Waxworks (1924) (Silent)

Starring:Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, William Dieterle, Georg John, John Gottowt, Olga Belajeff, Ernst Legal
Director: Leo Birinsky, Paul Leni
Studio: Kino Video
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Great collection of German silent classics.......2007-06-19

F.W. Murnau's interpretation of Dracula, "Nosferatu", is a visually powerful film and perhaps the eeriest of all of the cinematic versions of the tale. In Max Schreck Murnau seems to have found an actor who was born to play the role of vampire Count Orlok. This combined with the vision of Murnau produces several unforgettable scenes in a tale most people already know very well - Orlok walking through Hutter's bedroom door, Orlok rising from his coffin on board the ship, and the shadow of Orlok walking up the stairway to Ellen's bedroom door, just to name a few.
Extra features on the "Nosferatu" disk include:
1. a still photo and promotional materials gallery (18 images)
2. More than 30 minutes of excerpts from the Murnau films "Journey into the Night" (1920), "The Haunted Castle" (1921), "Phantom" (1922), "The Last Laugh" (1924), "Faust" (1926) and "Tabu" (1931).
3. Scene comparisons between the Stoker novel, the script, and the film itself.
4. An excerpt from a 1938 Orson Welles radio performance.

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" has a man, Francis, sitting in a garden reciting a tale of horror to another man involving a mad doctor, Dr. Caligari, and his sleepwalker, Cesare, who supposedly has the ability to tell fortunes that turns into a tale of murder. At the conclusion of the tale, though, you realize some things that make you doubt whether the tale as it was told is the truth at all. The story is very Hitchcock-like in its open-ended meaning, and the art design looks like it had a heavy influence on Tim Burton, with its oddly angled and decorated doors and hallways.
Extra features include:
1. a 44-minute condensation of Caligari director Robert Wiene's "Genuine" (1920) which represents nearly all of the surviving footage.
2. a sketch, photo and posters gallery (40 images, not counting detail closeups)
3. clips of Wiene on the set of I.N.R.I. (1923) (3 minutes)
4. excerpts from a German language print showing the calligraphic artwork of a few of the original intertitles (7 minutes).

"The Golem" lays the cinematic groundwork for the 1931 motion picture version of "Frankenstein" . In character design, wardrobe, and interaction with its creator and the world around it, the two monsters do resemble one another. In this case, "The Golem", is a monster created from clay and magic rather than from spare body parts and science, and the monster's creator is a Rabbi. I think I was more shocked to see a Rabbi portrayed as someone who openly dabbled in the black arts and astrology than anything else the film offered. The Rabbi is even shown conjuring up a "god" - Asteroth - and forcing him to produce the life-giving word to bring "The Golem" to life. If this is how Germans perceived the practice of the Jewish religion in 1920, fifteen years before the Holocaust began, it might explain a great deal, but nothing about this aspect of the film is mentioned in the extra features.
The extra features include:
1. an excerpt from a rough 1937 American print of Julien Duvivier's Le Golem (1936) [6 minutes]
2. a comparison of creation sequences from diverse sources such as Wegener's The Golem (1920), the Chayim Bloch book The Golem (1925) and F.W. Murnau's Faust (1926)
3. a gallery of stills, illustrations and promotional materials [15 images].

"Waxworks" is really more of a fantasy tale than a horror story. It has a young man applying for a job in a wax museum with the task of writing stories to accompany each of the exhibits. This allows the film to be turned into a series of rather imaginative short stories in various exotic settings.
The extra features for this film are Paul Leni's experimental short film Rebus-film No. 1 (1926), and an excerpt from The Thief of Bagdad (1924).

The prints are all good quality and the accompanying scores really fit the mood of the individual films. This set is probably a good place to start exploring German silent film. My only real complaint was a lack of a commentary track on the films. Certainly, don't fall for the budget releases that are available for some of these films. They are usually incomplete and certainly not restored. Unfortunately, silent film restoration costs money, but in Kino products you get what you pay for in good transfers and complete works.

