| Secrets of a Soul | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | G. W. Pabst |
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by | Hans Neumann [1] |
| Starring | Werner Krauss |
| Cinematography |
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| Music by | Giuseppe Becce [1] |
Production company | Neumann-Film-Produktion GmbH [1] |
| Distributed by | Universum Film AG [1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 75 minutes [2] |
| Country | Germany [1] |
| Languages | Silent German intertitles |
Secrets of a Soul (German : Geheimnisse einer Seele) is a 1926 silent German drama film directed by G. W. Pabst.
Martin Fellman, a learned professor, experiences nightmares that make him believe he is going insane. He fears that he is on the verge of murdering his wife, who loves him dearly. He hires Dr. Orth, a psychiatrist, to help him work out his psychoses.
Secrets of a Soul's producer Hans Neumann was a firm believer in the theories of Sigmund Freud and tried to get Freud to participate in the making of the film. Freud did not respond, so he hired Karl Abraham, a close associate of Freud's, as an adviser on the project, to help Neumann make the most psychologically realistic film possible. [2]
The film was shot between September and November 1925, [1] and was released in Berlin on 24 March 1926. [1]
From retrospective reviews, Tom Milne in the Monthly Film Bulletin stated the film is split into "roughly three unequal parts" commenting that the "first and best, combining psychological subtlety and stark dramatic effect in the manner that was to become Pabst's trademark, is the opening sequence" while calling the final sequence of the film a "truly hideous final sequence, a tacked-on happy ending." Milne concluded that the film sees Pabst "engaged on a trial run for the much more integrated approach to the unconscious and its aberrations which lowered in The Love of Jeanne Ney , Crisis and Pandora's Box ." [3]
Troy Howarth commented in his book Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era that the film was "a reasonably compelling psychological thriller" and that "Krauss is too old for the part, which requires the viewer to believe that he's married to a childhood sweetheart easily 20 years younger than he is." [2]
The following is an overview of 1926 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
This is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.
1913 was a particularly fruitful year for film as an art form, and is often cited one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1917. The year was one where filmmakers of several countries made great artistic advancements, producing notable pioneering masterpieces such as The Student of Prague, Suspense, Atlantis, Raja Harischandra, Juve contre Fantomas, Quo Vadis?, Ingeborg Holm, The Mothering Heart, Ma l’amor mio non muore!, L’enfant de Paris and Twilight of a Woman's Soul.
The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1910 in film involved some significant events.
L'Homme qui vendit son âme au diable is a 1921 French silent film comedy directed by Pierre Caron. The plot was similar to Faust and The Student of Prague, about a man who makes a diabolical deal with the Devil.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a 1911 French film d'art silent film directed by Albert Capellani and produced by Pathé Frères. It was released under the name Notre-Dame de Paris. It starred Henry Krauss and Stacia Napierkowska. The film was based on the 1831 Victor Hugo novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Considering the film's brief running time, critic Christopher Workman considered it "remarkably faithful to its source material" but it "contains no discernible humor, unlike most other horror films of the period, and thus represents a bellwether of sorts for the genre....(Henry Krauss as Quasimodo) "looks remarkably like Charles Ogle in (Thomas) Edison's 1910 Frankenstein."
Leaves from Satan's Book, also known as Leaves Out of the Book of Satan, is a 1920 Danish fantasy film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and starring Helge Nissen as Satan. This was only the third film directed by Dreyer, who later went on to create such classics as Vampyr (1932) and The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). The film is structured much like D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) with its episodic nature while evoking F. W. Murnau's Satan (1920). The film ran 157 minutes, but sources list the DVD's running time at 121 minutes.
The Hunchback and the Dancer is a 1920 silent German horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and photographed by Karl Freund. This is now considered to be a lost film. The film was written by Carl Mayer, who also wrote The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Karl Freund later emigrated to Hollywood where he directed such classic horror films as The Mummy (1932) and Mad Love (1935). It premiered at the Marmorhaus in Berlin.
The Dungeon is a 1922 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux, considered the African-American Cecil B. DeMille due to his prolific output of films during the silent era, one of his greatest works being Body and Soul (1924). The Dungeon was his first horror effort, an early blaxploitation take on the Bluebeard legend.
The Other Person is a 1921 Dutch-British silent mystery film directed by Maurits Binger and B.E. Doxat-Pratt. It was a co-production between a Dutch film company and a British film company.
Carl Alwin Heinrich Neuß was a German film director and actor, noted for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films during the 1910s. He also played the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde in the 1910 Danish silent film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by August Blom. He played Jekyll and Hyde again in the 1914 German silent film Ein Seltsamer Fall, scripted by Richard Oswald.
Friedrich Feher was an Austrian actor and film director. He first entered the film business in 1913, starting out as an actor but quickly gravitated toward directing.
Pan Twardowski is a 1921 Polish silent fantasy film directed by Wiktor Biegański and starring Bronisław Oranowski, Wanda Jarszewska and Antoni Nowara-Piekarski. Biegański was hired by the Polish government to make the film in an effort to foster a greater sense of Polish national identity—particularly in the ethnically mixed Upper Silesia. It is one of many films based on the legend of Pan Twardowski, the Polish word "Pan" being a respectable title often given to members of the nobility or diplomats.
Figures of the Night (German:Nachtgestalten) is a 1920 German silent horror film written, directed and produced by Richard Oswald and starring Paul Wegener, Conrad Veidt, Reinhold Schünzel and Erna Morena. It is based on the novel Eleagabal Kuperus by Karl Hans Strobl. Strobl was the editor of a German horror fiction magazine called Der Orchideengarten which was said to have been influenced by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Strobl was an anti-Semitic and later willingly joined the Nazi Party, which may explain why he has become an obscure literary figure today.
The Lost Shadow is a 1921 German silent film directed by Rochus Gliese and starring Paul Wegener, Wilhelm Bendow and Adele Sandrock. The cinematographer was Karl Freund. The film's sets were designed by the art director Kurt Richter. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. For some reason, the film was only released in the US in 1928. It is today considered a lost film.
The Marriage of the Bear is a 1925 Soviet silent horror-fantasy drama film directed by Konstantin Eggert and Vladimir Gardin. It is based on the play with the same name by Anatoli Lunacharsky, which in turn was based on Prosper Mérimée's novella Lokis.
