In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

MOVIE PALACES 145
sional world of film and, by contiguity, the interiors of the movie palaces
cultivate a specific type of surface glamour (311, 315). [see Dancing,
Gomina, Stars] Since Kracauer believes that the rhythm of this continuously
moving surface world helps spectators to avoid the pitfalls of
modern existence, he tends to deplore any signs of a return to more
traditional forms of staging, including the live shows that have become
customary in the programs of the movie palaces: "The integration of film
into a homogeneous program deprives it of its potential effect. It no
longer stands on its own, but becomes the crowning event of a type of
revue which does not take into account film's unique characteristics. The
two-dimensionality of film creates an illusion of the physical world
without any need for supplementation. But if real bodies appear alongside
the movie, the latter recedes into the flat surface and the deception
is exposed. This destroys the specific space of the film" (316).
With films becoming a condensation of the contemporary everyday
world, both spheres begin to establish a relation of remarkable permeability.
On the one hand, the reality of political life invades the movie
palaces. Weekly newsreels are produced by specialized crews, among
which the French company Pathe-Journal holds a privileged place (Annees-memoire,
58ff.). Festive film events offer important opportunities
for protagonists from the political and economic stage to cultivate their
public image. The premiere of Murnau's Faust at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo
on October 14 is attended by German chancellor Wilhelm Marx, foreign
secretary Gustav Stresemann, and Hjalmar Schacht, the president of the
National Bank (Jacobsen, 526). On the other hand, the film world
frequently exerts an intensifying influence on the political scene.
Throughout the spring and far into the summer, the censoring of Eisenstein's
Battleship Potemkin by the German government sparks a fiery
debate whose various positions become almost immediately identified
with the different political parties and their programs (Schrader and
Schebera, 199ff.; Willet, 48, 143). As a result, the movie palaces no
longer publish advertisements focusing exclusively on story lines and
actors but begin to tout their own financial success and technical achievements.
In the 8 Uhr-Abendblatt of August 28, the Ufa-Theater on
Nollendorfplatz informs readers that "preparations for the European
premiere of Ben Hur" will keep the house closed until September 6.
Under the heading "Die ganze Kolonne zum Ritt in die Sonne" ("The
whole gang out to Ride into the Sun"), the Primus Palast on Potsdamer-