''The Golem: How He Came into the World'' (german: link=no, Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, also referred to as ''Der Golem'') is a 1920 German
silent horror film and a leading example of early
German Expressionism
German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...
. Director
Paul Wegener
Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 – 13 September 1948) was a German actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema.
Acting career
At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end his law studies and conce ...
, who co-directed the film with
Carl Boese
Carl Eduard Hermann Boese (; 26 August 1887 – 6 July 1958) was a German film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He directed 158 films between 1917 and 1957.
Selected filmography
* ''Farmer Borchardt'' (1917)
* ''Donna Lucia ...
and co-wrote the script with
Henrik Galeen
Henrik Galeen (7 January 1881 – 30 July 1949) was an Austrian-born actor, screenwriter and film director considered an influential figure in the development of German Expressionist cinema during the silent era.
Early years
Considerable mystery ...
based on
Gustav Meyrink
Gustav Meyrink (19 January 1868 – 4 December 1932) was the pseudonym of Gustav Meyer, an Austrian author,
novelist, dramatist, translator, and banker, most famous for his novel '' The Golem''.
He has been described as the "most respected Germa ...
's
1915 novel,
stars as the
titular creature, a being in
Jewish folklore
Jewish folklore are legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of Judaism. Folktales are characterized by the presence of unusual personages, by the sud ...
created from clay. Photographer
Karl Freund went on to work on the 1930s classic Universal horror films years later in Hollywood.
''The Golem: How He Came into the World'' is the third of three films that Wegener made featuring the golem, the other two being ''
The Golem'' (1915) and the short comedy ''
The Golem and the Dancing Girl
''The Golem and the Dancing Girl'' (original German title: ) is a 1917 German silent comedy horror film. It is part of a trilogy, preceded by '' The Golem'' (1915) and followed by '' The Golem: How He Came into the World'' (1920). Paul Wegene ...
'' (1917), in which Wegener dons the golem make-up in order to frighten a young lady with whom he is infatuated. ''The Golem: How He Came into the World'' is a prequel to ''The Golem'' from 1915 and, as the only one of the three films that has not been
lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
, is the best known of the series.
Plot
Set in the Jewish ghetto of medieval
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, the film begins with
Rabbi Loew, the head of the city's Jewish community, reading the stars. Loew predicts disaster for his people and informs the elders of the community. The next day the
Holy Roman Emperor signs a decree declaring that the Jews must leave the city before the new moon and sends the squire Florian to deliver the decree. Loew, meanwhile, begins to devise a way of defending the Jews.
Upon arriving at the ghetto, the arrogant Florian is attracted to Miriam, Loew's daughter, for whom his assistant also feels affection. Loew talks Florian into reminding the Emperor that he has predicted disasters and told the Emperor's horoscopes, and requests an audience with him. Having flirted with Miriam, Florian leaves. Loew begins to create the Golem, a huge being made of clay which he will bring to life to defend his people. Florian returns later with a request from the Emperor for Loew to attend the Rose Festival at the palace. He shares a romantic moment with Miriam while Loew reveals to his assistant that he has secretly created the Golem and requires his assistance to animate it. In an elaborate magical procedure, Loew and the assistant summon the spirit
Astaroth
Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), in demonology, was known to be the Great Duke of Hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer; he was part of the evil trinity. He is known to be a male figure most likely named afte ...
and compel him, as per the ancient texts, to say the magic word that will bring life. This word is written on paper by Loew which is then enclosed in an amulet and inserted onto the Golem's chest. The Golem awakes, and the Rabbi initially uses it as a household servant.
When Loew is summoned to the palace for the festival, he brings the Golem with him to impress the audience. Florian, meanwhile, slips away from the court to meet Miriam, whose house is being guarded by Loew's assistant. Back at the palace, the court is both terrified and intrigued by the arrival of the Golem. Impressed, the Emperor asks to see more supernatural feats. Loew projects a magical screen showing the history of the Jews, instructing his audience not to laugh or even speak. Upon the arrival of
Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh'';; fa, اخشورش, Axšoreš; fa, label= New Persian, خشایار, Xašāyār; grc, Ξέρξης, Xérxēs. grc, label= Koine Greek, Ἀσουήρος, Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; la, Assue ...
, the
Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. Th ...
, the court begins to laugh and the palace suddenly begins to crumble. At Loew's order, the Golem intervenes and props up the falling ceiling, saving the court. In gratitude, the Emperor pardons the Jews and allows them to stay.
Loew and the Golem return to the ghetto, spreading the news that the Jews are saved. Loew returns to his house and begins to notice erratic behaviour in the Golem. After managing to remove the amulet, he reads that upcoming astrological movements will cause Astaroth to possess the Golem and attack its creators. Loew is called down by his assistant to join in the celebrations in the street. As the community rejoices, the assistant goes to inform Miriam but finds her in bed with Florian. Devastated, he reanimates the Golem and orders it to remove Florian from the building, but the Golem, now under Astaroth's influence, outright throws Florian from the house's roof, killing him. Horrified, the assistant and Miriam flee, but the Golem sets fire to the building, and Miriam falls unconscious.
