Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage (1926)

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (play)
Gerhart Hauptmann (titles)
(more)

Release Date:

6 December 1926 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Plot:

God and Satan war over earth; to settle things, they wager on the soul of Faust, a learned and prayerful alchemist...

Plot Keywords:

Good Versus Evil | Youth | Plague | Religion | Seduction

Cast

Gösta Ekman	...	Faust
Emil Jannings	...	Mephisto
Camilla Horn	...	Gretchen / Marguerite
Frida Richard	...	Gretchens Mutter / Marguerite's mother
William Dieterle	...	Valentin: Gretchens Bruder / Marguerite's brother (as Wilhelm Dieterle)
Yvette Guilbert	...	Marthe Schwerdtlein: Gretchens Tante / Marguerite's aunt
Eric Barclay	...	Herzog von Parma / Duke of Parma
Hanna Ralph	...	Herzogin von Parma / Duchess of Parma
Werner Fuetterer	...	Erzengel / Archangel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hans Brausewetter	...	Bauernbursche / Farmboy (uncredited)
Lothar Müthel	...	Mönch / Friar (uncredited)
Hans Rameau	...	(uncredited)
Hertha von Walther	...	(uncredited)
Emmy Wyda	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
F.W. Murnau

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Johann Wolfgang Goethe		play "Faust"
Gerhart Hauptmann		titles
Hans Kyser		titles
Christopher Marlowe		play "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" (uncredited)

Produced by
Erich Pommer	....	producer

Original Music by
Wolfgang Dauner		(1976)
Werner R. Heymann
Erno Rapee
Daniel Schnyder		(1999)
Rolf Unkel		(1976)
William Axt		(USA, 1926) (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Carl Hoffmann

Film Editing by
Elfi Böttrich		(new version)

Art Direction by
Robert Herlth
Walter Röhrig

Costume Design by
Georges Annenkov
Robert Herlth
Walter Röhrig

Makeup Department
Waldemar Jabs	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hans Rameau	....	assistant director

Art Department
Robert Basilice	....	property master
Arno Richter	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Kurt Schmidt	....	sound: new version
Rudolf Wohlschläger	....	sound: new version

Camera and Electrical Department
Erich Grohmann	....	assistant camera
Hans Natge	....	still photographer

Music Department
Kurt Graunke	....	conductor: new score

Other crew
H.H. Caldwell	....	intertitler (US version)
Katherine Hilliker	....	intertitler (US version)
Charles Rosher	....	photographic consultant

Production Companies

• Universum Film (UFA)

Distributors

• Universum Film (UFA) (1926) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1926) (USA) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Eureka Entertainment (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Faust (Germany) (short title)
Faust: A German Folk Legend (Canada: English title)
Fausto (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Fausto (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Faust (Austria) [de]
Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

Canada:85 min | 116 min (1997 restored version)

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Germany:6 | Spain:T

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Trivia:

After the film had already been shot and edited, UFA decided it disliked Hans Kyser's script. Over Kyser's objections, it asked German writer Gerhart Hauptmann to work on it. However, the studio decided that it disliked Hauptmann's script even more. The film was released in Kyser's original version.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Kids Unlimited: Mean Girls (#1.2)" (2007)

A great film by Murnau

I think of Murnau's Faust as a masterpiece not only of cinema, but of the human imagination. I understand that reviews at the time of its premier were lukewarm, but I honestly can't imagine not feeling grateful for the opportunity to see this film today. Moments and images from it are so powerful, they are vivid in the mind years after seeing them -- two hours in a dream world.

The flying sequence has been commented-on more than once, and with good reason. It is a spectacular series of shots wherein the camera tracks through long miniature sets which gradually change from a dense cluster of medieval rooftops and steeples, to a tortuous countryside of mountain peaks and snake-like rivers, twisted trees, deep gorges with plunging waterfalls and stone cliffs, rapids, a field of long grass, elaborate renaissance architecture and an Italianate palace. Along the way there is an encounter with grotesque elongated black birds in the sky, their wings flapping in unison. The sets incorporate running water (with little bits of smoking material floating in the rapids to simulate splashes and spray), an illuminated moon, and smoke to simulate clouds and fog. The whole sequence can't be much more than a couple of minutes long, but the effort to design, construct and coordinate the sequence must have been staggering. The following palace scene is set on a huge multi-level set with female dancers stretching off into the distance. They are there for no better reason than to establish an atmosphere of sumptuous decadence, and young Faust arrives in the middle of this riding between two enormous elephants, which seem to be entirely artificial and crafted of fabric, wire, etc. So it goes throughout the production. Almost every scene is a feast for the eyes, and the darker scenes are vividly expressionistic in design.

The acting is the old-fashioned silent-movie variety of big operatic gestures and vivid facial expression. It may seem odd to those not used to it, but it is NOT an example of ham actors overdoing it. This was a legitimate style of acting in its time, and offers genuine artistic beauty to those who can manage to appreciate it.

The fact that there seems to be no video version of `Faust' at the time of this posting is criminal. Ditto for Murnau's "Sunrise." These things should NEVER be out of print.