Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec, known to the whole world as Pola Negri, began her spectacular career in Warsaw's theatres. However, she was quickly discovered by film-makers. It was all thanks to Aleksander Hertz, who saw the actress performing on stage and immediately offered her a role in film. After a huge success of the melodrama Slave of Sin (1914), Negri signed a contract with Sfinks, Hertz's film studio, and starred in its films, including Wife (1915) and Students (1916). The films from the actress's beginnings became completely destroyed during World War II or survived only in fragments. The Polish Dancer is an exception – it was saved only because it was bought in 1921 by a film distributor from New York (at that time, Negri was already a world star). Years later, the American copy of the film – most likely the first Polish production to be shown in the United States – was obtained by Filmoteka Narodowa, a Polish public institution whose aim is to protect the national cultural heritage in the field of cinematography. It was subsequently reconstructed digitally.
Hertz's film is not outstanding in comparison with world cinema of the era, but for Negri's fans and viewers interested in the beginnings of Polish cinema it is a truly unique piece.
'Couple destiny with youth – with its fire – its passions – its ambitions and irresponsibilities – its love of life – and who can foretell the results?', says the motto, already announcing that The Polish Dancer is going to be a somewhat didactic story about the consequences of falling prey to desire. The heroine, Pola Baszinkow (Pola Negri), is a teenage girl with a hunger for life, constantly sneaking away from home to entertain herself with the local carousers, drink wine, and dance. When, after one of the parties, the rough father beats the disobedient daughter, the heroine runs away with the 'apache' Dymitr (Jan Pawłowski). However, he is not enough for the ambitious girl, which is why Pola quickly dumps him and travels further alone. As she is attractive, hard-working and energetic, she quickly finds a job in the city and gains popularity as a cabaret dancer. She is successful both professionally and privately – she gets into a relationship with the industrialist Aleksy (Witold Kuncewicz), who is absolutely in love with her. As the melodramatic scheme goes, their happiness will be short-lived and they will pay a high price for a short moment of passion.
An impoverished girl's show-business career, the appearance of an 'apache', the disastrous fate of an amoral woman and an elite settings – all these are characteristic for 20th century melodramas. Hertz did not revolutionise the genre; it should, however, be noted that he plays down the black-or-white divisions and moral judgements. The Polish title (Bestia, which translates as 'a beast') is deceptive – in fact, none of the characters deserves to be called this way. The heroine does indeed cause a spiral of misfortunes, but she is not a negative character – it is individuality, a free spirit and ambition that make Pola refuse her fate and fight for the right to happiness. Even though Hertz is definitely not a feminist praising women's independence – he could rather be called a moralist warning the viewers against foolhardiness and egoism – he depictions The Polish Dancer's protagonist with a lot of understanding. Perhaps the Polish title does not refer to Pola but Aleksy, who cheats on his wife – however, male characters also are not demonised in the movie and appear to be weak rather than cruel.
With all its simplicity and naivety, Hertz's film has some artistically interesting moments. The creators used cross-cutting, they also employed long shots for dramatic purposes – for instance in the scene in the beginning, when we see Pola entering through the window and sneaking into bed, and her father, awaken by the noise, in the background. The director also took care of the casting: except for Negri, the famous actor of Sfinks studio, Maria Dulęba starred in the film, and Lya Mara, who later became a star of German cinema, appeared in an episodic role of a dancer. From today's perspective, the biggest disadvantage of Hertz's film is foreseeable plot and psychological simplicity of the characters. Even though the screenplay did not give Negri an opportunity to present her talent fully, it was The Polish Dancer that granted her attention overseas. Soon after the premiere, Negri ended her co-operation with Aleksander Hertz and left to Germany, and later – Hollywood.
A fragment of the film (in English) can be seen at the website of the National Film Archive.
The Polish Dancer / Bestia, Poland 1917. Director: Aleksander Hertz. Screenplay: Aleksander Hertz. Cinematography: Witalis Korsak-Gołogowski. Set design: Józef Galewski, Tadeusz Sobowski. Starring Pola Negri (Pola Basznikow), Witold Kuncewicz (Aleksy), Jan Pawłowski (Dymitr), Maria Dulęba (Sonia, Aleksy's wife), Lya Mara (dancer), and others.
Produced by Sfinks. Black-and-white, 47'.
Originally written in Polish by Robert Birkholc, June 2018, translated by Natalia Sajewicz, June 2018.