Awesome for those who get it!.......2007-02-19

I purchased these as a piece of history and was not dissapointed. Kino obviously has their act together and I will be buying more of their high quality movies in the future. It is obvious that the greatest care was taken to make these DVDs as clean and clear as possible, and those of you who will actually enjoy watching something as facinating as silent expressionist films will totally love these. Those of you who laugh and crack jokes during the show (you know who you are!) won't appreciate the quality and should rent something stimulating like "Friday the 13--Part Seventy-Four" instead.

German silent horror masterpieces in definitive prints.......2005-09-25

When it comes to horror films, I am far off the beaten path and in another world. I like my horror subtle and moody and intelligent, not the modern slasher and splatter variety. Four of my all-time favorite horror films are the German Horror Classics silents in an elegant (and expensive--$70) boxed set from Kino Video-THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919), THE GOLEM (1920), NOSFERATU (1922), and WAXWORKS (1926). This boxed set is perfect for Halloween season, year after year. It is the ultimaTe show and tell at parties. Kino has the finest and longest prints, with original roadshow color tinting and a variety of evocative new music scores. You get what you pay for, and you are averaging only $18 a movie.

Most prints of Robert Weine's DR. CALIGARI only run 52 minutes, in B&W. This collection has it color-tinted at 75 minutes from a 35mm German film archive print and with two music score options-modern jazz or soft orchestra. This is the first great horror film, about a traveling circus with a madman and his murderous assistant. Also included on the disk is a 48 minute condensation of another Weine film, GENUINE: THE TALE OF A VAMPIRE (1920). A CALIGARI photo gallery is included.

THE GOLEM, from star/director Paul Wegener, is set in a medieval German town. A giant clay man helps save a village from an evil dictator. This was the forerunner of all the FRANKENSTEIN movies. It runs 86 minutes, from the Munich Film Archive, with a new music score.

Paul Leni's WAXWORKS was made in Germany only a couple of years before he did THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927). Jon Marsalis provides a lush new music score. The movie has the original roadshow color tinting and runs 85 minutes. A young scholar is hired to write wax museum program notes for statues of Jack the Ripper, Harrun al-Raschid, and Ivan the Terrible. This is the finest print I have ever seen of this.

The crown jewel of this exquisite Kino boxed set is a restored, way longer than usual 93 minute archive print of Murnau's NOSFERATU. (I've seen several prints that only run 63 minutes!) You get what you pay for from Kino, the Rolls Royce of the DVD industry. An unauthorized, yet definitive, film of Dracula, this lovely print has full color-tinting and a choice of two different music scores. You also get a photo gallery and lengthy excerpts from several other Murnau silent films.

Happy Halloween with true chills from Kino with their German Horror Classics boxed set. Again, it is expensive, but a true labor of love for serious collectors. You know who you are. Now to choose between this and the Val Lewton Collection, the new 3-disk WIZARD OF OZ, and a special two disk PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925)! (REVIEWED ON 35MM ARCHIVE DVD)

Landmarks in film history.......2005-08-12

What an amazing boxed set. Wow. Works on every level. On a technical level, Kino Video has done a great job of presenting these films. They look great, have awesome menus, really cool extras, and each movie has two different music scores to choose from.

Now, onto the movies themselves. These are some truly great films. The most famous, and truly the most terrifying, is "Nosferatu." A groundbreaking feat from a legendary director, this is an atmospheric and chilling twist on the vampire legend (and quite a liberation from Bram Stoker's vision). I'm no film studies expert, but I know that a lot of the filming techniques here are pioneering, and produce a great "symphony of horror."

"The Golem" is an adaptation of an old Jewish legend dealing with the ancient branch of Hebrew mysticism known as Kabbahlism. (I wonder if all those Hollywood A-list types have seen this movie!) It is an eloquent and frightening tale of the chaos that results when man meddles with powers beyond himself; the Golem is Proteus' fire, or Victor Frankenstein's monster, or John Hammond's dinosaur theme park. A timeless message, presented here in a religious context. Quite a remarkable movie, boasting the best score of all the movies in this set.