Loew's assistant rushes to the synagogue to alert the praying Jews of the disaster, but upon their arrival at Loew's house, they find that it is burning, and both the Golem and Miriam are missing. Despaired, the community begs Loew to save them from the rampaging Golem. Loew performs a spell that removes Astaroth from the Golem. Promptly, the Golem, who is wandering the ghetto causing destruction, leaves Miriam (whom he has been dragging by the hair through the streets) lying on a stone surface and heads towards the ghetto gate. He breaks the gate open and sees a group of little girls playing. They all flee except for one, whom he picks up, having now a docile nature. Out of curiosity, she removes the amulet from the Golem; it drops her and collapses, unconscious. Loew finds Miriam, who awakens shortly after. Happily reunited, they are awkwardly joined by Loew's assistant, who informs him that the Jews are waiting for him by the gate. After Loew has left, the assistant promises Miriam that he will never tell anyone of her forbidden affair with Florian and asks for forgiveness for his actions in return. The Jews meanwhile gather at the gate to find the dead Golem. Rejoicing and praying, they carry it back into the ghetto, the
Star of David appearing on the screen as the film ends.
Cast
*
Albert Steinrück
Albert Steinrück (20 May 1872 – 10 February 1929) was a German stage and film actor of the silent film, silent era. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1910 and 1929. He starred in the 1923 film ''The Treasure (1923 film), The Treas ...
as
Rabbi Loew
*
Paul Wegener
Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 – 13 September 1948) was a German actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema.
Acting career
At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end his law studies and conce ...
as
The Golem
*
Lyda Salmonova
Lyda Salmonova (born Ludmila Vilemina Anna Salmonova; 14 July 1889 – 18 November 1968) was a Czech stage and film actress who appeared primarily in German films. She was married to the actor Paul Wegener and appeared alongside him in a number o ...
as Miriam
*
Ernst Deutsch
Ernst Deutsch, also known as Ernest Dorian (16 September 1890 – 22 March 1969), was a Jewish Austrian actor. In 1916, his performance as the protagonist in the world première of Walter Hasenclever's Expressionist play '' The Son'' in Dresde ...
as Loew's assistant
*
Lothar Müthel
Lothar Müthel (né Lothar Max Lütcke; 18 February 1896 – 4 September 1964) was a German stage and film actor and director.
Career
Müthel was born in Berlin, where he attended the acting school of Max Reinhardt, ''Schauspielschule, Berl ...
as Squire Florian
*
Otto Gebühr
Otto Gebühr (29 May 1877 – 13 March 1954) was a German theatre and film actor, who appeared in 102 films released between 1917 and 1954. He is noted for his performance as the Prussian king Frederick the Great in numerous films.
Early lif ...
as
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
*
Hans Stürm as Rabbi Jehuda
*
Max Kronert
Max Kronert (born Max Josef Florian Trübsand; 1873 – 22 July 1925) was a German stage and film actor.
Selected filmography
* '' Carmen'' (1918)
* ''The Monastery of Sendomir'' (1919)
* '' The Toy of the Tsarina'' (1919)
* ''The Oyster Pr ...
as The Gatekeeper
*
Greta Schröder
Greta Schröder (27 June 1892 – 8 June 1980) was a German actress. She is best known for the role of Thomas Hutter's wife and Count Orlok's victim in ''Nosferatu'' (1922). In the fictionalized 2000 film ''Shadow of the Vampire'', she is port ...
as A Lady of the Court
*
Loni Nest
Eleonore "Loni" Arnault ( Nest, 4 August 1915 – 2 October 1990), known professionally by her maiden name of Loni Nest, was a German actress. Born in Berlin, she was a child star of German silent films in the 1920s. She was filmed for the first ...
as Little Girl
*
Fritz Feld
Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...
as A Jester
Production
Wegener had been unhappy with his 1915 attempt at telling the story, due to compromises he had to make during its
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
. His 1920 attempt was meant to more directly convey the
legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
as he heard it told in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
while he was filming ''
The Student of Prague'' (1913).
In 1919, Wegener announced plans for ''
Alraune
''Alraune'' (German for ) is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character. The book originally featured illustrations by Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald. Legend
The basis of the story o ...
und der Golem'', uniting the two folklore characters in one film. Though posters and other publicity material survive, it was almost certainly never made. Instead, Wegener produced his 1920 film, but later starred as Professor Jakob ten Brinken in the 1928 version of ''
Alraune
''Alraune'' (German for ) is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character. The book originally featured illustrations by Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald. Legend
The basis of the story o ...
''.
It was shot at the
Tempelhof Studios
The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial bac ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. Architect and designer
Hans Poelzig
Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was a German architect, painter and set designer.
Life
Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to Countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman. Uncerta ...
created the film's scenery as a highly stylised interpretation of the medieval
Jewish ghetto
In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter (also known as jewry, ''juiverie'', ''Judengasse'', Jewynstreet, Jewtown, or proto-ghetto) is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were ...
of Prague.
