" "The exhibition is a success." "Y ou rascal, so you make secr et visits her e." "If I may add something personal, it is a courageous work." "Courageous, because it captur es our time the beauty of str ength without bourgeois snobbery." "Contrasting the degenerate taste of the loud-mouths of cultur e." "We see muscles and clear-cut featur es mankind wants to see." "Str ong and beautiful in his str ength." "Warrior-like and victorious in his struggle." "Hello Hendrik." "That was a wonderful speech." "Y ou know each other?" "V ery well." "Y ou'r e in Berlin?" "Since when?" "I'm her e because I want to dine with you." "I haven't seen you for so long." "So wher e will we go?" "Y our choice." "How's Hamburg?" "Surviving without me?" "I'm in Berlin to have dinner with you." "Hamburg is history." "Y ou'r e out of touch." "Kr oge's in Switzerland." "He just vanished." "Didn't even tell his girl." "Simply went." "Kr oge is a traitor." "Why must you appear with them?" "Because they asked me to." "They ask others, too." "Y ou needn't go." "Y ou can't r efuse, none of us can." "If anyone says they do, they'r e lying." "Besides, the General's a nice chap and he knows a lot about the theater." "He's not so closed minded as most others." "A well behaved boy who wants to enjoy the r ewards for good behavior." " Y es, I like to be well behaved." " Because you'r e afraid." " l like it." " Then you should." "It will be difficult to stay with me and maintain good behavior." "Damned black woman, right?" "I can't help being differ ent fr om what's allowed her e." "People can spit in my face in the str eet." "Only I can't do anything about it." "My nose, my hair r emain the same even if I want something else." "Y et, I'm German, a German Negr o." "German is my mother tongue." "What am I supposed to do?" "Wher e should I go?" "I don't know. I don't even know what will become of me." "Y ou think only of yourself." "And like an idiot, I dr eamt of us having a child." "That's all we need." "is the child to be to blame, for she might ruin her father's car eer?" "That's enough now!" " That's enough of that now!" " Now it is enough?" "I can see why your wife couldn't stand living with you." "Her e..." "I pinched a photo of you once." "Look at it!" "Do you r ecognize yourself?" "I must speak to you." "To tell me what you've said behind my back?" "I don't know what you mean." "Höf gen would bury his mother alive." "Didn't you say that?" "I won't dispute that I dislike you." " What do you want?" " l want you to sign this." "My signatur e?" "What for?" "Y ou want a raise?" "Or do you collect signatur es  because theater safety r egulations ar e a bit unsafe?" "Fr om a moral standpoint much seems unsafe." "And I don't mean the theater." "What do you pr otest against?" "Against a leadership that disr egards our rights." "But you wer e in the Nazi party, back when you wer e in Hamburg." "I'm leaving the party." "That's your business." "I'd like to ask you to r ead our pr otest and sign it." "Regardless of my opinion, you ar e today's leading German actor." "Let me say that I won't even r ead this thing." "Be car eful not to get yourself and others into r eal tr ouble." "Miklas, you can go to hell." "I won't let a dirty pig like you pr ovoke me." "Dear God." "Congratulations, my dear Höf gen." "Y ou put it pr ecisely." "Some elements must go to the devil." "If you wer e a soldier, I'd pr omote you. I'm very pleased." "By the way, you needn't be afraid." "For the fun of it, I checked your hor oscope. lt's ex cellent." " Best of luck, Höf gen." " Thank you." "Did something happen?" "Good morning." "Get walking!" "The management r egr ets that Hans Miklas has died in a car accident." "How awful, such a young fellow." "But, frankly, ther e was something disquieting about him don't you think?" "Disquieting..." "That was no car accident." "He must have come to you, too, with that pr otest." "Ar e you insane?" "How can you talk such nonsense?" "Why shouldn't it have been a car accident?" "The government would stage a car accident all for some unknown actor?" "We'r e not in some tenth-rate melodrama." "People shouldn't cr oss r oads in heavy traffic." "I've gr eat plans for you." "We'r e alone." "Y ou can r efuse and r emain