Sappho / Mad Love 1921

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Sappho (also known as Mad Love) is a 1921 German silent film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starring Pola Negri as the title character. Alfred Abel, best known for his role as John Fredersen in Metropolis (1927), appears in the role of Andreas De La Croix, the insane brother.

Richard De La Croix has a brother, Andreas, who has been driven insane by a notorious vamp and socialite named Sappho. A man-about-town named Teddy takes Richard to the Odeon to meet her, but when Sappho actually meets Richard, he is unaware that she is the woman who drove Andreas insane. Sappho genuinely falls in love with Richard, and decides to leave her vampy ways behind her so that she can have him.

Sappho casts off her previous lover, an automobile company owner named Bertink, as she does. Richard and Sappho run off and engage in an affair. In the midst of their escapade, Bertink approaches Richard and lets him know that the woman he is with is the same one that drove his brother Andreas insane, and that he, Bertink, is the man that she left Andreas for. Richard is horrified and immediately terminates his relationship with Sappho.

Sappho tries to return to Bertink but is turned away, so she seeks out Teddy, Richard's man-about-town friend, and starts a rebound relationship with him. Meanwhile, Richard returns home to marry his childhood sweetheart, but then balks at the wedding supper and runs off in search of Sappho. All this time, Andreas, the mad brother, is having troubled dreams about Sappho in the lunatic asylum where he is kept. When Richard starts on his search for Sappho, Andres intuitively senses that someone is going after her, so he breaks out of the lunatic asylum and also starts to search for Sappho.

Richard finds Sappho at a ball with Teddy, and starts questioning her about her newest lover, before breaking down and admitting that she is the only woman he really loves. Andreas, the mad brother, barges in on this reunion, and manages to lock Richard out of the room. Alone with Sappho, Andreas attacks her, and in the process of doing so accidentally kills her.

Run Time: 81 Minutes

FAQ

Item details: Such is the nature of many films from this era that video and audio quality can be variable, reflecting the rarity of these titles. The best available sources for sound and picture quality are used wherever possible though are not ‘restored’ and are not in high definition. Please click on the listing images to enlarge screenshots from the title for a better idea of picture quality. Items are supplied on a colour printed DVD in a clear plastic wallet sleeve and not in a full size case, no additional artwork is supplied.

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