Carlos und Elisabeth (1924)

At the center of this lavishly staged story, loosely inspired by motifs from Friedrich Schiller’s *Don Karlos* and by history, is the passionate, tragic and ill-fated love between the Spanish Infante and heir to the throne, Don Carlos, and Princess Elisabeth of Valois. They had once been promised to each other. But Don Carlos’s royal father, Philip of Spain, tries by every means to prevent their young love from flourishing, since he has set his sights on the young noblewoman himself. His motives are anything but noble. He lays claim to Elisabeth and arrogates to himself the right not only to snatch her away from under his son’s nose, but also to marry her against her will. Don Carlos and Elisabeth continue to meet in secret and devise a plan to flee together. But the plan is discovered, and King Philip hands his own son over to the Inquisition. His father rejects the petition for clemency that is submitted, and Don Carlos dies in a cruel execution. Don Philip’s triumph is short-lived. Elisabeth is then no longer willing to go on living without her beloved and voluntarily follows Carlos into death. The despotic monarch is left a broken man.