Set amid the turbulence of the Young Turk movement within the dying Ottoman Empire, Abdul the Damned was among the first films directed in Britain by Karl Grune, acclaimed director of 1923’s Die Strasse (The Street), who had fled Nazi Germany in 1933; the film also features starring roles for fellow German émigré and Pandora’s Box star Fritz Kortner, Scottish screen idol John Stuart, and Swedish silent-era heart-throb Nils Asther. Turkey, 1908: Sultan Abdul Hamid II becomes infatuated with Therese, a young Viennese opera singer and she is forced to give in to him to protect her fiancé, Young Turk Talak Pasha. Will the fervour of Talak’s popular opposition to the Sultan’s rule eventually lead to the monarch's downfall?
Credits
Abdul the Damned Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
Patric Knowles
He was 23, 84 years old when he died
|
as Omar - Hilmi's Attache |
|
Esme Percy
He was 47, 69 years old when he died
|
as Ali, the Grand Eunuch |
|
Eric Portman
He was 34, 68 years old when he died
|
as Conspirastor |
|
Henry B. Longhurst
|
as General of the Bodyguards |
|
Fritz Kortner
He was 43, 78 years old when he died
|
as The Sultan, Abdul Hamid II & Kislar |
|
Walter Rilla
He was 39, 85 years old when he died
|
as Hassan-Bey |
|
Nils Asther
He was 38, 84 years old when he died
|
as Kadar Pasha, Chief of Police |
|
John Stuart
He was 37, 81 years old when he died
|
as Talak Pasha, Officer of Turkish Army |
|
Adrienne Ames
She was 28, 39 years old when she died
|
as Therese, Viennese Operetta Star |
|
Charles Carson
He was 21, 20 years old when he died
|
as Gen. Hilmi-Pasha |
|
George Zucco
He was 49, 74 years old when he died
|
as Officer of the Firing Squad |
|
Annie Esmond
She was 61, 71 years old when she died
|
as Therese's Train Companion |
Abdul the Damned Crew
| Name |
Department |
|
Hanns Eisler as Original Music Composer. He was 37 (64) years old when He died
|
Sound |
|
Joe Strassner as Costume Design. |
Costume & Make-Up |
|
Otto Kanturek as Director of Photography. He was 38 (43) years old when He died
|
Camera |
|
Max Schach as Producer. He was 49 (70) years old when He died
|
Production |
|
Roger Burford as Scenario Writer. He was 31 (76) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Roger Burford as Dialogue. He was 31 (76) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Karl Grune as Director. He was 45 (71) years old when He died
|
Directing |
|
A.C. Hammond as Editor. |
Editing |
|
Ashley Dukes as Scenario Writer. He was 50 (73) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Ashley Dukes as Dialogue. He was 50 (73) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Roy Goddard as Assistant Director. |
Directing |
