Genuine (1920)

Director:

Robert Wiene

Writer:

Carl Mayer

Stars:

Fern Andra, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Ernst Gronau

Cast

Cast overview:
Fern Andra	...	Genuine
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Florian
Ernst Gronau	...	Lord Melo
Harald Paulsen	...	Percy Melo
Albert Bennefeld	...	Curzon
John Gottowt	...	Guyard
Lewis Brody	...	The Malay

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | vampire | german expressionism | expressionist

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Genres:

Short | Horror

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

12 December 1921 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Genuine: A Tale of a Vampire

Filming Locations:

Bioscop-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Decla-Bioscop AG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A 43-minute condensation of this silent film can be found as an Extra Feature on the Kino Video DVD of _Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (1920)_ The full-length version can only be viewed at the Munich City Film Museum archive in Germany.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

User Reviews

An example of going to the well one too many times...

...yes, it's from the same director, Robert Wiene, whose landmark THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI was released earlier the very same year, 1920; and, yes, much of the same cinematic technique created for CALIGARI was used here as well. The main differences between the two utterly defeat any chance that GENUINE, at least in the 43-minute "condensation" that appears on the 2002 Kino DVD release, would ever be a tenth as watchable as CALIGARI (or, for that matter, THE HEARTS OF AGE, Orson Welles' self-described "amusement" that spoofed all the surrealist silent European cinema concocted by Wiene, F.W. Murnau, Salvador Dali and the like). First, the sets and makeup of the players are not as flamboyantly odd this time around. Second, the pacing is far too slow for the story. Third, the story is itself far too bizarre and convoluted for a casual viewer to find any interest in; CALIGARI's is relatively straightforward in comparison. If you want a pre-NOSFERATU take on vampires, track down the DVD of LES VAMPIRES instead...