an actor." "But then you can't do as much for our cause as you could." "Y our speech was good." "I r ealized you'r e not only an actor." "Y ou put the essence into words." "Write your own biography, Hendrik." "Submit it to me, as soon as possible." "Höf gen you will manage the Prussian State Theater." "Y our task is easy:" "A full house and a wildly enthusiastic, audience for you." "Do you understand?" "No need to enlarge upon those matters in Hamburg." "Nor need we mention the Revolutionary Theater." "Just mention some of your r oles ther e." "What did you r eally imagine in Hamburg?" "How could you have conceived  pr omoting Russian Bolshevism?" "Y ou, a German. incr edible !" " Wher e is your wife now?" " ln Paris, I believe." "No, she's in Amsterdam, working against her Motherland." "They'r e publishing a newspaper." "Y ou don't corr espond with her?" "We have no contact at all." "Y ou'll get a divorce easily." "I'll see to that." "German citizens who have left Germany couldn't wipe us out, so they signed their own death sentence." "Wher e weakness perishes, humanity becomes healthy." "Politics, like theater, is a fight." "Just as every r ebuild is the start of a new war." "But we'r e not talking about this now." "Hamburg..." ""ln a harbor town by the river..."" "Lots of for eigners, night clubs, bars." "I understand you perfectly." "But in the Reich's capital?" "No offense, we'r e men, but..." "What's this Hamburg souvenir doing her e?" "Juliette Martens." "is she kept by you?" "Y ou once, rightfully, said  Pr ofessor Bruckner was not a man of the futur e." "And, even mor e rightly, you parted fr om his daughter." "If you have such a good instinct for a healthy, clean attitude what's this Negr o-woman doing in Berlin?" "Mephisto  it defies racial purity." "Don't even keep her pictur e at home." "General..." "Wait, I haven't finished." "I hope you completely understood me." " Y es." " So?" " She's not to come to any harm." " Leave that to me." "I'd like to r equest, Prime Minister that she'd be allowed to leave Germany unharmed." "Agr eed." "She'll be taken to the fr ontier and good-bye." "That's what we'll do." "And you'll hold a pr ess confer ence, giving information about the theater." "The r epertoir e, plans and your performances." "In October ther e'll be a big cultural event in our Paris embassy." "I'd like you to attend it." "Böck. I bet they know about him, too." "Böck, Böck, my note-book." "Böck stays." " Her e it is." " Give it to me." "I have to call friends." "I urgently need a friend." " Find me a friend." " But you've so many friends." "Friends..." "Call Miss Nicoletta von Niebuhr." "Find the number and call her." "Shall I make coffee, or tea?" "Shall I become manager?" "Y es or no?" "Can I?" "May I?" "Must I?" "is it my duty?" "Can I make myself useful?" "I mean, can I help anyone?" "And if so, should I?" "Or shall I look at it as a new r ole?" "Or shall I emigrate to America?" "I can earn as much in films as Dora Martin." "If I accept such an office of this government, then..." "Do I want to, at all?" "They need me." "I was about to emigrate and the Prussian Minister asks me to r escue his theater." "Tomorr ow morning I must give him an answer." "Heaven evidently has gr eat plans for me." "Then you've won." "Would you help me?" "I'd be pr oud of you." "Y es, I'll help you Hendrik." "If only one could live for ever." "Her e's your passport for France." "Y ou have five minutes to pack." "Y es, but why?" "We'r e waiting." "Hurry up." "Y ou needn't thank me for this raise." "I made it a condition for taking over this job." "Everything's cover ed with dust." "If you don't clean the dr essing r ooms as well as all the others you may have to look for another job." "I hope we'll get along. lf you have any pr oblems, come to me." "I would like to tr eat you all to coffee." "Allow me to give you the money." "I'm sorry I can't come with you." "Joachim would like to speak to you." "Wait, Hannelor e !" "Wait, Hannelor e !" "So, now he can enter." "Please consider decent r oles for me." "Y ou'r e not like the other managers." "Y ou'r e an actor yourself." "Y ou understand." "I must act as if he's saying something important." "When you talk to actors, you must put them at