''Der Golem'' (, shown in the US as ''The Monster of Fate'') is a
partially lost 1915 German
silent horror film written and directed by
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 ...
and
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. He wrote the screenplay for ''Nosf ...
. It was inspired by a
Jewish folktale, the most prevalent version of the story involving 16th century Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel who created the Golem to protect his people from antisemites.
[Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 150..] Wegener claimed the film was 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 (Meyrink novel), The Golem''.
He has been described as ...
's 1915 novel ''
The Golem'', but, as the movie has little to do with existing Jewish traditions, Troy Howarth states "it is more likely that (the screenwriters) simply drew upon European folklore".
The film was the first of a trilogy produced by Wegener, followed by ''
The Golem and the Dancing Girl'' (1917) and ''
The Golem: How He Came into the World'' (1920).
Plot
In modern times, an antiques dealer (
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. He wrote the screenplay for ''Nosf ...
) searching the ruins of a Jewish temple, finds a
golem
A golem ( ; ) is an animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...
(
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 ...
), a clay statue that had been brought to life four centuries earlier by a
Kabbalist rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
using a magical
amulet
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...
to protect the Jewish people from persecution. The dealer resurrects the golem as a servant, but the golem falls in love with Jessica (
Lyda Salmonova), the dealer's daughter. When she does not return his love, the golem goes on a rampage and commits a series of murders.
Cast
*
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 Golem
*
Rudolf Blümner as Gelehrter
*
Carl Ebert
Carl Anton Charles Ebert (20 February 1887 – 14 May 1980), was a Germans, German actor, stage director and arts administrator.
Ebert's early career was as an actor, training under Max Reinhardt and becoming one of the leading actors in his nat ...
as Troedler
*
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. He wrote the screenplay for ''Nosf ...
as Troedler, the antiques dealer
*
Lyda Salmonova as Jessica
*
Robert A. Dietrich
*
Jakob Tiedtke
Jakob Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Tiedtke (23 June 1875 – 30 June 1960) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1914 and 1955.
Selected filmography
* '' The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1918)
* '' The Doll'' (1919)
* ' ...
Production
Co-writer/co-director Henrik Galeen played a major role in the film (which was unusual for him) and years later went on to co-create other silent horror classics, such as F. W. Murnau's ''
Nosferatu
''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...
'' (1922) and Paul Leni's ''
Waxworks'' (1924)
Actress Lyda Salmanova went on to marry Paul Wegener.
The few surviving clips from this film show Wegener in a costume almost identical to the one he used in his later 1920 version, and "show him stumbling around in a manner he would repeat in the later film", according to Troy Howarth.
Reception
Preservation status
The
Deutsche Kinemathek
Die Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen Berlin (English: "German Cinematheque – Museum of Film and Television Berlin") is a major German film archive and film museum located in Berlin, Germany. Located at Potsdamer Platz sinc ...
film archive possesses "108 meter fragments". While many sources consider it a
lost film
A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...
, silentera.com states that a "print exists", and Professor
Elizabeth Baer notes in her book ''The Golem Redux: From Prague to Post-Holocaust Fiction'' that
Donald Glut claimed in ''The Frankenstein Legend'' that "European film collector" Paul Sauerlaender tracked down "a complete print" in 1958; Baer is careful, however, to point out that "Glut provides no source for this information."
See also
*
List of German films of 1895–1918
*
List of incomplete or partially lost films
The following is a list of notable films that are incomplete or partially lost. For films for which no footage (including Trailer (promotion), trailers) is known to have survived, see List of lost films. For films that were never completed in the ...
References
External links
* Fragments of
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golem (1915 film), The
1915 films
1915 horror films
1910s monster movies
1910s fantasy films
German black-and-white films
Films of the German Empire
Films directed by Paul Wegener
Golem films
Articles containing video clips
German silent feature films
Films directed by Henrik Galeen
German fantasy films
Silent German horror films
1910s German films
Lost German films
es:Golem (película)