Die Büchse der Pandora (1929)

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Frank Wedekind (plays)
Ladislaus Vajda (scenario)
(more)

Release Date:

22 February 1930 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | Lust | Escape | Rose | Controversy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Louise Brooks	...	Lulu
Fritz Kortner	...	Dr. Ludwig Schön
Francis Lederer	...	Alwa Schön (as Franz Lederer)
Carl Goetz	...	Schigolch
Krafft-Raschig	...	Rodrigo Quast
Alice Roberts	...	Gräfin Geschwitz - Countess Anna Geschwitz
Daisy D'Ora	...	Charlotte Marie Adelaide v. Zarnikow - braut Dr. Schöns - Dr. Schön's Bride (as Daisy d'Ora)
Gustav Diessl	...	Jack the Ripper (as Gustav Diesel)
Michael von Newlinsky	...	Marquis Casti-Piani (as Michael v. Newlinsky)
Sig Arno	...	Der inspizient - the instructor (as Siegfried Arno)

Directed by
Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writing credits
Frank Wedekind		(plays "Erdgeist" and "Die Büchse der Pandora")
Ladislaus Vajda		(scenario)
Joseph Fleisler		titles (uncredited)
Georg Wilhelm Pabst		uncredited

Produced by
Heinz Landsmann	....	producer
Seymour Nebenzal	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Stuart Oderman		(uncredited)
William P. Perry		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Günther Krampf

Film Editing by
Joseph Fleisler		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Andrej Andrejew		(as Andrejew)
Gottlieb Hesch		(as Hesch)
Ernö Metzner		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Gottlieb Hesch		(uncredited)

Production Management
Georg C. Horetsky	....	production manager (as Georg C. Horsetzky)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marc Sorkin	....	assistant director
Paul Falkenberg	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Marcel Tuszkay	....	graphic designer

Production Companies

• Nero-Film AG

Distributors

• Süd-Film (1929) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Moviegraphs (1929) (USA) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1984) (Finland) (TV) (1992)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Cult & Classic (Brazil) (VHS)
• Filmmuseum München (????) (worldwide) (all media) (as Film Museum München)
• Grapevine Video (video)
• Janus Films (????) (USA) (all media)
• Sultan Video (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (DVD)
• Video Dimensions (VHS)

Also Known As:

Pandora's Box (UK) (USA)
Lulu
The Box of Pandora (International: English title)
La caja de Pandora (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
Loulou (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
A Boceta de Pandora (Portugal) [pt]
A Caixa de Pandora (Brazil) [pt]
Il vaso di Pandora (Italy) [it]
La boite de Pandore (France) [fr]
Lulu (Greece) [el]
Pandora szelencéje (Hungary) [hu]
Pandoran lipas (Finland) [fi]
Pandoras æske (Denmark) [da]
Puszka Pandory (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

Germany:133 min (restored version) | USA:109 min | Belgium:152 min (Copy with French titles at Brussels Musée du Cinéma) | 131 min (original version) (21.4 fps) | 110 min (VHS version)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Portugal:17 (original release) | Portugal:(Banned) (1936-1945) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1929) | UK:A (1929) | UK:PG (1993) | Australia:PG | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:(Banned) (1929) | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Nero-Film Studio, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Nero-Film AG

Trivia:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst nearly signed Marlene Dietrich to star, although he greatly preferred Louise Brooks. According to Pabst, Dietrich was in his office waiting to sign the contract when a cable came from Paramount saying that Brooks was willing to play the role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The poster warning Londoners of Jack the Ripper is in German instead of English.

Quotes:

Lulu: [referring to the Egyptian] He's acting like he wants to buy me.
Marquis Casti-Piani: I need money badly and you have none to give me... The Egyptian will give me 50 more pounds than the German police... You're in luck.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Shadow of My Father (2006) (V)

One of the greatest silent of them all

It is very rare for me to see silent film that left me speechless like Pandora's Box does. I believed that GW Pabst did really brilliant job directing this silent masterpiece because no modern film can really match the sexual atmosphere in Pandora's Box. Louise Brooks, in my mind, deliver one of the greatest performance in cinema history because it is very amazing.

The lighting is really magnificent in this film and it's great example of German Expressionism. It is very impressive to see silent film that use very few title cards and we can understand the characters through their facial expressions. They have really perfected body language in silent era like this one before talkies took over.

No words can justified Pandora's Box, which I believe should be essential viewing for film buffs because it's milestone in cinema history. I really enjoy this film a lot and it's in my top 10 so I'm very pleased about that. Louise Brooks really make this film work and the results spoke for itself.

****/****