ease." "That goes for me, too." "No, I don't like Pr emier es." "All night one has to wear a big, fr ozen smile." "I hate that." "Y ou think it's a good costume?" "I don't!" "I think it's terrible !" "Good morning, Mr. Kappelmüller." "How ar e you?" " Good." " How's the family?" "So your daughter graduated as a hairdr esser." "Maybe we can use her." "Good morning." "Haven't you noticed?" "New suit, new shoes, new manager, no?" "Well." "...ex-Bolshevik Höf gen, manager of the Prussian State Theater  is letting his former comrade appear in his pr oduction of Hamlet." "Hannelor e !" "Was the cast list for Hamlet posted yet?" "Not yet." "Good." "Let's wait another two days." "Thank you." "I must offer them mor e than old comrades." "Y ou must cultivate connections." "That's the essence of the system." "Let me tell you, yesterday I went to the Prussian State Theater  it was Faust and the name of some white-faced clown was Mephisto." "What a joke !" "And Mephisto by some man called Höf gen, it was terrible !" "I'd rather go to the Bavarian People's Theater." "Goodbye then." "Why am I doing all this?" "Because I enjoy it." "I must enjoy amateur plays and use actors that ar e blonde not talented." "Most ar e totally untalented." "A Frankfurt audience applauded Marquis Posa's 'Give us fr eedom of thought' ." "Performance stopped, play withdrawn." "In Munich, 'The Robbers', withdrawn." "Schiller, our national poet!" "They want to pr oduce plays by German authors." "But what authors?" "Those who haven't emigrated ar en't allowed to write, or won't." "It's simply impossible to offer theater worthy of the name." "Unless I dig up a couple of old farces." "All Rococco wigs and white faces." "The joke is that the r egime now sees Shakespear e as one of our own." "Let's do 'As Y ou Like lt', 'Wher e the Banished Return.'" "Show the opponents of dictatorship that the will for fr eedom still lives." "I didn't hear that!" "I can't possibly have heard that!" "Am I not an incr edible villain?" "Isn't what I'm doing insane?" ""Fürst and Niklisch, both on the staff of your theater on gr ounds of German racial purity... dismiss them."" " Good morning." " Good morning." " Well, how ar e you?" " Fine." " And you?" " Everything all right." "The stage-hands that ar e concerned, Fürst and Niklisch ar e indispensable and the loss of their services would jeopardize the theater's work." "Date." "Heil!" "Signatur e." "Germans!" "Don't tolerate Nazi oppr ession." "Embassy of the German Reich" "Did you bring me anything fr om Germany?" "A leather coat, at least?" " Leather coat?" " Y es." "It's the fashion for men." "Those who took me to the fr ontier had them." "Y our eyes ar e so dead, how do they look?" " Empty?" " No, dazed." "Y es, that's how I felt these past days." "Y ou see?" "Y ou wer e never like that." "I've thought a lot about you." "I believe I should be grateful." "Without you, I'd be in a concentration camp, or alr eady dead." "If you still like being with me, then stay her e." "I'll look after you." "Y ou needn't leave the house, not at first." "Then we'll find jobs." "Y ou'r e so gifted." " l could have gone to America." " Ther e you go." "I think I r eally was gifted." "But also a terrible coward." "What do I do elsewher e?" "Be an extra, a stage-hand, a technician?" "Do you think these hands wer e made for manual labor?" "I'll pr ovide for you." "What else do you want?" "Success." "Hendrik Höf gen, just imagine..." "you'd belong to me." "Juliette, I have to go now." " Shall I see you again?" " l don't know." " Can I see you off at the station?" " No, you don't fit into the pictur e." "All right, forget the station." "Just do what you want." "I do." "That's why I'm her e." "Juliette, don't write anymor e." "It's no good." "Ther e ar en't many people in this café." "Would you pr efer to sit in the sun?" "Y ou like that." "No." "Though I haven't had much sunshine lately." "May I ask you something?" "Do you still live alone?" "No, I've got friends." "And you?" "Friends... in times like these?" "It's difficult." "How can you still live in Berlin?" "What keeps you ther e?" "Barbara, I live in the theater." "And that is in Berlin?" "I don't think you can judge fr om Paris." "Y ou'r e mor e than an actor