The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. (original title)

Director:

Robert Wiene

Writers:

Carl Mayer (story) and
Hans Janowitz (story)

Release Date:

19 March 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

You must become Caligari.

Plot:

Dr. Caligari's somnambulist, Cesare, and his deadly predictions.

Plot Keywords:

Asylum | Somnambulist | Murder | Fair | Flashback

Cast

Werner Krauss	...	Dr. Caligari
Conrad Veidt	...	Cesare
Friedrich Feher	...	Francis (as Friedrich Fehér)
Lil Dagover	...	Jane Olsen
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Alan (as Hans Heinrich v. Twardowski)
Rudolf Lettinger	...	Dr. Olsen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	Ein Verbrecher (uncredited)
Hans Lanser-Rudolf	...	Ein alt Mann (uncredited)
Henri Peters-Arnolds	...	Ein junger Arzt (uncredited)
Ludwig Rex	...	Ein Mörder (uncredited)
Elsa Wagner	...	Die Wirtin (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Wiene

Writing credits
Carl Mayer		(story and screenplay) and
Hans Janowitz		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Rudolf Meinert	....	producer
Erich Pommer	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfredo Antonini
Giuseppe Becce		(premiere)
Timothy Brock		(1996)
Richard Marriott		(1987)
Lothar Prox		(1985)
Rainer Viertelboeck		(1993)

Cinematography by
Willy Hameister		(photography)

Production Design by
Walter Reimann		(design)
Walter Röhrig		(design)
Hermann Warm		(design)

Set Decoration by
Hermann Warm		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Walter Reimann		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rochus Gliese	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Stunts
Harry Froboess	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Timothy Brock	....	music produced by (1996)

Other crew
Katherine Hilliker	....	intertitler

Production Companies

• Decla-Bioscop AG (as Decla Film-Gesellschaft - Berlin)

Distributors

• Sfinks (1920) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Goldwyn Distributing Company (1921) (USA) (theatrical)
• Rothafel (1921) (USA) (theatrical)
• Suomen Biografi (1922) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Rank (1964) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Hollywood Home Theatre (1980) (USA) (video) (Betamax)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Castle Communications (????) (Finland) (VHS)
• Films sans Frontières (1994) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Image Entertainment (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Elite Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Elite Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Eureka Entertainment (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Films sans Frontières (2001) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Catcom Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Front Row Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Sunrise Silents (2004) (worldwide) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2008) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Public Domain Flicks (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Vivarto (2008) (Poland) (all media)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Films sans Frontières (????) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Divisa Ediciones (????) (Spain) (VHS)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Film Preservation Associates (1996) (USA) (all media)
• FilmAnnex (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kartes Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Moore Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Koblenz  film restoration

Also Known As:

"Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari." - Germany (original title)

Runtime:

France:78 min | Spain:50 min | USA:67 min | USA:51 min (video version)

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:18 (1920) | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Australia:PG | Germany:12 (bw) (1964, 1995) | Spain:7 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:U (video rating) (1993) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Lixie-Atelier, Weißensee, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Decla-Bioscop AG

Trivia:

In the May 12, 1921 edition of the Chicago Daily News, Carl Sandburg wrote of the film: "It is a healthy thing for Hollywood, Culver City, Universal City, and all other places where movie film is being produced, that this photoplay has come along at this time. It is sure to have healthy hunches and show new possibilities in style and method to our American Producers."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In most prints, many of the shots have a bar across the top of the frame resembling the bottom edge of the same frame. This flaw may have been present in the original version.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man in garden:Spirits surround us on every side... they have driven me from hearth and home, from wife and child.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: End of an Era (#1.6)" (1995)

A Masterpiece of German Expressionism

Made in 1919, "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari" was literally years ahead of its time and remains a triumphant accomplishment in the genre of German Expressionism. Remembered mainly for its stunning sets, which featured crooked buildings and twisted landscapes, "Cabinet" also boasts one of the first attempts at a twist ending, something quite new and shocking for its time.

Told mainly from the point of view of Francis, a young man who lives in the small village of Holstenwall, Germany, "Cabinet" tells the tale of murder and madness which seems to accompany the arrival of a carnival. Francis and his best friend Alan go to the carnival and are presented with the sideshow attraction Cesare the Somnambulist, a gaunt and hideous young man who spends his life sleeping in a coffin-like cabinet and seems able to predict the future when awake. Cesare (played by a young Conrad Veidt, who later went on to play the evil Nazi general in Casablanca) informs Alan that he will soon die, and indeed, Alan is found murdered the next morning. Suspicion turns to the eerie somnambulist and his strange keeper, a man called Caligari. As Francis desperately tries to solve the mystery and find his friends killer, it seems that the beautiful young Jane, beloved by both Alan and Francis, has been targeted as the next victim.

This is a genuinely creepy film which delves deep into the mysteries of the abnormal mind...an uncomfortable journey to say the least. Everyone is suspect and, in the end, we must ask ourselves: "who is really the mad one here?"

Subtle and ingenious, we see the world the way an insane person might see it; warped and confused, a nightmarish terrain where nothing makes sense and balance is not to be found.

The impact of this film is still being felt and seen today, and for good reason. It is a shocking, disturbing masterpiece. I cannot recommend it highly enough.