Great Early German Films
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- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorPaul WegenerCarl BoeseStarsPaul WegenerAlbert SteinrückErnst DeutschIn 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeAud Egede-NissenGertrude WelckerArch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsMax SchreckAlexander GranachGustav von WangenheimVampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsWalter SlezakBenjamin ChristensenNora GregorTriangle story: painter, his young male model, unscrupulous princess.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsEmil JanningsMaly DelschaftMax HillerAn aging doorman is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbors and society after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPaul RichterMargarete SchönTheodor LoosSiegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, sets off on a treacherous journey to the Kingdom of Burgundy to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Princess Kriemhild.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsMargarete SchönGertrud ArnoldTheodor LoosPrincess Kriemhild vows to avenge her husband's murder but must overcome her brothers who swore allegiance to Hagen. She marries Etzel, King of the Huns, and persuades his army to attack Hagen, but she loses more than she bargained for.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsConrad VeidtAlexandra SorinaFritz StrassnyA 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.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsAsta NielsenGreta GarboÁgnes EszterházyIn post-WWI Vienna, Greta (Greta Garbo), her kid sister, and retired dad try to make it through tough times.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsHermann PichaRosa ValettiAndré MattoniA young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's Tartuffe, in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets his own inheritance.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGösta EkmanEmil JanningsCamilla HornThe demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.
- DirectorArnold FanckLeni RiefenstahlStarsLeni RiefenstahlLuis TrenkerErnst PetersenDiotima meets Karl in the mountains where they fall in love and have an affair. When Karl's friend, Vigo, meets her, he mistakenly believes she is in love with him. Karl then believes that she is betraying him with his friend.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsÉdith JéhanneUno HenningFritz RaspIn the Crimea, the Reds and the Whites aren't done fighting, and Jeanne discovers that the man she loves is a Bolshevik (when he kills her father). Penniless, she returns to Paris where she works for her uncle. Soon after, her lover Andreas is in France to organize the sailors in Toulon. So also is a thief, traitor, and libertine, Khalibiev, who wants to seduce Jeanne. His schemes, Jeanne and Andreas's naivete, and a lost diamond bring the lovers to the brink of tragedy.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeGerda MaurusWilly FritschThe mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government's secret service.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksFritz KortnerFrancis LedererThe rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksJosef RovenskýFritz RaspAfter falling pregnant by a pharmacist and refusing to marry, a young woman is ejected from her home and sent to a strict girls' reform school.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsAlbert SteinrückElse HellerGustav FröhlichJoe May's sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to its characters, and the ability to take a simple and essentially melodramatic story and turn it into something more complex and inherently cinematic.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsWilly FritschGerda MaurusKlaus PohlA tenacious scientist blasts off for the moon in hopes of riches that may be found there.
- DirectorArnold FanckGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsGustav DiesslLeni RiefenstahlErnst PetersenA man climbs a 12,000-foot mountain to search for his wife, who was lost on their honeymoon. Another couple makes the dangerous climb with him.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsRudolf ForsterLotte LenyaCarola NeherThe Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.
- DirectorLeontine SaganCarl FroelichStarsDorothea WieckHertha ThieleEmilia UndaAt an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with a teacher, to terrific consequences.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsAlexander GranachFritz KampersErnst BuschPlea against war and for friendship between peoples, through the story of French miners rescued by German colleagues after a firedamp explosion.