''Der Golem'' (german: link=no, 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 conc ...

and Henrik Galeen. 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''. He has been described as the "most respected Germa ...

'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) searching the ruins of a Jewish temple, finds a

golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

(

), 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 ...

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 amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protect ...

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

as Golem * Rudolf Blümner as Gelehrter *

Carl Ebert Carl Anton Charles Ebert (20 February 1887 – 14 May 1980), was an 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 native Germany dur ...

as Troedler * Henrik Galeen as Troedler, the antiques dealer * Lyda Salmonova as Jessica * Robert A. Dietrich * Jakob Tiedtke

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'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife (G ...

'' (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 film archive possesses "108 meter fragments". While many sources consider it a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

, 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."

Quotes in popular culture

In Season 6, Episode 9 of the television show,

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

, Roger Sterling (

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award f ...

) refers to the film in conversation with his daughter. She admonishes Roger for taking his young grandson to see Planet of the Apes and Roger replies: "Listen, I saw "The Golem" when I was his age. You don't even know what scary is.

References

External links

* Fragments of * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Golem, The 1915 films 1915 horror films German black-and-white films 1910s fantasy films Films of the German Empire Films directed by Paul Wegener Golem films German silent feature films German horror films Films directed by Henrik Galeen German fantasy films Silent horror films Trilogies 1910s German films es:Golem (película)