Release and reception
In Germany, the film received a stellar reception. According to Spiro, the film "sold out the Berlin Premiere at Ufa-Palast am Zoo on October 29, 1920, and played to full theaters for two months straight."
The film first released in the United States to packed houses in New York City in 1921 at the
Criterion Theater. It was the longest-running movie in the same theatre that year, having run for 16 consecutive weeks in the theatre. Despite the hot summer, the film screened to full theaters on a daily basis, multiple times a day. Its release started a so-called "golem cult" of golem-related media and adaptations.
Preservation and home video status
''The Golem'' is in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
and over the years has been released many times in poor quality, unrestored black and white versions. It is the only movie in the Golem trilogy that survived World War II.
The film was first restored in 1977 in Germany and scored by Karl-Ernst Sasse. This version is not readily available on home video.
In 2000, a second restoration was carried out by the
Cineteca del Comune di Bologna at the laboratories of L'Immagine Ritrovata in Italy and licensed by
Transit Film. This version is based on an export print transferred at 20 frames per second (85 minutes) and with its original
tinting intact. It was given an ensemble score by
Aljoscha Zimmermann and released on DVD in Germany (
Universum Film
Leonine Holding GmbH, LLC, formerly Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a media company based in Munich.
The activities of Leonine include trade in licenses, investments in television and radio stations and distributio ...
, 2004), the UK (Eureka, 2003), France (mk2, 2006), Spain (Divisa, 2003) and the US (
Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...
, 2002).
A third, fully digital restoration, this time based on the original domestic negative, was completed by the
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation
The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation (german: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung ), based in Wiesbaden, was founded in 1966 to preserve and curate a collection of the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau as well as a collection of other German ...
in 2017 and is available on
DCP. It was given three unique scores and released on Blu-ray and DVD in Germany (
Universum Film
Leonine Holding GmbH, LLC, formerly Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a media company based in Munich.
The activities of Leonine include trade in licenses, investments in television and radio stations and distributio ...
, 2019), the UK (
Masters of Cinema
Masters of Cinema is a line of DVD and Blu-ray releases published through Eureka Entertainment. Because of the uniformly branded and spine-numbered packaging and the standard inclusion of booklets and analysis by recurring film historians, the ...
, 2019) and the US (
Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...
, 2020).
The film was first accompanied at release by a score from German Jewish composer Hans Landsberger. This original score was considered lost for decades, until it was rediscovered in 2018. It was reconstructed and orchestrated, and the reconstruction premiered in Weimar in September 2020.
Critical response
Critical reception for ''The Golem'' upon its initial release was positive. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' 1921 review praised its "exceptional acting" and "expressive settings", the latter of which was compared to those of another early German expressionist horror film,
Robert Wiene's ''
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920).
Film critic
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
gave the film 3
1/2 out of a possible 4 stars, calling it a "chilling, visually dazzling story of the supernatural, based on a famous Jewish folktale of the 16th century" and a "classic of German Expressionist cinema". Maltin also noted the film as a forerunner to the
1931 film adaption of Frankenstein.
Dennis Schwartz from ''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'' rated the film a grade B+, praising the film's "powerful visuals". In his review of the film, Schwartz wrote, "a landmark of early German expressionism. It is through the striking black-and-white German expressionism photography of Karl Freund that the film displayed its unusual feel for the macabre and might be considered a precursor to the ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
'' horror films and how horror films were to be made from now on".
Legacy
In the following years since ''The Golem''s release and rediscovery it has been considered an early classic in horror cinema, and one of the first films to introduce the concept of the "man-made monster".
Film review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported an approval rating of 100%, based on , with a rating average of 7.85/10.
The film is listed in ''101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die'', a spin-off of ''
1001 Films You Must See Before You Die'', which the authors called "a classic of German expressionist cinema".
It was presented at the Star and Shadow cinema in 2014 as part of the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
's Gothic season. This screening featured a new unique live soundtrack which was the result of a collaboration between Noize Choir and Wax Magnetic.
The Castle, Newcastle
The Castle, Newcastle, or Newcastle Castle is a medieval fortification in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, built on the site of the fortress that gave the City of Newcastle its name. The most prominent remaining structures on the site are the Castl ...
screened the film in 2016, again with a live soundtrack from Noize Choir, this time accompanied by artists
Mariam Rezaei and Adam Denton from the Old Police House.
See also
*
List of films made in Weimar Germany
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, a film has a rating of 100% if each professional review recorded by the website is assessed as positive rather than negative. The percentage is based on the film's reviews aggregated by the webs ...
Explanatory footnotes
References
Notes
Citations
*
*
*
*
General references
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Golem, The
1920 films
1920s historical horror films
1920s monster movies
German black-and-white films
German Expressionist films
Golem films
Films of the Weimar Republic
Films directed by Paul Wegener
Films directed by Carl Boese
German silent feature films
German horror films
Films set in Prague
Films set in the 16th century
Films set in the Holy Roman Empire
Paramount Pictures films
Cultural depictions of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
German historical films
UFA GmbH films
Films shot at Tempelhof Studios
1920 horror films
Silent horror films
Trilogies
1920s German films