Herr Tartüff (1925)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Carl Mayer (writer)
Molière (play)

Release Date:

24 July 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's Tartuffe, in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets his own inheritance.

Plot Keywords:

Travelling Cinema | Seduction | Religious Delusion | Hypocrisy | Poison

Cast

Hermann Picha	...	Der Greis / Old councilor
Rosa Valetti	...	Sein Haushälterin / Housekeeper
André Mattoni	...	Sein Enkel / Grandson
Werner Krauss	...	Herr Orgon
Lil Dagover	...	Frau Elmire / Elmire, Orgon's wife
Lucie Höflich	...	Dorine
Emil Jannings	...	Tartüff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Camilla Horn

Also Known As:

Tartüff
Tartuffe (USA)

Runtime:

74 min | USA:70 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Ufa-Atelier, Berlin-Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Movie Connections:

Version of Tartuffe (1971) (TV)

Uninspired Murnau

It strikes me as odd that Herr Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, easily one of the 25 Greatest Directors in History, delivered such a plain, forgettable and uninspired film. I can't help but to wonder what sort of business must've been going on with the UFA Executives at the time.

All the elements of the great German Silent Cinema are here - screenwriter Carl Mayer, Actor Emil Jannings, Actress Lil Dagover, and of course, the genius F.W. Murnau, yet for some reason the film lacks all the brilliancy and magic of Murnau's other works, reminding one of the epilogue of "The Last Laugh" when Murnau and Mayer were consciously trying to make something vulgar and ridiculous.

This feeling comes across throughout the entire length of "Herr Tartüff", in which the story is told in pure, unflinching mockery. Even the customary visual flair of Murnau's films is nowhere to be found here, aside from one or two shots in the which the Director must've let his genius come out for a moment.

Even Emil Jannings - arguably the greatest silent film actor who ever lived - is unconvincing as the charlatan Tartuff. The same can be said of the rest of the cast, unfortunately.

It does give one a feeling of sadness that this picture had the potential to be another Murnau Classic (something that wouldn't be too bad considering so few of his films are available to the general public), but all one can hope for is a DVD release of all his other, unknown films; something that seems quite unlikely, considering the extremely reduced fan base for Silent Pictures.

To sum it up, I can only recommend it for fans of Murnau and Jannings.