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Der Schatz des Abdar Rahmann
Also known as The Treasure of Abdar Rahman in the USA
(1914) Germany
B&W : Short film
Directed by Max Obal
Cast: Hugo Flink, Lyda Salmonova
Deutsche Bioscop Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung production. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film was released in the USA as The Treasure of Abdar Rahman by The General Film Company, Incorporated, in April 1914.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Abdar Rahman, returning from a raid upon a neighboring tribe, brings with him, Romeika, the daughter of its sheik. She is introduced into his harem but repulses all his advances till messengers from her father brings a ransom by which the freedom of the girl is affected. In leaving the palace Romeika’s rescuers give warning of the intention of her father to return and capture the jewels left in ransom. Fearing the vengeance of his enemy, Abdar buries his treasure and writes in code its secret resting place. This code is locked in a Koran box which he places, as he thinks, in a safe place. His action is seen, however, by a faithless servant. Not long afterwards Romeika’s people assail the palace, capture its inmates and kill Abdar, but are thwarted in their search for the treasure by the faithless servant who obtained the code and departs with it. In his flight, over the barren wastes, in his efforts to reach a haven from which to return and secure the treasure as his own the exhausted fugitive sees the returning horde. In his vain efforts to secure a position of vantage he falls from a cliff and the box is lodged in the rocks below. Three hundred years later at the time Morocco is occupied by the French, a native woman, in recovering a stray goat, discovers a strange-looking box on the hillside. It is taken to her tent and later sold to an army officer, who, upon opening it, finds a faded manuscript, the writing of which he is unable to understand. A translation is made by a native merchant in the market place, who dexterously deciphers its real meaning and cunningly goes to unearth the treasure for himself. The translation given to his patron appears at first to be a meaningless combination of words, but he later discovers its real meaning and immediately goes in search of the jewels which have been so long buried. By the time he has overcome the contending obstacles and reaches the place of the buried treasure the thief has succeeded in unearthing it and is well on his way. A chase is instituted after the fleeing man which at times grows close, but his trial is afterwards lost. In the meantime, the fugitive tries to hide the treasure in a desolate place. He is prevented from carrying out his purpose by the presence of lions who frighten him away. In the haste for safety the box is left on the desert, where the lions stand guard over the strange object.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 19 August 2025.
References: MoPicNews-19140404 p. 3 : Website-IMDb.
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