
Zew morza (The Call of the Sea). 1927. Poland. Directed by Henryk Szaro. Screenplay by Stefan Kiedrzyński. Produced by Maria Hirszbein. With Maria Malicka, Jerzy Marr, Nora Ney. 4K digital restoration courtesy the Filmoteka Narodawa. DCP. Polish intertitles; English subtitles. 125 min.
Once described as “a tireless fighter for a brighter future of Polish film,” Maria Hirszbein studied economics in Germany before returning to Poland and joining the Leo-Forbert studio in 1924 as a co-owner. In 1926, she bought Forbert’s shares and became the sole owner of the company, which she eventually renamed Leo-Film. Produced a year after she took control, the stylistic Zew morza has been called Poland’s first maritime film, and it showcases the importance of the country’s access to the coastline following its independence after World War I. Featuring members of the Polish Navy and the Maritime Air Division, portions of the film were shot on location at the Gdynia, Gdańsk, and Puck harbors. Part romance, part crime adventure, the patriotic Zew morza follows Stach (Jerzy Marr), a miller’s son who joins a ship’s crew as a boy and returns a betrothed young man, only to find his childhood friend Hanka (Maria Malicka) is now a beautiful woman. At the same time, he and a nautical invention he is developing become ensnarled in a gang’s nefarious activities.
As head of Leo-Film, Hirszbein nurtured young talent—Jewish herself, she actively hired and collaborated with Jewish artists, like director Henryk Szaro—and oversaw all aspects of production. Under Hirszbein’s leadership, Leo-Film made films in both Polish and Yiddish (the latter being a specialty of the former Leo-Forbert studio). A cofounder of the Polish Film Producers’ Union in 1927, among other industry activities, Hirszbein ran Leo-Film until the outbreak of World War II, and is believed to have been killed during either the Nazi siege of Warsaw in 1939 or in the Warsaw ghetto in 1942.