For me it's a toss-up between the Ivan the Terrible scene and the shorter (but weirder) Jack the Ripper sequence. I think I'd go with Conrad Veidt as the terrible Ivan.
I love Emil Jannings in the first segment. But the slow pace and weird sets kill the humor for me. The Caligari-like style doesn't suit comedy very well.
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Veidt as Ivan is arguably the best segment in the film. Krauss's turn as Jack the Ripper is a real disappoint only because it is so brief and so thrown away. Had it been fleshed out and given more screen time like the other stories it might have been one of the great horror sequences in German silent cinema, rivaling Caligari and Nosferatu.
Veidt, Jannings and Krauss were arguably the three greatest actors of the German silents and it is good to see them all together in one film. Too bad they had to be segmented into three stories. They would have been unbelievably terrific working together.
Krauss had previously worked with Veidt in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and would appear with Jannings in Tartuffe in 1925. I don't know if Veidt and Jannings ever worked together outside of Waxworks.
Tartuffe. Now, there's one I haven't see yet. I'll have to put that in my queue.
...Justin
I agree; I watched this mainly just to see Conrad Veidt, one of my all-time favorite silent / classic actors. He's mesmerizing; I can't take my eyes off him in all of his films I've seen thus far! And oh, what beautiful, expressive eyes HE had!
The Emil Jannings sequence was okay, but I agree with another poster who said the pace was a bit slow to help move the comedy along. However, it was nice seeing Jannings do comedy; he seemed a natural at it - usually dramatic actors don't do comedy as well as comedic actors can do drama.
Loved the effect of the final sequence which, I guess was due to Leni & Co. running out of fund$, was way too short.
Silent film rules!! :-)
"Think slow, act fast." --Buster Keaton
I liked the "Jack the Ripper" segment as well, mainly because it tied the main narrative together with the anthology. All of the segments were impressive visually, and this is an important piece of film history that shows origins of many of today's ideas.
shareI recently revisited another Jack the Ripper silent movie with Caligari influences: Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger. I highly recommend that to anyone who enjoyed this film. (Try to get the official version, though. There are many public domain copies of The Lodger out there that look horrible and have bad scores.)
...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!
I shall seek out "The Lodger" because I'm hooked on the Hitch. Do you know how to tell which is the official version? I have seen various versions of "The Lodger" in the bins, but I suspect these are the cheapo public domain ones because the packaging looks shoddy and the companies are either known for this sort of thing or completely unfamiliar to me.
I have other Hitchcock films that are apparently in the public domain because the picture quality is very bad. "Rich and Strange" and "The 39 Steps" come to mind immediately.
By the way, J._Spurlin, I was profoundly touched by your old signature line and have thinking about it much of the afternoon!
This is the version of The Lodger I watched: amazon.com/Lodger-June/dp/B001JV5BIU. The print is beautiful. The score is good: certainly better than anything available on the public domain copies. (Actually, I think that has a choice of two scores.)
This is the version of The 39 Steps to watch: amazon.com/39-Steps-Criterion-Collection-Spine/dp/0780021967. You can't go wrong with the Criterion Collection. They also have a terrific Lady Vanishes.
As far as I know, the only versions available of Rich and Strange are cheap, public domain copies.
I'm glad you reminded me of my old sig. I didn't notice it when your reply brought me back to this thread. (I get email notifications for replies.) It's good advice. Sometimes I forget it.
...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!
Thanks very much for the tips. I shall seek those versions out. I wish all of Hitchcock's film had the Criterion treatment because they certainly merit it. Even the films that weren't top-notch Hitch deserve it from a historical perspective.
My copy of "Rich and Strange" is the Laserlight VHS, and it's not horrible, though it could be better and seems to have segments missing. It's not a "typical" Hitchcock film anyway because it's not a thriller.
And yes, I sometime forget about good posting protocol as well, but hopefully, the good outnumbers the bad. Onward and upward!
I have a collection of 18 early Hitchcock movies on DVD from a company called Mill Creek, which specializes in public domain stuff. All the movies are watchable, but I'd love to own better copies. Silent films are especially risky purchases from public domain companies. They almost always slap on public domain music that doesn't fit the action.
Criterion is releasing a lot of no-frills collections under their Eclipse label: criterion.com/library/dvd/eclipse/all/expanded/spine_number. Presumably, these are all worthwhile films that wouldn't be commercially viable in individual editions with loads of extras. This seems to be the perfect way to release a lot of Hitchcock films that aren't popular enough on their own.
