Tag Archives: german expressionism

December 9, 2020 · 10:44 pm

Films of 1920: From Morn to Midnight

Truly the weirdest of the weird.

“So if The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari took German Expressionism and ran with it, From Morn To Midnight took it, ran with it, jumped on a motorcycle and rode it screaming straight through a brick wall.” – Lea Stans, Silentology

This is an extreme oddball of a film, so odd that it was never even released in Germany, though it may have been shown there privately. It was, however, released in Japan in 1922, for some reason. For decades after it was thought to be a lost film, until a print was discovered in Tokyo in 1959 and restored.

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December 7, 2020 · 10:50 pm

Films of 1920: Genuine, Tragedy of a Vampire

They can’t all be winners.

My last post was about the very successful and acclaimed Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I’ll look next at two forgotten films that tried to follow in Caligari’s footsteps… and failed.

Genuine: Tragedy of a Vampire

This was a follow up from Caligari‘s director, Robert Wiene, in which he ill-advisedly tried to dial up the weirdness.

First a disclaimer: there are no undead bloodsuckers in this flick. In 1920 the term ‘vampire’ or ‘vamp’ was more commonly used to refer to a seductive femme fatale, which is the case here.

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December 2, 2020 · 11:34 pm

Films of 1920: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

I start my series of posts about the films of 1920 with a real blockbuster…

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene is one of the most highly regarded artistic works of 1920. Stills from this film are probably familiar to you, most of them featuring spidery Conrad Veidt carrying a limp Lil Dagover around crazily painted sets. Today the film is most famous for the Expressionist art direction. (And for how cool Veidt looks.)

When designer Hermann Warm gave his proposed set sketches to director Wiene and producer Rudolf Meinert, Wiene gave his approval, but Meinert took an extra day to think it over before giving the order: “Do these sets as eccentrically as you can!” *

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November 24, 2020 · 8:59 am

1920: The Year in Movies

I’ve been immersed in silent movies recently, partly as research for a book but also because I’m fascinated by both the history and the films of this period. Spending more time at home this year has enabled me to take a long, close look at movies made in 1920, exactly one hundred years ago.

It was a particularly fascinating year. The world had just emerged from WWI and a devastating pandemic. Both left a psychological mark especially on defeated Germany, where filmmakers responded with dark folk tales, horror, and expressionism. (And some comedy as well – thank you Ernst Lubitsch!)

In America the mood was lighter. 1920 saw the enactment of Prohibition outlawing the sale or use of alcohol, but despite this – perhaps because of it – Americans were in a party mood. The movie industry, having entered its rebellious teen years, was eager to set the pace. They would have ten more years to whoop it up before the Hays Code came in to regulate movie morals and ruin everyone’s fun.

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