Filmarchiv Austria: Paimann’s Film Lists

Paimann FilmlistenView collection „Paimann’s Filmlisten”, literal „Paimann's Film Lists“, was an Austrian film review journal founded by Franz Paimann. The periodical listed all new films released in Austria between 1916 and 1965. That includes all feature films which were distributed in Austria, including foreign production and non-fictional motion pictures. Each entry contains a synopsis, credit details and a rating. The first issue of „Paimann's Film Lists“ appeared 1916, at that time mere newsletters designated for Austrian cinema owners only. Starting from 1921 until 1965 „Paimann's Film Lists“ became a weekly journal. From February 1943 until January 1946 the periodical was not authorized for publication.
  

  

During the first four years the founder Franz Paimann was also editor. After his death on January 26th 1921 he was succeeded by Joseph Eduard Bernard. In March 1923 Joseph Eduard Bernard purchased the remaining shares of the company. He continued the „Paimann's Film Lists“ in the same style until his retirement in 1965.
 

Each film description contains information about production company,distributor, genre, length/duration, date of premiere, censorship results as well as brief descriptions and reviews. The films were rated until 1918 with Roman numerals. After that it was replaced by a differentiated system using adjectives. The rating allows:
 

1.        Schlager ersten Ranges (hit, first grade)
2.        Schlager (hit)
3.        Ausgezeichnet (excellent)
4.        Sehr gut (very good)
5.        Recht gut (moderately good)
6.        Gut (good)

From No. 269 on 26 May 1921 the scheme was changed as follows:

1.        Schlager ersten Ranges (hit, first grade)
2.        Schlager (hit)
3.        Exclusiv-Bild ("exclusive image")
4.        ausgezeichnet (excellent)
5.        sehr gut (very good)
6.        mittelmäßig (moderate)
 

A "hit" back then is what today is a blockbuster, the category of "exclusive image" was used for quality arthouse pictures, which are considered to be not necessarily a blockbuster.