Der Kaiser von Kalifornien
- Luis Trenker: Johann August Sutter
- Victoria of Ballasko: Anna Sutter
- Werner Kunig: Rudolf Sutter
- Karli Zwingmann: Emil Sutter
- Elise Aulinger: Mrs. Dübol
- Melanie Horeschovsky: Amalie
- Bernhard Minetti: The stranger
- Luis Gerold: Ermattinger
- Paul Verhoeven: Billy Barman
- Hans Zesch -ballot: Governor Alverado
- Marcella Albani: Mrs. Alverado
- Walter Franck: Aide Castro
- Heinrich Marlow: Court President Thompson
The Emperor of California is one of the novel " The Gold" by Blaise Cendrars based, in 1935 and 1936 in Germany and in several locations in the U.S. (Arizona, California and Nevada) created romanticized and dramatising biopic of the settler Johann August Sutter, a earlier Western, the Luis Trenker staged. He ran in German cinemas on 21 July 1936.
Action
Johann August Sutter lives as a printer in southern Germany. However, his political stance brought the displeasure of the state police, so he flees to America without his family in May 1836 a mysterious stranger convinced him to make his luck there. He turns to the west, where he would like to make virgin, fertile land arable. After a forced march with only two companions, he reached the bank of the Sacramento, where he founded New Helvetia and registered success. One of his people, John Marshall, who manages a sawmill, finds gold in 1848; a Fund, which leads to a gold rush. His fields are trampled, his cattle died; his two now reunified with the mother's sons die in the battle for the gold.
From the Mexican government has lawfully acquired Sutter country, was found on the gold; its ownership is however disputed by the now ruling over the territory American authorities. During the birthday celebration of the city of San Francisco, the judgment is announced for Sutter, who now demands the return of all gold discoveries in the area. From the unwillingness to do this, create a riot, which can rise Sutter's possession in flames.
Ten years later, Sutter meets at the Capitol to the stranger, in a vision of modern America shows him. Sutter died on the steps of the Capitol.
Reviews
Joe Hembus writes in the Western lexicon: " The Emperor of California has remained despite the German Western glut of the sixties one of the best German Westerns: Rhythm and realism of the trip to California, the crowd scenes in the development of Nova Helvetia and the scenes on the goldfields are all that had German and even most American productions of the time to offer comparable, far ahead. "
" Luis Trenker film, the adventure drama with pathos and sentimentality mixed; well photographed. "
Comments
The film won the 1936 Coppa Mussolini for Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival.
The exterior shots were taken in Arizona, Nevada, California and Texas; the crowd scenes in the area of Livorno, Italy.
For the actor Friedrich Gnass the trip to the shooting had a serious injury in America. On the return journey by ship to Germany, he is said to have expelled wild threats against Adolf Hitler in a drunken state. However, the colleagues present at the scandal not denounced him, yet Gnass ' curses at home in Berlin noised and the actor in the autumn of 1936 were sentenced to penal servitude. The rotated with Gnass scenes were removed from the finished film.