I bet in the 20s all the weird German emo girls were thirsting after the Somnambulist
German emo girls be like “ich will ”
Don’t hide this magnificent piece of info in the tags.
The bloke (Conrad Veidt) was an outspoken opponent of antisemitism, and when he refused to divorce his wife (who was Jewish), Joseph Goebbels had him blacklisted.
He also donated tons and tons of money to poor children who had been negatively effected by the Blitz in London after he moved to the US, following his becoming a naturalised-British citizen after leaving Germany in the 1930s.
Don’t forget that in 1919, he starred in “Different from the Others”, a German film protesting the anti-homosexuality laws in place. It’s widely regarded as the first pro-gay film. Conrad Veidt was a goddamn hero.
I just feel like this pic is relevant to the discussion
He was also the highest paid member of the cast in “Casablanca” (where he played a Nazi officer, again), even if he only got second billing, because he was THAT big a star.
He and his first wife divorced after… well she said it better than I ever could.
“I excused a lot of his failings and whims because I loved him. But one day he did something to me that I couldn’t forgive. I was singing that evening at the cabaret. I left him home and he told me: “I invited a few friends; we’ll dine while we wait for you.” And it just so happened I had received a new dress from Paris. That evening, after work, I arrived home and what do I see? All these gentlemen dressed as women. And Conrad had put on my Paris dress. At this point, I divorced!”
“Any Berlin lady of the night might turn out to be a man; the prettiest girl on the street was Konrad [sic] Veidt.”
Good to see the tumblr sexyman precludes even tumblr
*predates
Conrad Veidt was an amazing human. To quote his wikipedia page:
Veidt fervently opposed the Nazi regime and later donated a major portion of his personal fortune to Britain to assist in the war effort. Soon after the Nazi Party took power in Germany, by March 1933, Joseph Goebbels was purging the film industry of anti-Nazi sympathizers and Jews, and so in April 1933, a week after Veidt’s marriage to Ilona Prager, a Jewish woman, the couple emigrated to Britain before any action could be taken against either of them.
Goebbels had imposed a “racial questionnaire” in which everyone employed in the German film industry had to declare their “race” to continue to work. When Veidt was filling in the questionnaire, he answered the question about what his Rasse (race) was by writing that he was a Jude (Jew). Veidt was not Jewish, but his wife was Jewish, and Veidt would not renounce the woman he loved. Additionally, Veidt, who was opposed to antisemitism, wanted to show solidarity with the German Jewish community, who were in the process of being stripped of their rights as German citizens in the spring of 1933. As one of Germany’s most prominent actors, Veidt had been informed that if he were prepared to divorce his wife and declare his support for the new regime, he could continue to act in Germany. Several other leading actors who had been opposed to the Nazis before 1933 switched allegiances. In answering the questionnaire by stating he was a Jew, Veidt rendered himself unemployable in Germany, but stated this sacrifice was worth it as there was nothing in the world that would compel him to break with his wife.Upon hearing about what Veidt had done, Goebbels remarked that he would never act in Germany again.
As noted above, he was also bisexual, a friend once stating: “He was very much in love with a beautiful girl whom I trained. I’ll say frankly that Conrad also loved men, once in a while.“
The man was a bi icon, an anti-fascist Jewish ally, and a goddamn hero and we stan.
<3 I didn’t know much about Conrad Veidt before reading these posts but he sounds like an utterly amazing and fabulous human being <3
Films:Der Student von Prag (1926), I Was a Spy (1933), Jew Süss (1934), A Woman’s Face(1941), Orlacs Hände(1924), Anders als die Andern(1919), The Thief of Bagdad (1940), Dark Journey(1937), Das Wachsfigurenkabinett(1924),Casablanca(1942), Das indische Grabmal erster Teil - Die Sendung des Yoghi (1921), Rome Express(1932).
Music: Busta Rhymes “Touch It (TikTok Remix)”
Made for the prompt sheet over on Conrad Veidt in ContextatFacebook
As I said on the CV in Context FB comm, poor Connie–he’s always been cockblocked, but he’s now being ghostblocked as well! The poor guy just can’t catch a break. But perhaps they can start a club:
Just posted a long and thorough Connie biography on my blog over on Pillowfort. I also translated it into Finnish, here. Go forth and read up on this amazing human being therein:)
Rereglobbing this since folks are now reblogging my old “Ten reasons why you should love Conrad Veidt” post en masse. That’s a bit old and embarrassing to me now, but this thorough, long biography I wrote on my PF blog is much, much better. So if you’re interested in learning more about this amazing guy, feel free to peruse that. And should you wish to check out his movies, hit me up with an ask on @veidtveidtveidt and I shall provide :)
