Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Carl Boese
Paul Wegener

Writers:

Henrik Galeen (writer)
Gustav Meyrink (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

19 June 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

The 1920 Horror Masterpiece.

Plot:

In 16th-century Prague, a Jewish rabbi creates a giant creature from clay, called the Golem, and using sorcery...

Plot Keywords:

Golem | Rabbi | Jewish | Decree | Monster As Victim

Cast

Paul Wegener	...	Der Golem / The Golem
Albert Steinrück	...	Der Rabbi Löw / Rabbi Loew
Lyda Salmonova	...	Miriam, des Rabbi Tochter
Ernst Deutsch	...	Der Rabbi Famulus
Hans Stürm	...	Der Rabbi Jehuda, der Älteste der Gemeinde (as Hanns Sturm)
Max Kronert	...	Der Tempeldiener / Temple Servant
Otto Gebühr	...	Der Kaiser / Emperor Luhois
Dore Paetzold	...	Des Kaisers Kebse
Lothar Müthel	...	Der Junker Florian / Knight Florian
Greta Schröder	...	Ein Mägdelein mit der Rose / Little Girl with Rose
Loni Nest	...	Ein kleines Mädchen / Little Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carl Ebert	...	Temple Servant (uncredited)
Fritz Feld	...	Jester (uncredited)

Directed by
Carl Boese
Paul Wegener

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Henrik Galeen		writer
Gustav Meyrink		novel
Paul Wegener		writer

Produced by
Paul Davidson	....	producer

Original Music by
Hans Landsberger
Karl-Ernst Sasse		(1977)
Aljoscha Zimmermann		(2000)

Cinematography by
Karl Freund
Guido Seeber

Art Direction by
Hans Poelzig
Kurt Richter

Costume Design by
Rochus Gliese

Art Department
Edgar G. Ulmer	....	set designer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Baberske	....	assistant camera

Music Department
Douglas M. Protsik	....	musician: piano (Hypercube restored version)

Production Companies

• Projektions-AG Union (PAGU)

Distributors

• Universum Film (UFA) (1920) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Famous Players-Lasky Corporation (1921) (USA) (theatrical)
• Elite Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS) (VCD)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• National Film Museum (????) (USA) (TV)
• Nostalgia Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Transit Film (????) (Germany) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Hypercube  digital restoration

Also Known As:

The Golem (USA)
The Golem: How He Came Into the World (USA)
El golem (Spain) [es]
Golem (Poland) [pl]
Golem. Miten hän tuli maailmaan (Finland) [fi]
Le golem (France) [fr]
O Golem (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

Germany:85 min (20 fps) | USA:91 min

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:13 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Berliner Union-Film Studio, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Projektions-AG Union (PAGU)

Trivia:

Debut of Fritz Feld.

Goofs:

Continuity: The golem's position relative to the beam when pulling the chain to stoke the fire.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Starcrash (1978)

A different kind of German silent horror film.

At the beginning of the DvD's "scrapbook", there is a quote from Paul Wegener that says he never thought the Golem was an expressionist film. Watching it right after seeing Nosferatu, that statement becomes believable. Despite amazing sets that would have been at home in Caligari, in story, in acting, and in overall tone, The Golem is a much more naturalistic film. Watching it with my son, who is 16, he was struck by its uncomfortable prefiguring of Jewish persecution. I was impressed by the the scarcity of romantic cliches in the story. The golem itself is clearly the ancestor of the Frankenstein monster. Full of wonderful images and interesting as a predecessor of the Universal monster films, The Golem is also very entertaining as a story and as a piece of dramatic film making. Highly recommended.