A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn’t know they once belonged to a murderer.Read More »
Conrad Veidt
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Robert Wiene – Orlacs Hände AKA The Hands of Orlac (1924)
1921-1930GermanyHorrorRobert WieneSilentWeimar Republic cinema -
Richard Thorpe – Above Suspicion (1943)
1941-1950DramaRichard ThorpeThrillerUSA

Quote:
If you believe all-American Fred MacMurray as an Oxford don, you’ll probably swallow the rest of Above Suspicion. Newly married to Joan Crawford, MacMurray goes on a honeymoon in prewar Germany. Actually it’s more business than pleasure: they are secret agents for the British, attempting to smuggle back information about a new superweapon being developed by the Nazis. Evil, mean, cruel and also wicked German officer Basil Rathbone imprisons and tortures Crawford (though she still looks like a million bucks), but McMurray comes to the rescue, paving the way for a suspenseful race-to-the-border climax. Read More » -
Leo Birinsky & Paul Leni – Das Wachsfigurenkabinett AKA Waxworks (1924)
1921-1930FantasyGermanyLeo BirinskyPaul LeniSilentWeimar Republic cinemaA wax museum hires a writer to give the sculptures stories. The writer imagines himself and the museum owner’s daughter in the stories.Read More »
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Curtis Bernhardt – Die letzte Kompagnie AKA The Last Company (1930)
1921-1930Curtis BernhardtDramaGermanyWar -
Robert Wiene – Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari AKA The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Germany1911-1920HorrorRobert WieneSilentWeimar Republic cinema
Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. It is the annual fair in Holstenwall. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep. When Alan asks Cesare about his future, Cesare answers that he will die before dawn. The next morning Alan is found dead. Francis suspects Cesare of being the murderer, and starts spying on him and Dr. Caligari. The following night Cesare is going to stab Jane in her bed, but softens when he sees the beautiful woman, and instead of committing another murder, he abducts her. Read More »
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Jean Dréville – Le joueur d’échecs AKA The Devil Is an Empress AKA Chess Player (1938)
Drama1931-1940ClassicsFranceJean Dréville
1776. Along with Lithuania and Prussia, Poland has succumbed to the might of the Russian Empire, but a determined resistance movement is working to bring an end to the country’s annexation. A young woman named Sonia is the figurehead of the Polish resistance fighters, but the Empress Catherine II has no fear of her, as she knows that Sonia is of Russian blood – a fact that she asks the Baron de Kempelen to make known to her political enemies. But Kempelen’s allegiances are ambiguous and he appears more preoccupied with the elaborate life-size automata he is working on than the political situation.Read More »
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Paul Leni – The Man Who Laughs (1928)
USA1921-1930ClassicsPaul LeniSilent

When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured into a permanent grin. The son can only make a living as a travelling circus clown – The Laughing Man!Read More »
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Walter Forde – Rome Express (1932)
1931-1940CrimeThrillerUnited KingdomWalter Forde
Synopsis:
Rome Express is a fast-moving British imitation of Hollywood’s Grand Hotel formula. The film concentrates on the various passengers of a European express train. On this particular run, the train is a veritable hotbed of intrigue, with crooks and blackmail victims seemingly in every coach. Among the naughty and nice characters are continental favorites Conrad Veidt, Cedric Hardwicke and Finlay Currie, as well as American silent film star Esther Ralston. Rome Express enabled director Walter Forde to graduate from inexpensive regional comedies to prestige British productions. The film was also an obvious inspiration for such later intrigue-on-the-rails epics as The Lady Vanishes (38) and Night Train (39). Rome Express was remade in 1948 as Sleeping Car to Trieste.Read More » -
F.W. Murnau – Der Gang in die Nacht AKA Walking into the Night [+extra] (1921)
1921-1930DramaF.W. MurnauGermanySilentWeimar Republic cinema

Quote:
Dr Eigil Borne is engaged to Hélène, a girl who is madly in love with him. At Hélène’s birthday celebration, Eigil invites her to a cabaret, where he meets his other love, Lily, a passionate, fiery and funny dancer.Read More »



