Nju (Elisabeth Bergner) is married, has a child and lives in relative luxury. But Nju is not happy. Her overweight bourgeois husband (Emil Jannings) is taking her for granted, even though he had once promised to cherish and adore her forever. When she encounters a good-looking writer (Conrad Veidt), Nju is smitten. When her husband becomes aware of their mutual attraction he flies into a jealous rage and tries to shoot his rival. Now Nju leaves him and moves in with her lover.
In 1924, Elisabeth Bergner was the celebrated star of the Max Reinhardt stages in Berlin, having already thrilled audiences in Zurich, Munich and Vienna with her idiosyncratic and magnetic stage presence. The combination of her small, boyish figure and highly expressive acting made her shine in a wide variety of roles. So it was no wonder that the young director Paul Czinner cast her in the leading role of his film 'Husbands and Lovers.
The film was a success. Critic Arthur Eloesser wrote: 'Between two skills and certainties (meaning Jannings and Veidt), she was the sensation, a little soul, a little flame, flickering and extinguishing as if before the first gust of wind. She is a miracle, a plea, a supplication'. Elisabeth Bergner knew how to hold her own between two established titans of stage and film: Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt. The fact that she succeeds and that she makes 'Nju' an Elisabeth Bergner film despite this competition is testament to the quality of her acting and her self-confidence. This is the film's strength, but also its potential weakness. Because if the charms of the leading actress don't resonate with viewers, the premise of 'Nju' doesn't work, namely that all men, even men of the world like Jannings and Veidt, must fall for this uniquely attractive woman.
Paul Czinner and Elisabeth Bergner married and he remained her film director, much to the annoyance of film critics, who thought he cramped her style too much. But together the couple switched from silent to sound film and emigrated to Great Britain in 1933 and later to the USA.
'Husbands and Lovers is first and foremost a film for fans of Elisabeth Bergner (and those who wish to become fans). If you are receptive to the charms of this unique actress, the film works. Otherwise, of course, there are also the solid character studies by Jannings and Veidt, who give routine performances here.
