These pages gather films that can be paired with selected chapters and texts from the book. The material is intended to help bring the readings to life. Users looking for better-quality copies of the films below can consult the following lists of German films on DVD:
- Anton Kaes, Michael Cowan, Nicolas Baer, “Weimar Cinema on DVD”
- Katharina Loew, “DVD Editions of Weimar Cinema”
- “German Films of the Silent Era on Home Video”
1919-1926
1919
Anders als die Andern / Different from the Others
Richard Ostwald (51 min. English subtitles)
See chapter 7, “Moral Panic and Reform”
1919
Bull Arizona – der Wüstenadler/Bull Arizona – The Desert Eagle
Horst Krahe/Piel Jutzi (6 min. – a German Western)
See chapter 7, Moral Panic and Reform
Mierendorff, If I Only Had the Cinema, text no. 193
1919
Unheimliche Geschichten / Eerie Tales
Richard Ostwald (97 mi., German only)
See chapter 13, “The Expressionist Turn”
1920
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari / The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Robert Wiene (77 min. English subtitles)
See chapter 13, “The Expressionist Turn”
1920
John Hagenbecks lustige Jagden und Abenteuer Nr 3, Die Elfantenjagd / John Hagenbeck’s Funny Hunts and Adventures, No. 3, The Elephant Hunt
Kurt Wiese (8 min.)
See chapter 2, The World in Motion
Schomburgk, Africa and Film, text no. 21
1920
Der Feuerteufel / The Fire Devil
Piel Jutzi (6 Min.)
See chapter 7, Moral Panic and Reform
1921
The Kid
Charlie Chaplin (53 min.)
See chapter 12, Chiffres of Modernity
Weill, Possibilities for Absolute Radio Art, text no. 268
Lang, Kitsch-Sensation-Culture and Film, text no. 90
Clair Goll, American Cinema, text no. 126
1921
Scherben / Shattered
Lupu Pick (61 min. English subtitles)
See chapter 13, “The Expressionist Turn”
Pick, “Individual and Montage,” text no. 170
Pander, “Intertitles,” text. No. 221
1922
Aschenputtel / Cinderella
Lotte Reiniger (13 min.)
See Reiniger, Living Shadows, text no. 1929
Schlesinger, Kulturfilm and Cinema, text no. 243
Diebold, The Future of Mickey Mouse, text no. 277
1922
Das Geheimnis der Marquisin / The Secret of the Marquise
Lotte Reiniger and Julius Pinschewer (2 min.)
see chapter 14, Avant-Garde and Industry
chapter 16, Film as Knowledge and Persuasion
Reiniger, Living Shadows, text no. 211
Pinschewer, Advertising Film, text no. 237
Nikolaus, Advertising Film and Its Psychological Effects, text no. 246
1923
Film ist Rhythmus / Rhythm 21
Hans Richter (3 min. in production 1921-23)
See chapter 14
Richter, Basic Principles of the Art of Movement, text no. 203
1923
Die Strasse / The Street
Karl Grune (90 min., French subtitles, no audio)
See chapter 12, “Chiffres of Modernity”
1924
Der letzte Mann / The Last Laugh
F.W. Murnau (90 min. in German)
See chapter see chapter 13, “The Expressionist Turn”; chapter 15, “The Aesthetics of Silent Film”
Murnau, “My Ideal Screenplay,” 1924, text no. 223
Pander, “Intertitles,” 1923, text. No. 221
1925
Die Biene Maja / Maya the Bee
Wolfgang Junghans (9 min.), excerpt from the restored Kulturfilm
See Kracauer, The Weekly Newsreel, text no. 30
Eduard Bäumer, Cinematograph and Epistemology, text no. 33
Witlin, The Psychomechanics of the Spectator, text no. 57
Fritz Lang, The Art of Mimic Expression in Film, text no. 59
Breuer, The Film of Factuality, text no.199
Seeber, The Delirious Camera, text no. 226
Polimanti, The Cinematograph in Biological and Medical Science, text no. 234
Schlesinger, Kulturfilm and Cinema, text no. 243
1925
Jeu des reflets et de la vitesse / Play of Reflections and Speed
Henri Chomette (8 min.)
See chapter 14, Avant-Garde and Industry
Kracauer, Abstract Film, text no. 209.
1925
Panzerkreuzer Potemkin / Battleship Potemkin
Sergei Eisenstein; Music by Edmund Meisel (72 min. English subtitles)
See chapter 11, The Mobilization of the Masses
Olimsky, Film Bolshevism, text, no.107
Kracauer, The Klieg Lights Stay on, text no. 159
Schmitz, Potemkin and Tendentious Art, text no. 160
Benjamin, Reply, text no. 161
Toller, Who Will Create the German Revolutionary Film? Text no. 166
Breuer, The Film of Factuality, text no. 199
Balazs, Productive and Reproductive Film Art, text no. 227
1925
Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit / Paths to Strength and Beauty
Nicholas Kaufmann and Wilhelm Prager
See chapter 16, Film as Knowledge and Persuasion
Osborn, “The Nude Body on Film,” text no. 53
Duenschmann, Cinema and Crowd Psychology, text no. 109
1925
Das wiederentdeckte Paradies/The Rediscovered Paradise
Walter Ruttmann and Lotte Lendesdorff, produced by Julius Pinschewer (4 min.)
See chapter 16, Film as Knowledge and Persuasion
Pinschewer, Film Advertsing (1913), text no. 237
Lassaly, “Film Advertising and Advertising Films,” text no. 240
Nikolaus, “Advertising Film and Its Psychological Effects, text no. 246
1926
Blumenwunder / Miracle of Flowers
Max Reichmann (81 mins), excerpt
See Bäumer, “Cinematograph and Epistemology,” text no. 33
Taut, “Artistic Film Program,” text no. 238
Schlesinger, “Kulturfilm and Cinema,” text no. 243
1926
Der Drechsler / The Wood Turner
(Reichsstelle für den Unterrichtsfilm (11 min.)
See chapter 16
Beyfuss, “School and Film,” text. no. 241
Kayser, “Industrial Films,” 242.
1926
Der heilige Berg / The Holy Mountain
Arnold Fanck (106 min.), excerpt
See Balázs, “The Case of Dr. Fanck,” text. no. 29
Riefenstahl, “How I Came to Film,” text no. 55
Laban/Eisner, “Dance and Film Belong Together,” text no. 58
1926
Schaffende Hände: Die Maler / Productive Hands: The Painters
Hans Cürlis (2 min.), excerpt on Kandinsky
See chapter 16, Film as Knowedge and Persuasion
Taut, Artistic Film Program, text no. 238
Cürlis, Film is Promotion, text no. 245
1926
Spiel der Wellen / Play of the Waves
Walter Ruttmann and Lore Leudesdorff (3 min.)
See chapter 14, Avant-Garde and Industry
chapter 16, Film as Knowledge and Persuasion
chapter 17, Sound Waves
chapter 18, Technology and the Future of the Past
1926
Vom Werden eines Flügels
Döring-Film commissioned by C. Bechstein Piano Manufacture (22 mins), re-edited from original 40 min. version.
See chapter 16, Knowledge and Persuasion
Lassally, Film Advertising and Advertising Films, text no. 240
Kayser, Industrial Films, text no. 242
Schlesinger, Kulturfilm and Cinema, text no. 243
Dreyer, The Trick Film, text no. 244