The Countess Receives

A holiday in the Austrian Tyrol, including an excursion to Bavaria and Oberammergau.

The first film produced by Laurie and Stuart Day in which they presented their holiday footage with a 'prologue and epilogue' and, if possible, with a theme. In this example, holiday footage taken by Laurie and Stuart Day in the Austrian Tyrol is prefaced by and concludes with scenes featuring Laurie and Stuart Day at home in Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire. Laurie Day later recalled: '[W]e read about the desirability of giving one’s holiday films shape. […] This was first noticeable with a film of Austria called The Countess Receives, which was the result of reading a charming romance by Cecil Roberts developed from an advertisement by an Austrian Countess offering paying guests to her castle: “Sun, wild flowers, warm bathing, and dancing in the moonlight”. As I actually saw this advertisement shortly after reading the book it naturally suggested the framework of the resultant “visit”'. The film begins with Laurie Day reading a novel, Cecil Roberts’ Pamela’s Spring Song. She reads a paragraph in the novel, which includes a reference to a newspaper advertisement placed by an Austrian Count and Countess, offering rooms to paying guests at their castle in the Tyrol. Stuart Day passes her a newspaper. Laurie Day glances at the paper and reads a similarly worded advertisement placed by an Austrian Countess. She draws her husband’s attention to the similarity between the two and persuades him to holiday in the Austrian Tyrol. The footage shot in the Tyrol and during an excursion to Bavaria is followed by another scene in the Days' garden, in which Laurie Day models her Tyrolean clothing souvenirs for her friend and explains to her how the holiday came about and the places they visited. The film concludes with Laurie’s friend comparing the advertisements in Cecil Roberts’ novel and the newspaper, before she begins reading the novel. The holiday film includes footage of sightseeing attractions and beauty spots in the Tyrol; street scenes and people encountered in the Tyrol as well as on a return trip to Oberammergau. Sequences in the holiday film include shots of: the Tyrolean castle near Kitzbűhel in which the Days stay; street scenes in Kitzbűhel (including a funeral cortege at the end of the holiday footage); activities on the lake at Schwarzsee; a cable car journey to Hahnenkamm on the outskirts of Kitzbűhel; an excursion to Innsbruck and the lake at Achensee; a coach tour through the Salzach valley, with visits to the Johannisberg, the Pasterze Glacier, the Grossglockner and Zell Am See; an excursion to Bavaria, including visits to the castle at Neuschwanstein and Oberammergau; the local population in Kitzbűhel in regional clothes.

Featured Buildings

The garden at the Day home, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire Schloss Kaps, Kitzbűhel Kitzbűhel Liebfrauenkirche [Church of Our Lady], Kitzbűhel St Anna’s Column, Innsbruck Clock Tower, Altstadt, Innsbruck Fountain [near Emperor Maximillian's Golden Roof], Altstadt, Innsbruck Goldenes Dachl [Emperor Maximillian's Golden Roof], Altstadt, Innsbruck Domkirche zu St Jakob [Cathedral of St. James, Innsbruck Cathedral], Innsbruck Farmhouse [used in the 'Constant Nymph' as the Sanger home], Achensee, Tyrol St Catherine, Lermoos Schloss Neuschwanstein [Neuschwanstein Castle], Bavaria

Keywords

Tyrol; Inter-war continental tourism; Oberammergau

Intertitles

The Schloss Kaps, Kitzbuhel [Kitzbűhel] Enter the Countess The Countess displays the magnificent view commanded by the castle of the little town and the Kaiser Mountains. White Beauty How’s this for ingenuity! At SCHWARZEE [Schwarzsee], a mile or so out of town, is the “warm bathing” of the advertisement. High above Kitzbuhel [Kitzbűhel] is the Hahnenkamm reached by aerial railway. Who yer goin’ to meet Bill? Have yer bought the street Bill? Within easy reach of Kitzbuhel is INNSBRUCK, capital of the Tyrol. Look what we found among the cabbages! Near INNSBRUCK is Achensee the highest lake in the TYROL. Beside the lake is the farmhouse used in the “Constant Nymph” as the Sanger home. A glorious drive along the Salzach valley brings one to the newly constructed mountain road up and over the Fuschertorl to the Grossglockner. The road is not paid for yet, hence the toll gate. The Johannisberg (10,500 ft.) The Pasterzen [Pasterze] Glacier. The Grossglockner (11,400ft.) The return route passes peaceful ZELL-AM-SEE A drive into BAVARIA brought us to LERMOOS at the foot of the ZUGSPITZE, the highest mountain in Germany. Further on, perched high above it’s [sic] village, is the romantic castle of Neuschwanstein built by Ludwig II, the mad king of Bavaria. At OBERAMMERGAU there was only time to visit the house of Anton Lang who was for twenty years the Christus of the Passion Play. And here he is. In the main street of KITZBUHEL many journeys begin ..... .. and other journeys end. The Tyrolean costume is quite irresistible. So why resist? THE END.

Other Places

Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire; Kitzbűhel; Schwarzee [Schwarzsee]; Hahnenkamm; Innsbruck; Achensee; Salzach Valley; Johannisberg; Pasterze Glacier; Grossglockner; Zell Am See; Lermoos; Neuschwanstein; Oberammergau