"Waxworks" is perhaps less weighty than these first two, but no less entertaining. It's sort of like Madame Tussaud-meets-Scheherezade (pardon my poor spelling!). A compelling story well told, with good acting and pacing. Very good.

Finally, we come to "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." I've arranged my reviews in order of my esteem, and this one comes last because it fell short of my expecations. The story is fascinating. The set design, casting, and costuming are probably the best in the field of German expressionism (which is saying something) but the pacing of the film, in my opinion, is really off, and that causes it to drag a little bit. It's still a real thrill ride; after all, the story of a madman who uses a tragic somnambulist as a pawn in his diabolic schemes is wonderful. The set design and the actors work together to create an atmosphere as chilling and surreal as anything Tim Burton has ever done. It's just a little slow.

Over all, this collection is a must-have. German expressionism was a visionary art movement, one that died long before its time. The ultra-realism of most modern (and primarily American) art has its limitations, and expressionism, a sort-of counterpoint to realism, is a refreshing change. Furthermore, these movies are remarkable simply for their gravity. Although I love many movies from the 40s and 50s, it seems that many movies from that time were more pulp, whereas some silent movies were profound and human in a way that's often hard to find in cinema. (For example, compare Tod Browning's "Dracula" with Murnau's "Nosferatu." Both great, but Browning's is a bit more whimsical and stylized, I feel, whereas Murnau's is operatic.)

And so, whether you're a fan of all things antique, just a film buff, deutcheophile (try that one on for size!), or a sucker for horror flicks, this is a great buy.

The Height of Silent-Era German Expressionism.......2004-10-04

Like most artistic "isms," expressionism is difficult to define. In a general sense, it refers to art where the artist is less interested in depicting reality than in making a highly personal statement about a specific subject. Since this occurs to some degree in virtually all art, expressionism has very deep roots--but in the early 1900s it began to develop into a very specific arts movement, most often associated with the stage, where the legendary Eugene O'Neill would prove a master of the style. But it was also very specifically associated with post-World War I Germany, and in 1919 director Robert Wiene would create the first purely expressionistic film: THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI.

The film divided both critical and popular response, but once pure expressionism reached the screen it touched off a series of German films that dabbled in the style to at least some degree. This memorable Kino Video box set collects four of the most famous: the aforementioned CALIGARI, the 1920 THE GOLEM, the 1922 NOSFERATU, and the rarely seen 1924 WAXWORKS. Both individually and collectively, these films and others like them have cast an extremely long shadow, influencing directors as diverse as James Whale, Frederico Fellini, and Bob Fosse.

CALIGARI, THE GOLEM, and NOSFERATU are widely available in various "budget" releases, but it has been my hard-won experience that in such situations you get what you pay for: most are unwatchable. The Kino editions, however, are very much "best case" prints, contrast balanced and with original tints restored. Short of full digital restoration, this is as good as it gets, and while they may seem pricey in comparison they are well worth every cent.

Sadly, none of the DVDs offer significant bonus material. This is particularly unfortunate in the case of CALIGARI, which is such a unique film that it alone would be worthy of a double DVD edition. Still, the occasional bonuses are entertaining if not greatly satisfying, and even with this drawback the box set as a whole--and every title in it--is a must-have for any one who is seriously interested in world cinema.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Average customer rating:

Interesting slice of Expressionism
Torture, dread and death -- and some ironic good humor -- in this stylish Paul Leni film
Uneven vignettes
Waxworks
Paul Leni's Seldom-Seen Homage to Caligari

Waxworks (1924) (Silent)
Starring: Emil Jannings , Conrad Veidt , Werner Krauss , William Dieterle , and Georg John
Director: Leo Birinsky , and Paul Leni
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006JMQI
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Amazon.com

