Waxworks (1924)
"Das Wachsfigurenkabinett" (original title)

The owner of a Waxmuseum needs for three of his models stories to be told to the audience. For that reason he has hired a writer, who after one look athe owner's pretty daughter, starts ... See full summary »

Directors:

Leo Birinsky, Paul Leni

Writer:

Henrik Galeen

Stars:

Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss

Cast

Credited cast:
Emil Jannings	...	Harun al Raschid
Conrad Veidt	...	Ivan the Terrible
Werner Krauss	...	Jack the Ripper / Spring-Heeled Jack
William Dieterle	...	The Poet / Assad the Baker / A Russian Prince (as Wilhelm Dieterle)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olga Belajeff	...	Eva-Maimune-Eine Bojarin
John Gottowt	...	Inhaber der Panoptikums
Georg John
Ernst Legal

Storyline

The owner of a Waxmuseum needs for three of his models stories to be told to the audience. For that reason he has hired a writer, who after one look athe owner's pretty daughter, starts writing stories featuring the models, the daughter and himself. In the first, he is a baker, married to the girl, who is a little bit too much flirting with the customers, among them the wezir of sultan Harun Al-Rashid, who has just ordered his execution because the smell from the bakery is drifting to his palce, yet Harun Al-Rashid wants to meet the beautiful girl himself, while an angry baker is trying to get the Sultan's whishing ring to proof he's not a weakling... The second story is about Tzar Ivan the Terrible who likes watching people die together with his court-chemist. When he orders the execution of the chemist, the chemist thinks of a nice revanche, but till the revanche works, a nobleman is murdered, his daughter kidnapped by Ivan and her groom tortured. While writing the third story about...

---

Plot Keywords:

jack the ripper | baker | wax museum | killer | german expressionism | 

---

Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

---

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

February 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

Waxworks

Filming Locations:

May-Atelier, Weißensee, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Neptune-Film A.G.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min 83 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "Harun al Raschid" episode reportedly inspired Douglas Fairbanks to make The Thief of Bagdad

---

Connections

Referenced in Sunset Blvd. (1950)

User Reviews

nice silent movie!

I really enjoyed that film. It's not a masterpiece, like "Caligari" or "Nosferatu", but a good fun film anyway. Veidt and Jannings are wonderful. The first part, about Haroun al Rashid (played by Emil Jannings), is very humorous (and funny as well), with well written plot. The second part, about Ivan the Terrible (played by Conrad Veidt), is, in contrast, very dark and depressing. In my humble opinion, it is much better than Eisenstein's movie (which also steals shamelessly from it); for sure, Veidt is better than Cherkasov. The third story is something really weird: it starts and suddenly ends, like the crew ran out of money.

So, a lot of humour in the first part, a lot of "Russian gothic" ;-) in the second part, good acting, good plot, great sets -- if you like silent movies (especially expressionist silent movies), don't miss this one!

P.S. If you like silent movies and still haven't seen "Cabinet of Doctor Kaligari" and "Nosferatu, symphony of horror", see them first -- they are better than "Waxworks"!