now." "Y ou took an oath." "Y ou'r e a manager." "I didn't take the oath, I just moved my lips." "Someone has to save our values for a better world." "I'm playing Hamlet, whether those in power like Shakespear e or not." "Shakespear e is their ornament to pr ove "we'r e not as bad as you think."" "Y ou can't stay in Berlin." "I have a family in Berlin." "Y ou know I'm married to the theater." "I can help people who ar e having a hard time." "If I leave, nothing better will r eplace me." "Words!" "It's always the same with you." "Y our method of self-deception is still intact." "Don't you see?" "Whoever you save, it's only a gestur e to your friends." "Y ou'r e in a show-case, legalizing these people will be attached to you." "We can't choose when and wher e we'r e born." "An entir e people can't emigrate." "As an actor I'm obliged to live in my country, to observe and portray it." "And I can tell you, ther e ar e decent people among them." "I hate coffee shop intellectuals and I hate such r esistance-fighters, too." "The r eally valuable, such as theater and art can rise above everything." "That's my conviction." "Why did you want to meet me?" "Well, I don't r eally know why." "It might even be danger ous for you." "Tell me, Barbara, did you ever  r eally love me?" "Why did I come her e today?" "If you'd been listening, you wouldn't ask that." "If you don't accept what's happening in Germany why do you still live ther e?" "What does fr eedom mean for you?" "Do you need it to live?" "Or do you just need to be successful and loved?" "I'm satisfied with success." "It means many love me." "And the fury of the envious does me good." "Don't make me r esponsible for the impotence of your friends." " Mr. Höf gen." " Mr. Davidson, this is a surprise." "The check, please." "Have I come too early?" "Far ewell, Barbara." "May I pay?" "What could I do her e?" "Fr eedom..." "What for?" "Ober on and Titania." "Congratulations!" "I gr eet our wonderful and truly tantalizing German bride and gr oom." "Two young, yet matur e people of pur est race and noblest blood, who have enchanted us and who serve our new society!" " Thank you." " All the best." "General, nice of you to come." "They can say what they want." "For me, the world is Grunewald." "I'll r emain a German artist and patriot, no matter who may rule my land." "Grunewald is my favorite place and what other country br ews such good beer?" "Casar, nice to see you." "Y ou can hold your r ehearsals in this villa." "We'r e very pr oud of the way you spoke in Paris." "The way you simply answer ed all the questions and said quite frankly and honestly what it's like her e." "Carry on dancing." "Good evening." "Now, that's a surprise !" "I won't say no to that." " Congratulations, my Mephisto." " Thank you." "Now, as old Admiral Tirpitz said:" ""Target sighted!" "Full speed ahead!"" "I'm looking forward to your Hamlet, my Mephisto." "Y our interview in Paris made a good impr ession on all of us." "Congratulations!" "And lots of healthy German boys!" "Thank you." "Madam?" "Beautiful." "Y es, very much to my taste." "V ery lovely." "Thank you, Madam." "Cheers!" "We have no working hours, just work." "I'm sorry, I must go now." "Be happy together..." "Hamlet." "Lately I've been wondering whether we actually deserve all this." "If I'm forced to answer, then I must say "Y es."" "If not we, who r epr esent individuality and art who else should, can and must rise above all that happens in the world?" "That's why we'r e an ex ample and encouragement to others." "No matter how filthy the world is true art always r emains pur e and true, doesn't it?" "I'm married to the theater." "And so ar e you." "I can't contact Otto Ulrichs." "I sent a messenger to his flat  but he was told that two men took Ulrichs away two days ago." "Call the Prime Minister and connect me with him." "If he's not ther e, ask for an appointment as soon as possible." " Hello?" " Give it to me." "Höf gen." " Hello." " Do come in." " Hello." " Do come in." "Well, what's going on?" "Recently you helped me, on behalf of a colleague." "Now I have to ask again for help." "The thing is a few days ago, Otto Ulrichs was taken fr om his apartment." " ls this why you've come?" " Y es, Ex