Waterloo is a German made movie that depicts the soldiers of Belgium + The Netherlands; Brunswick; England, Ireland, Scotland + Wales; Hanover; Nassau; and Prussia’s victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.Read More »
Weimar Republic cinema
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Karl Grune – Waterloo (1929)
Karl Grune1921-1930ClassicsGermanySilentWeimar Republic cinema -
Richard Oswald – Dreyfus AKA The Dreyfus Case (1930)
1921-1930DramaGermanyRichard OswaldWeimar Republic cinemaQuote:
History of the legal scandal involving the French Captain Alfred Dreyfus who was convicted of treason and sent to the penal colony at Devil’s Island in 1894 because of an anti-Semitic conspiracy in the war ministry. Supported by the writer Emile Zola Dreyfus’s wife Lucie fights for his release. In 1899, the verdict against Dreyfus was repealed and shortly after, Dreyfus was pardoned. But it took another six years until Dreyfus was fully exonerated. (filmportal.de)Read More » -
Josef von Sternberg – Der Blaue Engel AKA The Blue Angel [English Version] (1930)
1921-1930ClassicsDramaGermanyJosef von SternbergWeimar Republic cinemaImmanuel Rath is a stuffy, disciplinarian professor who is shocked to discover his students passing around a postcard of Lola-Lola, a singer at The Blue Angel cabaret. Hoping to catch his students there, Professor Rath visits the nightclub and witnesses Lola-Lola’s performance. Entranced by her dissolute charms, he gets drunk on champagne and spends the night with her. The ensuing scandal causes him to lose control of his students and he is terminated from his position. Returning to Lola, he agrees to marry her and joins the troupe. His humiliation at having to play a clown onstage is compounded by Lola’s attraction to the strongman Mazeppa. To make matters worse, the troupe returns to the professor’s hometown, forcing him to acknowledge how far he has fallen.Read More »
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Leo Mittler – Jenseits der Straße – Eine Tragödie des Alltags aka Harbor Drift (1929)
1921-1930DramaGermanyLeo MittlerSilentWeimar Republic cinemaQuote:The film itself is a small wonder to behold. It’s cut in a blazing speed, but at the same time manages to integrate social realities in a documentary style, to mix satire, humor and some artistic lighting, in short it’s one of the glorious late silent era masterpieces and all the more scandalous that it’s completely out of circulation. The story itself is very simple, a lady loses a pearl necklace on the street, an old beggar picks it up, observed by a prostitute who tries to outwit him, while a third younger man out of a job who comes to the beggar’s shack complicates the situation.Read More »
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F.W. Murnau – Schloß Vogeloed AKA The Haunted Castle (1921)
Crime1921-1930F.W. MurnauGermanyMysteryWeimar Republic cinemaPLOT: In the castle Vogeloed, a few aristocrats are awaiting baroness Safferstätt. But first count Oetsch invites himself.. Everyone thinks he murdered his brother, baroness Safferstat’s first husband, three years ago. So he is rather undesirable. But Oetsch stays; arguing he is not the murderer and will find the real one…Read More »
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Alexis Granowsky – Das Lied vom Leben aka Song of Life (1931)
Germany1931-1940Alexis GranowskyDramaExperimentalWeimar Republic cinemaQuote:
Released in America as The Song of Life, this German film stirred up quite a tempest back in 1931 for its depiction of a Caesarian birth. Though not much was really shown, it was enough to cause women filmgoers — and not a few men — to faint dead away. The film was banned outright in Germany and ran into some censorship problems in the US; still, by its very controversial nature it proved to be a hit wherever it was shown. And oh, yes, there was a plot, albeit a somewhat nonsensical one: After discovering that her elderly fiance has false teeth, a young bride-to-be becomes so distraught that she contemplates suicide! She is rescued by a young sailor, with whom she has a baby, leading to the aforementioned “C-section” sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviRead More » -
Fritz Lang – Spione aka Spies (1928)
1921-1930Fritz LangGermanySilentThrillerWeimar Republic cinemaSynopsis: Spies (Spione) was the first independent production of German “thriller” director Fritz Lang. The years-ahead-of-its-time plotline involves Russian espionage activity in London. The mastermind is Haghi (Rudolph Klein-Rogge), a supposedly respectable carnival sideshow entertainer. Heading the good guys is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), with the help of defecting Russian spy Sonya (Gerda Maurus). The film moves swiftly to several potential climaxes, each one more exciting than its predecessor. Haghi’s ultimate demise is a superbly staged Pirandellian vignette. Anticipating Citizen Kane by a dozen years, director Lang dispenses with all transitional dissolves and fade-outs, flat-cutting territory from one scene to another. The film was co-scripted by Lang and his then-wife Thea Von Harbou. – Hal Erickson (AMG)Read More »
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Karl Heinz Martin – Von morgens bis mitternachts AKA From Morn to Midnight (1920)
1911-1920GermanyHorrorKarl Heinz MartinSilentWeimar Republic cinemaStill shocking even today, From Morn to Midnight remains one of the boldest examples of German expressionist cinema. Based on a play by one of the era’s most respected expressionist writers, Georg Kaiser, the story centres on a bank cashier (Ernst Deutsch) who steals money after becoming enraptured by an elegant customer (Erna Morena). Driven by lust, he begs the customer to come away with him, but she laughs in his face. Distraught at having to return home to his drab family life, the cashier goes on the run, determined to seek out the pleasure and passion he has been missing. But he is continually haunted by visions of death, and his relationship with the stolen money soon sours.Read More »
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Robert Wiene – Genuine [43 Minutes Version] (1920)
1911-1920GermanyHorrorRobert WieneSilentWeimar Republic cinemaGerman suspense/horror film, not about vampires in the modern sense. A ‘Vampire’ or ‘Vamp’ in 1920 was a purely sexual woman who lured men to their deaths. (Theda Bara was probably the most famous) This is an expressionist film, make on the heals of ‘Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ by the same director, cameraman and art directors. The title Genuine, is the name of the lead character, played by Fern Andra.Read More »