The Lost Shadow

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The Lost Shadow
Directed by Rochus Gliese
Written by
  • Rochus Gliese
  • Paul Wegener
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
Production
company
Distributed by UFA
Release date
  • 3 February 1921 (1921-02-03)
CountryGermany
Languages

The Lost Shadow (German: Der verlorene Schatten) is a 1921 German silent film directed by Rochus Gliese and starring Paul Wegener, Wilhelm Bendow and Adele Sandrock. [1] The cinematographer was Karl Freund. [2] 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. [3]

Contents

This film was a remake of sorts of Paul Wegener's 1913 film The Student of Prague, which he had starred in, only this time giving the story a happy ending. The screenplay also incorporated the legend of the famed violinist Niccolò Paganini who was said to have murdered his wife and imprisoned her soul in his violin. [4]

Director Gliese had previously designed the sets for Wegener's 1915 film The Golem, and later directed Wegener in The Golem and the Dancing Girl in 1917. He later also worked as a costume designer on Wegener's 1920 film The Golem: How He Came into the World. Thus Gliese was the only person to collaborate on all three of Wegener's "Golem" movies. [5]

The film co-starred Greta Schröder, who later starred in F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922). Cameraman Karl Freund later emigrated to the US and worked on many of the classic 1930s Universal horror films, including Dracula, Mad Love and Karloff's The Mummy. [6]

Plot

A homely but brilliant violinist named Sebaldus (Wegener) makes a bargain with a mysterious stranger (Sturm). He trades his shadow for the love of a young woman whom he is attracted to, and a magic violin. When the woman sees he has no shadow, she becomes terrified and enters a convent. The local townspeople run him out of town, thinking he is possessed. In the end, however, Sebaldus uses the magic violin to play a wonderful melody and the woman he loves returns and falls in love with him.

Cast

Related Research Articles

The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.

1917 in film was a particularly fruitful year for the art form, and is often cited as one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1913. Secondarily the year saw a limited global embrace of narrative film-making and featured innovative techniques such as continuity cutting. Primarily, the year is an American landmark, as 1917 is the first year where the narrative and visual style is typified as "Classical Hollywood".

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.

<i>The Golem and the Dancing Girl</i> 1917 film

The Golem and the Dancing Girl is a 1917 German silent comedy horror film. It is part of a trilogy, preceded by The Golem (1915) and followed by The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920). Paul Wegener and Rochus Gliese co-directed and acted in the film. Wegener also wrote the screenplay. This was the screen debut of Fritz Feld. It was produced by Deutsche Bioscop GmbH.

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.

Au Secours! is a 1924 short French silent comedy film directed by Abel Gance and starring Max Linder. The French title translates into English as "Help!". The film is also known as The Haunted House in some reference books. The film was made on a dare, with Gance filming the entire project in three days, with the help of his friend, actor Max Linder. Linder had just returned to France after several years of trying to start an acting career in Canada.

<i>The Mechanical Man</i> 1921 film

The Mechanical Man is a 1921 Italian science fiction film directed by André Deed. It was produced in 1920 and released in November 1921. It is one of the first science fiction films produced in Italy, and the first film showing a battle between two robots. The cinematographer was Alberto Chentrens.

<i>Satan</i> (1920 film) 1920 film

Satan is a 1920 silent German drama film in three parts, directed by F. W. Murnau, written and produced by Robert Wiene. It was one of Murnau's first directorial attempts, and along with his 1920 Der Januskopf, is today considered a lost film. The film starred Fritz Kortner, Sadjah Gezza and Conrad Veidt. Karl Freund was the cinematographer.

<i>The Hunchback and the Dancer</i> 1920 film

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 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.

Esmeralda is a 1922 British silent film and an adaptation of the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, with more emphasis on the character on Esmeralda rather than Quasimodo. It was directed by Edwin J. Collins and starred Sybil Thorndike as Esmeralda and Booth Conway as the hunchback. The film is considered lost, but extant still photos show a 40-year-old Thorndike who appears to be too old for the role of the young and virginal Esmeralda. This version emphasized romance and melodrama over horror.

<i>Orphan of Lowood</i> 1926 film

Orphan of Lowood is a 1926 German silent drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Evelyn Holt, Olaf Fønss and Dina Diercks. It is based on the 1847 British novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and is the last of at least eight silent film adaptations of the novel. It was shot at the Terra Studios in Marienfelde. Director Bernhardt, a Jew wanted by the Gestapo, escaped from Nazi Germany and immigrated to Hollywood where he directed films for MGM, RKO, Columbia Pictures and Warner Brothers.

The Grinning Face, aka The Man Who Laughs, is a 1921 Austrian-German silent horror film directed by Julius Herska and starring Franz Höbling, Nora Gregor and Lucienne Delacroix. It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo.

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.

Living Buddhas is a 1925 German silent film in five chapters, directed by Paul Wegener and starring Wegener, Asta Nielsen and Käthe Haack. It was co-written by Wegener and Hans Stürm. Wegener cast himself as the evil High Llama of a devil cult. Danish actress Nielsen's film career went downhill quickly with the advent of sound films. It was made at the Staaken Studios in Berlin. Only five minutes of footage survive of the original 139-minute running time.

References

  1. ↑ Rentschler
  2. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 239. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  3. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  4. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 238. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  5. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 239. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  6. ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 240. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.

Bibliography


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