The Golem (1920) by Paul Wegener
This was also directed by and starred Wegener.
But why have me tell you all that much about it?
The "script" is/was available online and the video can readily be purchased.
They match pretty much to a "T". (I have to wonder whether this where this online item originated from: was it from a source document or was it "reverse-engineered" in some way?).
Some miscellaneous "neither here nor there" s -
I was lukewarm about this film when I first bought it about a full decade ago. I don't know why I enjoyed it more this go 'round. It could be because I've learned how to view silents better in that time or it could be because this time I did my little "read along".
There have been numerous variations on the Golem legend in literature. I've read contradictory accounts that Wegener's inspiration for this film was from works of both Gustav Meyrink and Chayim Bloch. But, from what I've sampled, there's not a strong connection to either.
Wegener had made his first Golem film in 1914. This was rumored to be re-discovered in 1958 but according to "Missing Reels" by Harry Waldman and other sources this appears untrue. Only a brief fragment has shown up on German T.V. Information about a second 1917 film "Der Golem und die Tanzerin" aka "The Golem and the Dancing Girl" is even more hard to come by.
There are other film renditions since then also. One of them is the very loosely-adapted film by Piotr Szulkin (a Polish director whose satire and ironic humor I love).
Some sources claim that Wegener's Golem performance was inspiration for Frankenstein.
That's it!
written: 11/10/2001
revised 2/27/2004
