Siegfried (1924)
"Die Nibelungen: Siegfried" (original title)

Siegfried, son of King Sigmund, hears of the beautiful sister of Gunter, King of Worms, Kriemhild. On his way to Worms, he kills a dragon and finds a treasure, the Hort. He helps Gunther to... See full summary »

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou

Stars:

Gertrud Arnold, Margarete Schön, Paul Richter

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gertrud Arnold	...	Koenigin Ute
Margarete Schön	...	Kriemhild
Hanna Ralph	...	Brunhild
Paul Richter	...	Siegfried
Theodor Loos	...	Koenig Gunther
Hans Carl Mueller	...	Gernot
Erwin Biswanger	...	Giselher
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Volker von Alzey
Hans Adalbert Schlettow	...	Hagen Tronje
Hardy von Francois	...	Dankwart
Georg John	...	Mime, der Schmied / Alberich, der Nibelung
Frida Richard	...	Die Runenmagd
Yuri Yurovsky	...	Der Priester (as Georg Jurowski)
Iris Roberts	...	Der Edelknabe
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fritz Alberti	...	Dietrich von Bern

Storyline

Siegfried, son of King Sigmund, hears of the beautiful sister of Gunter, King of Worms, Kriemhild. On his way to Worms, he kills a dragon and finds a treasure, the Hort. He helps Gunther to win Krimhild, a mask that makes him invisible proves to be very useful. But because Brunhild is cursing Kriemhild, she tells her what really happened. Now Brunhild wants Siegfried's head. Is Gunther going to do her that favor?

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Plot Keywords:

king | dragon | treasure | sword | spear | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Drama | Adventure

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

1924 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Die Nibelungen

Filming Locations:

Berliner Union-Film Studio, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Decla-Bioscop AG, Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

158 min 143 min (restored integral) 158 min (Belgian Filmmuseum, Brussels)

Sound Mix:

Silent De Forest Phonofilm (US release)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dragon in the film is not a miniature. It is a full-scale puppet 60 feet long.

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Goofs

The tip of the spear Siegfied is killed with exits through the chest. Since Siegfried is invulnerable except at the entry point this should not be possible. The same impossible chest wound is shown later to be the one bleeding when the murderer enters the room.

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Connections

Remade as The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried (1971)

User Reviews

one of the great masterpieces of world cinema

essential viewing (and listening)...the newly-restored Munich Film Archives dvd of this film is simply wonderful. the G. Huppertz score is a marvel (lovingly restored by Erich Heller making use of the widow's piano score). Kurosawa's tribute to this classic can be seen in his handling of the "siege of the third fire tower" in RAN)...and, of course, Kriemhild's vindictive widow was the model for the Wicked Witch in SNOW WHITE... a landmark of international cinema: not to be missed.