The Prince of Thieves and his Love

Overview

While no content description of the film could be found, it is clear the plot of Der Fürst der Diebe und seine Liebe/The King of Thieves and His Love (Viggo Larsen, 1919) deals with a gentleman criminal, played by Larsen himself. In 1920, critic Friedrich Sieburg wrote about a terrifying experience he had when viewing this very film when suddenly the musicians stopped playing while the film went on. "In act 3, as Der Fürst der Diebe was roaring along in his car (his shawl fluttering like a flag, wind blowing briskly through the high grass of the passing landscape), the musicians in the small orchestra - violin and piano for lively scenes, organ for deathly scenes - suddenly decided to break for dinner. The music stopped. Silence. The reels whirred. The light hissed. The action sped ahead. I tell you, it was frightening. I felt as if I was six feet under."