Lesser-known among silent German classics, Waxworks is a carnival of a movie inviting you to visit three distinct freak shows and sample the thrills and peculiarities each has to offer. A young poet (Wilhelm Dieterle, who became Hollywood director William Dieterle) is hired to pen "startling tales" about three figures on display in the Wachsfigurenkabinett. Somehow he and his boss's daughter (Olga Belajeff) win plum roles in each fantasia he concocts. The Arabian Nights episode, featuring Emil Jannings hamming it up as Caliph Haroun al-Raschid, boasts demented architecture and a blend of comedy and surrealism that inspired Douglas Fairbanks's Thief of Bagdad. Conrad Veidt, making a memorably mad Russian icon of Ivan the Terrible, towers amid episode 2's fiercely angular compositions. Then, still-unnerving double-exposure cinematography is used to bring "Spring Heel Jack" (Werner Krauss's version of Jack the Ripper) out of the realm of fantasy and menacingly into the real-world framing story. Get your ticket right here. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

Interesting slice of Expressionism.......2006-11-15

While this film might not be as famous or top-notch as other examples of German Expressionism, such as 'Metropolis' (1927) or 'The Golem' (1920), it is an interesting entry into the genre nevertheless, and has a number of great Expressionist sets, lighting, and moods. Things start happening when a young writer answers an ad in the paper, placed by a man seeking someone to tell the stories of three of the wax dummies in a wax museum he and his pretty daughter have at an amusement park. Of course, the young couple in each of the three stories are played by the writer and the young woman. It has an episodic structure much like that used in the early Fritz Lang film 'Destiny' (1921).

First off is the story of Caliph Hanoun al-Raschid (Emil Jannings) and how he came to lose his arm. Zarah, the wife of Assad the baker, has been flirting with a lot of customers, among them the Grand Vizier. The Caliph takes it upon himself to go and see her after the Vizier tells her all about her beauty, and is able to worm his way into her house at night because Assad, after quarreling with his wife, has snuck off to the palace, vowing to prove his manliness by stealing the Caliph's magickal wishing ring. Each of the three stories uses Expressionism in a different way, and here it is manifested in the great staircases and buildings that we see as the palace guards are pursuing Assad through the streets of Baghdad at night. This is probably the best-developed and most interesting of the three tales, and it's certainly the most light-hearted.

Second comes a story about Tsar Ivan IV (whom most Westerners know as "Ivan the Terrible," even though his title, Grozniy, really translates as something like "Awe-Inspiring"), and the Expressionism here is in the lighting and the dark mood. The Tsar (played by Conrad Veigt) gets a sadistic delight out of watching people agonise through their last moments in his torture chamber and in selecting victims who are to be poisoned by one of his underlings. The chemist who carries out these cruel orders, however, is tipped off to the fact that for all he knows, he might be next, so he writes the Tsar's name on an hour glass (when the last sand falls, the victim is supposed to die). Before the Tsar can find out about this clever revenge, however, he goes with a nobleman to the wedding of his daughter, and murders the man before they are to disembark from their carriage and join the wedding party. He then manages to steal the bride for himself and has her new husband kidnapped and taken to the torture chamber. Even though my area of special expertise in the field of history is Russian history, and Ivan IV is one of my favorite tsars, this story just didn't seem as interesting to me as the others. Ivan is just too one-dimensionally evil and twisted, in comparison to the more-developed and interesting Caliph in the first story. The real Ivan also started out as a liberal enlightened reformer and only went off the deep end after the love of his life, his first wife Anastasiya, was poisoned by a boyar; his character in this film would have been more complex and noteworthy had he had that same kind of development, instead of just starting out with the heart of darkness and only getting crazier and more evil, with no explanation for why he got that way.