...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!
Thanks for the heads-up on Criterion's Eclipse imprint. I see they also have many of the other directors I like, including Ingmar Bergman and Sam Fuller (I just watched "Naked Kiss" on Criterion). I don't mind if the releases don't have tons of bells and whistles because I just want to see the movie as closely as originally presented.
Did you see Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog," which is a spoof/salute to German Expressionism? I love that film, but I'm wild about Woody.
I saw Shadows and Fog, but I don't remember anything about it. I may have to give it another try. I don't think I could have appreciated what he was trying to do when I saw it.
...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!
I felt exactly the same way when I saw "Shadows and Fog." almost 20 years ago. In fact, when I watched it again, I didn't remember anything about it even though I knew I had seen it. But I loved it the second time around because I understood many of the references.
shareI'd probably get more of the references this time around, too. Two other German silents I've seen fairly recently are Spies and Dr. Mabuse—both from Fritz Lang and both fascinating.
...Justin Glory be, Delbert, you should eat! You're a count, for God's sake!
Thanks very much for the recommendations. I'm finding a lot of these at my local library, and I shall seek Fritz Lang out there. I believe the only thing I've seen from his is "Metropolis," which is mesmerizing. Thanks again for the tips!
shareYou can get a very nice print of the full, uncut version of the silent Lodger in the Alfred Hitchock Premiere Collection, which has 8 films, with only the Lodger being silent. Many people on Amazon.com complained that their disks in this set froze or skipped; I must have been lucky, because all 8 of my disks were fine. The set is out of print, but you can get used or new copies from Amazon-affiliated merchants, though sometimes at a high price.
shareHello, OldFilmLover:
Thanks for the details on "Lodger"! I shall try to scout out the Hitchcock collection at a bargain, and hopefully I can find discs that don't freeze or skip.
As aesthetically compelling as the Spring-Heeled Jack segment is, I liked Conrad Veidt's portion the most. Man, no one crashes a wedding quite like Ivan the Terrible...
shareThey don't call him Ivan the Sweetheart... What are some of your favorite silent movies?
...Justin
I've been trying to come up with a top 5 list for a while now and I've found it pretty tough. I really love silent film. In no particular order:
Hearts of the World (1918)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Waxworks (the fifth spot seems to change a lot)
The German Expressionist films as well as Soviet Montage and Griffith seem to be my main area of interest, but I just enjoy silent films in general. How about yourself?
My first silent movie love is the slapstick comedies, and even now my list of five favorites would probably be all Chaplin and Keaton. But I enjoy all kinds, and among those I've recently seen and loved are The Passion of Joan of Arc, Sunrise, The Man Who Laughs, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Spies, It, The Ace of Hearts, The Chess Player, The Dragon Painter and many others.
...Justin
I really need to explore the slapstick comedies more, especially considering I have decent access to good quality Chaplin and Keaton stuff.
I'd just like to add that I should probably add Griffith's 'Orphans of the Storm' (1921) to my top 5 list. It was the film that really rejuvinated my love of silent film a while back, and having just rewatched the Kino version, damn, it's just such a good movie!
I'm looking forward to Orphans of the Storm—as well as Way Down East and Broken Blossoms. I've already seen Griffith's two ponderous epics, Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Much to appreciate, not much to enjoy. I'm hoping the other three films provide more pleasure.
...Justin
I think you'll be pleased. I actually think Orphans of the Storm, Way Down East, and Broken Blossoms are just better films than Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. They at least have more entertainment value, though that's not to say that I didn't like BONA or Intolerance. The pacing is much better in the 3, and Lillian Gish can really carry a movie, even when the other actors are doing quite well on their own.
shareI just watched Man with the Movie Camera (1929): imdb.com/media/rm3108019200/tt0019760—the most exciting and enjoyable avante-garde movie I've ever seen.
I also recently saw The Merry Jail (1917): imdb.com/title/tt0009062/. It's an amusing romantic farce from Ernst Lubitsch, with hints of his greatness to come.
...Justin
Had it played for longer the Spring-Heel Jack, Jack the Ripper, would have been the scariest. The most interesting tale was that of Ivan the Terrible whose superstitions were his undoing. Like others the first story was too long although it was amusing.
To say a little often is to tell more than to say a great deal.share