Paul Leni
1885 - 1929
The Man Who Laughs
Paul Leni
Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin
Gwynplaine, son of Lord Clancharlie, has a permanent smile carved on his face by the King, in revenge for Gwynplaine's father's treachery. Gwynplaine is adopted by a travelling showman and becomes a popular idol. He falls in love with the blind Dea. The king dies, and his evil jester tries to destroy or corrupt Gwynplaine.
The Man Who Laughs
Der Film im Film
Friedrich Porges
Ernst Deutsch, E.A. Dupont
The only surviving excerpt of a documentary on film production in Weimar Germany, featuring the different personalities of several famous directors of the era at work on the set including Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, and E.A. Dupont.
The Film in the Film
The Cat and the Canary
Paul Leni
Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale
Rich old Cyrus West's relatives are waiting for him to die so they can inherit. But he stipulates that his will be read 20 years after his death. On the appointed day his expectant heirs arrive at his brooding mansion. The will is read and it turns out that Annabelle West, the only heir with his name left, inherits, if she is deemed sane. If she isn't, the money and some diamonds go to someone else, whose name is in a sealed envelope. Before he can reveal the identity of her successor to Annabelle, Mr. Crosby, the lawyer, disappears. The first in a series of mysterious events, some of which point to Annabelle in fact being unstable.
The Cat and the Canary
Hintertreppe
Leopold Jessner, Paul Leni
Henny Porten, Fritz Kortner
In a poor neighborhood of a big city, a crippled mailman is in love with a maid who lives in his building. However, she is in love with a wealthy and handsome young man, who soon disappears. The mailman provides the maid with letters that get her hopes up... but tragedy will soon befall all three.
Backstairs
The Last Warning
Paul Leni
Laura La Plante, Montagu Love
A producer decides to reopen a theater, that had been closed five years previously when one of the actors was murdered during a performance, by staging a production of the same play with the remaining members of the original cast.
The Last Warning
Das Wachsfigurenkabinett
Leo Birinsky, Paul Leni
Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt
A poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper. While writing, the poet and the daughter of the owner, Eva, fantasize the fantastic stories and fall in love for each other.
Waxworks
Rebus-Film Nr. 1
Paul Leni
An "extra" shown in two parts at the movie theater, before and after a feature: part one gives the clues to six words in a crossword puzzle, part two gives the answers. In addition to the visual clues, which are clips of a party, an Asian country, a European city, table games, winter, and bullfighting, there are montages of street scenes and spinning objects. A simple cartoon character, Mr. Rebus, walks the audience through the clues, and title cards encourage the participation of the theatergoers.
Rebus-Film Nr. 1
Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart
Paul Leni
Heinrich Schroth, Käthe Haack
Dr. Robert Hart visits his friend Ursula von Hohenau in Saxony in July 1914. There he hears about the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia. He immediately returns to his home town where, just before mobilisation, he meets the Polish count Bransky and his daughter Jadwiga, the French Vicomte Latour and the Russian counsellor of embassy count Bronislaw Krascinsky. Bronislaw is madly in love with Jadwiga and jealous of Dr. Hart. After the outbreak of the war Dr. Hart works close to the Polish frontlines. Bronislaw leads the Russian troops in this area. When Bronislaw is wounded during a battle with the Germans Dr. Hart finds him and takes care of his wounds.
The Diary of Dr. Hart
