Der Student von Prag (1913)

Directors:

Stellan Rye
Paul Wegener

Writers:

Hanns Heinz Ewers (writer)
Edgar Allan Poe (story)

Release Date:

22 August 1913 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

A poor student rescues a beautiful countess and soon becomes obsessed with her. A sorcerer makes a deal...

Plot Keywords:

Doppelganger | Haunted

Cast

Paul Wegener	...	Balduin
John Gottowt	...	Scapinelli
Grete Berger	...	Komtesse Margit
Lyda Salmonova	...	Lyduschka
Lothar Körner	...	Graf von Schwarzenberg
Fritz Weidemann	...	Baron Waldis-Schwarzenberg
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexander Moissi

Also Known As:

A Bargain with Satan (USA)
The Student of Prague (International: English title)

Runtime:

85 min | 41 min (Alpha Video)

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Deutsche Bioscop GmbH

Trivia:

This is often considered to be the first horror film ever made.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Der Student von Prag (1926)

The Grandfather of Horror Films

If "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" is the father of all horror films (and of German expressionist cinema), this pre-WWI film is the grandfather. The titular student, starving in an empty garret, makes a deal with the Devil-- the Devil gives him a bottomless sack of gold, in exchange for "anything in this room." The Devil chooses the student's reflection in his mirror. He walks off with the student's doppelganger, who commits crimes for which the student is blamed.

The film is marred by some limitations arising out of the technically primitive state of 1913 filmmaking; the plot cries out for chiaroschuro effects, but the film is, of necessity, virtually all shot in shadowless daylight. But the scene where the reflection walks out of the mirror still packs a wallop.

More interesting for the trends it fortells than for its own sake, The Student of Prague is still worthwhile.