Die Herrin der Welt (1919)

In the German adventure serial Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (1919) the title role was played by one of the first divas of the German cinema, Mia May. The producer, writer and director of the popular serial was Mia's husband, Joe May. He brought together talent from across German cinema, including many who would work behind the camera during the emergence of Expressionist cinema. The first film was released in Germany on 5 December 1919, and this was followed each week by the release of the subsequent episodes.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 634/1. Photo: May Film. Mia May and Michael Bohnen in Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919). Maug Gregaard (Mia May) and Consul Madsen (Michael Bohnen) at Ophir, the City of the Past.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 634/2. Photo: May Film. Mia May in Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 634/3. Photo: May Film. Mia May and Michael Bohnen in Die Herrin der Welt (Joe May and others, 1919). Mia May as Maud Gregaard and Michael Bohnen as Consul Madsen.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 634/4. Photo: May Film. Mia May and Michael Bohnen in Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919). The man with the top hat is Hermann Picha, who plays newspaper mogul Jonathan Fletcher.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 634/5. Photo: May Film. Mia May and Henry Sze in Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919). Mia May as Maud Gregaard and Henry Sze as Dr. Kien-Lung.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 634/6. Photo: May Film. Mia May in Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919). Mia May is Maud Gregaard, who at one point is considered the reincarnation of the goddess Astarte.

The Indiana Jones-like story

In 1919, Joe May, Joseph Klein, Uwe Jenss Krafft, and Karl Gerhardt shot the various episodes for the eight-part German silent serial Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (1919), one of the most notable adventure series of the Weimar cinema and considered the first monumental film in German film history.

The star of the serial was Joe May's wife Mia May, and her male film partner was played by Michael Bohnen. May shot episodes 1, 2, 3 and 8, Krafft 4 to 6, and Gerhardt 7. Klein was co-director for parts 1 and 4.

The Indiana Jones-like story follows the young Maud Gregaard (Mia May) on her globe-trotting adventures to find the legendary lost treasure of the Queen of Sheba.

She hopes it will enable her to bring revenge on the man that drew her father to commit suicide and led to her own social destruction. Once in China, she is taken captive by an evil man and nearly killed in the belief she is a witch.

All eight parts were full-length. Even if self-sustaining features they referred to future developments though without American-styled cliffhangers. Even if part of the press was critical, German audiences loved it and it was a bigger box office than the contemporary The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 1, no. 5. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Publicity still for Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919), starring Mia May. Spanish film title: La dueñá del mundo.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 3, no. 3. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Publicity still for Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 4, no. 4. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Mia May in Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 4, no. 5. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Michael Bohnen in Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 5, no. 1. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Michael Bohnen as Consul Madsen in Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919). Spanish film title: La dueñá del mundo.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 5, no. 3. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Mia May and Michael Bohnen in Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919).


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 6, no. 2. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Publicity still for Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919), starring Mia May. The man in the middle may be German actor Hermann Picha, who plays newspaper mogul Jonathan Fletcher. Spanish film title: La dueñá del mundo.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 7, no. 7. Photo: Distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Bernhard Goetzke (left) in Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919). The man on the right could be actor Paul Hansen, who plays the engineer Allan Stanley. He is the main male actor of episode 7.


Spanish collectors card by Chocolat Imperiale, Barcelona, episode 7, no. 8 in a series of 8 cromos. Photo: J. Gurgui, Barcelona / May Film. Mia May and Rudolf Lettinger as Detective Hunt in the serial Die Herrin der Welt/The Mistress of the World (1919).


Hungarian postcard, no. 84. Photo: Színházi Élet Kiadási / City Sokszorositása. Michael Bohnen and Mia May in Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May, 1919-1920).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 62, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Mia May in Die Herrin der Welt/Mistress of the World (Joe May and others, 1919).

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.