Walter Rilla (1894-1980) : Medien, Darstellende Künste, Exil und Startum am Beispiel seines frühen und mittleren Filmwerks im deutsch-britischen Kulturkontext 1921-1957

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Abstract

This dissertation fills research gaps in general historiography, film historiography and exile historiography alike by presenting the first ever monography on the German plurilingual multiple artist Walter Rilla (1894-1980) whose filmography of 200+ titles developed parallel to his similarly huge German-British stage, radio, literature and television work. My study period 1921-1957, politically highly charged, covers decisive decades of Rilla’s professional career 1913-1978 during which he was likewise a musician, intellectual, publisher and political theorist. While primarily analysing Rilla’s European and anglophone films – including their actant roles in contemporary ideological discourses – I equally outline Rilla’s network and specify both his star rank and brand on the backgrounds of his press, audience and advertising reception.

My original contribution to knowledge redresses the hitherto chronic research marginalisation of this NS-exiled artist via my transnational and transcultural theory approach which finally puts Rilla, consistently the equal of top star colleagues from both sides of the Atlantic, back on the map of top film artists of European, transcontinental and global fame, where this star actor, producer, director and musician belongs. My film exile and exile film definitions enable an exemplary litmus-test interpretation of Rilla’s multifaceted transnational and transcultural work that challenges both nation-based culture models and exile research binaries. Not least due to his transnational European film network acteur position as unearthed by me, he retained his transcultural Weimar Cinema career level during and beyond his 23-year British exile. Most of his 110-112 films made in 1921-1957 alone, hitherto largely overlooked by research, were, as I have proven, aesthetic and commercial European to global successes, including transcultural adaptations I have identified amongst 30+ British export versions. As I have demonstrated, Rilla’s hitherto largely dismissed wartime BBC German and Home Service radio propaganda work constitutes an outstanding contribution of global impact to Britain’s war effort.

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