cellency." "I'm fed up with you, Höf gen." "These matters ar e outside your jurisdiction." "Keep your nose out of this affair." "I'll give you some good advice :" "Stop meddling." "Y ou'd do better minding your own business so you won't get crushed like a bug!" "Think you matter?" "Ulrichs was involved in dirty work." "My State Theater manager ought not show such inter est in a traitor." "Now go." "I told you to go." "Get out, actor!" "I know how much I and the theater owe to the General." "I also know that to a gr eat extent we owe it to you." "Dear Lotte, that's why I ask you to intervene for Ulrichs." " l'm so worried." " Worried?" "But he's dead." "Didn't you know?" "As far as I know, he committed suicide." "Suicide." "He knew the risks he ran." "I think he's mor e to be envied." "The Prince of Denmark r enounces rank, youth and love." "He is the savior of the North." "The lonely knight with lofty ideals, the ideal of purity of blood and race." "Hamlet is a complex character, too." "A gr eat and simple man." "Despite r epeating myself so soon:" "He is a man of the North." "He kills." "And in his self-destructing battle  he shows us the way to the futur e." "He commands us to lead a pur e life." "That is his bequest to us today." "He is not weak, yet actors have often portrayed him as neur otic a pathological r evolutionary, thus as a decadent type." "Hamlet is a hard man." "Y ou will see him as an energetic, r esolute her o." "He is also a hazard for the Germans." "We constantly analyze too much." "For the hour demands actions, not only thoughts." "Least of all corruptive r eflection." "Hamlet is the tragic conflict between action and inaction." "Between hesitating, thinking and doing." "And we, the bear ers of German cultur e  know what to make of that." "Hamlet is a populist drama." "Neither r eligious, aristocratic, nor bourgeois  but a work like the Gr eek tragedies." "So we'll abolish the barrier between audience and actor." "Space, light, movements, sounds ar e everything and even the spectators merge into one gr eat, common effect." "We must bring about total theater." "A theater that shocks and mobilizes." "It cost 60,000 marks to decorate the theater for tonight and five days loss of takings." "A nice birthday party." "And we have to participate in this circus." " Good evening." " Good evening." "The only place you will find a party like this is in Berlin." "Dear est Bella, we haven't met in ages." "Ar e you well?" "Not homesick?" "I'm sur e you'r e fantastically well and your gr eat son is flourishing." "Dear Höf gen, how ar e you?" "How is the party going?" "People seem to enjoy it." "Y our Hamlet was magnificent." "The boss was quite taken." "After the pr emier e he spoke only of you and the theater." "Success is strange." "Sometimes you have it, sometimes not." "No, dear Höf gen, you give people something, you cr eate." "Her e they come." " How ar e you, Mephisto?" " V ery well, Y our Ex cellency." "I haven't told you, how wonderful your Hamlet was." "I'm very glad." "Allow me to say a few words." "Mr. Prime Minister, Madam, ladies and gentlemen." "We ar e pr oud to be able to celebrate this day with you in this theater." "Since I have the honor of gr eeting you on behalf of everyone pr esent  I salute the statesman and soldier friend and gener ous patr on of the arts." "We admir e him as our r ole model, love him as our friend obey him as our master for without patr ons, art is a bird with br oken wings." "As the poet says:" ""May the gods pr otect you and may the heart of Rome beat for your aims."" "The Prime Minister wishes to speak to you outside, in his car." "Y ou alone." "Nicoletta will take you home." "I won't be long." "Well, Mephisto, what power is looking down on you her e." "Do you feel it?" "This is theater!" "Look at this ar ena." "It's almost r eady." "Wonderful, isn't it?" "This is wher e l'd stage a performance." "Don't blink, Hendrik, look history in the eye." "What an echo." "Hendrik Höf gen!" "We shall rule Eur ope and the world." "A thousand-year empir e." "Hendrik Höf gen!" "Go !" "Get going!" "into the middle !" "Well, how do you enjoy this limelight?" "This is the r eal light, isn't it?" "What do they want of me?" "After all  I'm only an actor."