director: Wilhelm Dieterle
year: 1923
country: Germany

This film is based on motifs from Tolstoy. When the upright village shoemaker becomes father to a young girl, he cannot find a godfather for the newborn child. Even the despotic local squire refuses his plea for help. Only the young wayfarer Michael, whom the shoemaker picks up at the roadside, declares himself willing to accept the role. From then on, Michael lives and works with the shoemaker and his family. When the squire suddenly dies from a stroke, the shoemaker is initially accused of having poisoned him. However, Michael finally succeeds in bringing the truth to light.

Screenplay: Wilhelm Dieterle; based on Lev Tolstoi.
Director of Photography: Willy Hameister.
Set Design: Johannes Junkersdorf, Herbert Richter-Luckian.
Cast: Bäk, Gerhard Bienert, Hans Brockmann [?], Wilhelm Diegelmann, Wilhelm Dieterle (Michael), Marlene Dietrich (the grocer´s daughter), Heinrich George (the laird), Gerlach-Jacobi, Alexander Granach (the cobbler), Herbst, Georg Hilbert, Fritz Kampers, Hermine Körner, Dolly Lorenz (1st maidservant), Matt, Max Nemetz, Sophie Pagay (the grocers´s wife), Werner Pledath (the young farm hand), Max Pohl (the Clerk), Fritz Rasp (the farm hand), Rausch, Ludwig Rex (the headman), Lieselotte Rolle (the cobbler's child), Eva Seeberg (2nd maidservant), Lotte Stein, Emilia Unda (the cobbler's wife), Wilhelm Völker (the coachman), Zeiselmaier.
Production Company: Osmania-Film GmbH, Berlin.
Unit Manager: Willy Habantz.
Studio: Mutoscop-Atelier Berlin-Lankewitz.
Shoot: April to May 1923.
Length: 5 acts, 1657 m (before censorship); 1645 m (after censorship).
Format: 35 mm, 1:1.33.
Picture/Sound: b/w, silent.
Censorship Details: 4 June 1923, B.07300, ban for young people.
Première: 12 June 1923, Berlin (Alhambra, pre-release).

Source notes
Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen

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