The third story only lasts for maybe 5 minutes, but it's the most visually arresting and memorable. By this point the young writer is having trouble staying awake, and has a nightmare that the third dummy, a combination of Jack the Ripper and Spring-Heeled Jack (played by Werner Krauss), is chasing him and the young lady through the fairgrounds. After he awakes, he finds out that she had the exact same nightmare. It's a shame this story is so very short, since it had great potential to be the best of all of the episodes, and the most compelling, both visually and thematically. Supposedly a fourth episode was planned, about Rinaldo Rinaldi, but the production company ran out of money.

There are two extras--a clip from Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.'s 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), a film which was inspired by 'Waxworks,' and a cute short subject from 1925, also directed by Paul Leni, 'Rebus Film Number 1,' an animated crossword puzzle that gives the viewer the puzzle, the clues, hints at the answers, and finally the solution to the puzzle.

This is an important film for those who are interested in German Expressionism, although given the episodic structure, it can seem a bit uneven, in comparison to other Expressionist films that have just one coherent narrative storyline. And though it has been billed as a horror film, only the third episode could really be classified in the horror genre. The first episode does have some heavy moments but is overall lighthearted, and the second episode is more dark, disturbing, and depressing than horrifying or nightmare-inducing. It's an interesting film, but not one that could really be classified as an ideal first silent.

Torture, dread and death -- and some ironic good humor -- in this stylish Paul Leni film .......2006-07-10

Waxworks is an anthology film directed with great German expressionism flair by Paul Leni. The horror element is liberally mixed with irony, humor and amazing escapes. The three stories, one quite short, start out with a young man (Wilhelm Dieterle) answering an ad: "Wanted - An imaginative writer for publicity work in a waxworks exhibition." The exhibition is a sideshow at a carnival, and the waxworks are life-size figures of some legendary human monsters. There's Harun al Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad (Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt) and Spring-Heeled Jack -- no, not Jack the Ripper -- (Werner Krauss). The daughter (Olga Belajeff) of the waxworks creator and the young man are attracted to each other. He picks up a pen and begins writing his stories while she watches enraptured.

Harun al Raschid was a ruler who "hated monotony, so he had a different wife for every day in the year." He's a corpulent, spoiled and lascivious potentate played with a fierce mustache, leering eyes and wandering hands by Jannings. When he becomes entranced by the baker's wife (Belajeff), she inspires the baker (Dieterle) to prove his worth by stealing the caliph's wishing ring. After attempted caresses ("Don't let that bother you, my nightingale," the caliph tells the baker's wife when her gown becomes disarranged, "your lack of clothes doesn't bother me in the least."), barred doors, leaping escapes, a severed arm and the baker's oven used as a hiding place, all comes to a close with a happy and ironic ending.

Ivan the Terrible was a "blood-crazed monster on the throne, who turned cities into cemeteries. His crown was a tiara of mouldering bones, his scepter an axe." He "loved to gloat over the dying agonies of his poisoned victims," using an hourglass to measure out their last minutes. This story is genuinely unnerving. The sight of Veidt as Ivan, followed by his astrologer, stalking down the passage to the torture chambers in a long white gown, bent at the waist, elbows back and hands on his hips, each step measured, is something to see. This ending is ironic and disturbing.

Spring Heeled Jack -- "the notorious character -- pounced suddenly and silently upon his victims." Our writer has finished his first two stories. The young girl has fallen asleep. He looks at the waxworks figure of Jack, starts to write but falls asleep. Or is he. Suddenly the girl is holding him, telling him Jack had tried to kill them. They flee into the carnival with Jack after them, a frightening figure in an overcoat, a long scarf around his neck, a hat set at a jaunty angle on his head and a knife in his hand. Is this a dream or reality? Well, watch the movie, but don't blink. This sequence is over in just two or three minutes.

