Call to the world (1935/36)
"Call to the World” is a romantic documentary film about the manufacturing process of the Olympic bell using the casting process for the great sports festival in Berlin in 1936. Musically, this work is framed by sounds from the pen of Rudolf Perak (1891-1972), a musician and composer from Austria.
The film "Call to the World" begins in an old town in the Black Forest, where the ringing of bells can be heard. People in traditional costumes walk to church, accompanied by a list of the reasons for the bell ringing. The scene changes to an external view of the Bochum Association's factory where the Olympic bell is being cast. A radio announcer leads through the scene while the relief by the sculptor Walter E. Lemcke (1891–1955) is transferred to the mold shell. The core is inserted and the bell is cast. Another external view of the factory shows the factory railway during the bell casting. The bell is placed on a lathe and subjected to a sound test. What can no longer be seen in the film is the swastika on the bell body - it was blacked out in the footage after 1945.
The scene changes again and shows the Olympic flag. Young men, dressed only in gym shorts and equipped with sports equipment, march up singing. In the background the bell rings, a symbol of the start of the Olympic Games.
The composer Perak found symphonic, theatrical music for this industrial film. His musical contributions for the full-length German feature film cover a wide range. He often wrote them in collaboration with well-known colleagues such as Robert Stolz, Nikolaus Brodszky and Michael Jary - who cultivated a similar style. Up until 1942, many of his scores were created for the productions of the Belgian director Jan Vanderheyden, and after the war he also wrote various pieces of music for his former film editor Edith Kiel, who had meanwhile switched to directing.
Felix Hartelt, Krupp Historical Archive
Filmographic information:
Year of production: 1935/36
Client: Bochum Association for Cast Steel Manufacturing AG
Production: Universum-Film AG (UFA), Berlin
Director: Ulrich Kayser
Camera: Gerhard Müller
Screenplay: Rudolf Schaad
Editing: Ernst York
Music: Rudolf Perak
Manufacturer: Dr. Ulrich Westerkmap
Format: 16mm optical sound
Color: black and white
Language: German
Running time: 11 min.
Premiere: 16.2.1936, UFA-Palast: Kurfürstendamm, Berlin
Contact
Krupp Historical Archive
Villa Hill, Hill 1
45133 Essen
Prof. Dr. Ralf Stremmel / Felix Hartelt, M.Sc.
archive@hak-krupp-stiftung.de
Picture decoration on the Olympic bell in the Bochum Association for Cast Steel Manufacturing, 1935
Source: Krupp Historical Archive
Film set at the Bochum Association for Cast Steel Production for the filming of “Call to the World”, 1935
Source: Krupp Historical Archive
Cover letter (letterhead) from UFA to the Bochum Association for Cast Steel Manufacturing for
Receipt of film censorship cards for the film “Call to the World”
Source: Krupp Historical Archive