Probably the greatest pleasure of the movie is its look. In Waxworks, there's not a straight line or a right angle to be seen. Bagdad is an odd wonderland of domes and crooked ladders, veils and shadows. Anything solid seems to have been made out of rough clay. The staircases in the palace look like the ribcage of some exotic creature. The Kremlin looks to be a cross between a dark, crazed fantasy and a grotesque stage set. The carnival grounds are a fantasm of double exposures, shadowy lighting effects and fog. This is an unusual and entertaining film, with two over-the-top yet skilled performances by Jannings and Veidt, and with all the strange visuals you could hope for in a film by Paul Leni.

If you like anthology films which feature stylish dread, watch Dead of Night, a British film from 1945. There are stories in the film that will make you think twice about looking in mirrors, watching a ventriloquist's act or staying with friends for the weekend.

The Kino presentation of the restored Waxworks has a very good DVD transfer, chapter stops for each sequence and an unobtrusive piano accompaniment composed and played by Jon Mirsalis. There are a couple of minor extras.

Uneven vignettes.......2005-05-11

"Waxworks" continues my expolration into German Silent-era impressionist movies. "Waxworks" is about young poet who is hired by a carnival wax museum owner to write some stories concerning three wax figures. The first figure is a Saltan from Arabia, and the story he writes is a funny "1001 Arabian Nights" like tale about a baker who tries to impress his wife by stealing the Sultan's jewelry. The second is a much darker psychological thriller concerning the mad reign of Ivan the Terrible (although I seriously doubt his rule was as bad insane as id depicted here). In it Ivan is an utter psychopath who rules through fear and terror. He is accidently poisoned by his own alchamist, and then tries to cheat death by playing with an hour glass he previously used to torment his victims with. The last segement is about Jack the Ripper, and how he assalts the poet and the wax museum owner's daughter; all that turns out to be a bad dream. The movie starts out great, but then the quality drops in each subsequent story. The Sultan story was fun and funny with humourous characters and a rather upbeat and Shakespear ending (his comedies, anyway; think "A Midsummer's Night's Dream"). The Ivan story is alright, but a little bland; Good sets and atmosphere is hurt by no explaination of what made Ivan so bad. And more torture scenes wouldn't have hurt. Ivan ranting and raving and just acting like a spoiled brat is not enough. And the last short (very short) story is just bad. One thing is that Spring Hill Jack and Jack the Ripper are two different killers. Two is that it is all a nightmare, which is a plot device I can not stand. And three, it is only three minutes long, where the other two stories got almost 45 minutes each. That really wasn't fair to the killer's story. But it is alright, all in all. The color tenting was ok, and the music that was conducted was also pretty good. One last thing; "Waxworks" is not a horror movie, exactly. It is more like "The Twilight Zone" if anything, except there are no lessons learned.

Waxworks.......2005-04-18

A man answers an ad asking for an `imaginative writer.' The waxwork displays in a fair sideshow need some interesting words thrown their way. Dashing young Poet (William Dieterle) answers the ads, and in the course of a night tells the tale of Harun-al-Raschid (Emil Jannings), the caliph of Baghdad, Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt), and later dreams a nasty dream about Spring Heeled Jack (Werner Krauss, as Jack the Ripper), all the while throwing an evening's worth of sighs at pretty young Zarah (Olga Belajeff).
WAXWORKS (Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) is a 1924 German silent movie directed by Paul Leni. The movie is divided into three episodes. Sources say a fourth was planned but the production ran out of money. The first episode asks the question When a Grand Vizier flirts with a baker's wife, what does the baker do? Dieterle and Belajeff play the young and much in love married couple, and Dieterle answers the question by resolving to steal the Caliph's `wishing ring.' Episode two again has Dieterle and Belajeff playing a young couple much in love, we join them on their wedding day, along with the mad Ivan the Terrible, a cruel sadist who derives particular pleasure out of poisoning someone and watching them squirm while the sand in over sized hour glasses time out the last moments of their lives. The third episode finds Spring Heeled Jack chasing the Poet through the fair.
WAXWORKS is an impressive looking movie. Leni also handled the Art Direction and the sets are a fantastical melange of weird rounded shapes and cantered angles. The first episode, which comprises nearly half the movie's running time, is imaginative and tight. The Ivan episode drags on more than a bit, slowed down considerably by Veidt's crawling approach to screen acting. He takes forever to complete a gesture. The short Spring Heeled Jack episode seems tacked on, an expedient for a bankrupt production. It's filled with double and triple exposures and works better than it has any right to. After the long Caliph story I thought WAXWORKS lost drive and focus, and found myself steadily losing interest as the movie played itself out.
The dvd's extras features a clip from Douglas Fairbanks' Thief of Baghdad, which WAXWORKS inspired. Also included is the playful REBUS 1, a fifteen-minute or so short by Paul Leni. REBUS 1 is simply a seven-word crossword puzzle that uses filmed images, traditional and stop-action animation to solve the puzzle. It's light-hearted and frothy and, most important, translated into English.

Paul Leni's Seldom-Seen Homage to Caligari.......2005-04-10

In the wake of World War I, German film was sharply influenced by expressionism, an arts movement which is less concerned with imitating reality than in using design to reflect psychology and emotion. THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI brought the style to the screen in 1919, and throughout the 1920s many directors would create projects under its influence.

German director Paul Leni (1885-1929) was one such--and although he is best recalled for his later Hollywood films, most notably the stylish THE CAT AND THE CANARY, the 1924 German WAXWORKS shows him very near the peak of gifts. It is also very clearly an homage of sorts to THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI; not only would Leni cast two of that film's actors in major roles, he drew from the film's style for both sets and cinematography.

WAXWORKS is an "anthology" film, a collection of stories bound together by a running thread. A young writer (William Dieterle) is employed by a carnival sideshow wax museum to write stories about several of their figures: a Baghdad Caliph, Ivan the Terrible, and Spring Heeled Jack. As he writes, the film segues into the story the writer invents.

The longest of the three stories concerns Harun al Raschid, a Caliph of Baghdad who falls in love with a baker's wife--and then seeks to take her for his own. Featuring the celebrated Emil Jannings as the Caliph, the episode is a mixture of light comedy and Arabian Nights fantasy, particularly noted for the greatly stylized sets that recall the earlier CALIGARI and THE GOLEM to somewhat softer effect. It also offers the very rare opportunity to see Jannings, famed for his dramatic roles, in comic mode, and he proves equally adept with this bit of fluff as with his more "serious" work.

The second episode is a fantasy suggested by Russian ruler Ivan the Terrible, who delights in poisoning prisoners but finds himself fearful of his highly gifted poison-mixer. Ivan is played by Conrad Veidt, who appeared as the murderous Cesare in CALIGARI; one of Germany's most popular actors of the silent screen, Veidt was also noted for his gift at playing insanity, and his Ivan is the very incarnation of madness. As in the earlier episode, the sets are also fantastic, although perhaps not so obviously so.

Fine though the first two sequences are, it is really the last that is most famous, and justly so. Here Leni sets the story against the carnival itself and presents it in grotesque, dreamlike images that very deliberately recall CALIGARI; moreover, he casts actor Werner Krauss, who played Caligari himself, as a menacing killer who slowly stalks his terrified victims. The killer is referred to as both Spring Heeled Jack and Jack the Ripper; clearly, however, he is more akin to the latter. The cinematography in this sequence is particularly fine, using multiple exposures in a way that foreshadows Leni's stylish THE CAT AND THE CANARY.

In an overall sense, WAXWORKS is quite fine, and were it not for the fact the final sequence is so short I would easily give it a full five stars. The Kino DVD also offers a very good transfer, complete with original tinting; unfortunately, however, it offers no bonus material except a Leni short--an unexpected but mildly interesting "filmed crossword puzzle." Although some may find the anthology nature of the film a bit off-putting, silent fans will likely love WAXWORKS from start to finish.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer
In Memory of Bob Zeidler, Amazon Reviewer
Greatly Missed and Not Forgotten

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