Pandora's Box (1929)
"Die Büchse der Pandora" (original title)

The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Frank Wedekind (plays), Ladislaus Vajda (scenario),

Stars:

Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Louise Brooks	...	Lulu
Fritz Kortner	...	Dr. Ludwig Schön
Francis Lederer	...	Alwa Schön (as Franz Lederer)
Carl Goetz	...	Schigolch
Krafft-Raschig	...	Rodrigo Quast
Alice Roberts	...	Gräfin Geschwitz - Countess Anna Geschwitz
Daisy D'Ora	...	Charlotte Marie Adelaide v. Zarnikow - braut Dr. Schöns - Dr. Schön's Bride (as Daisy d'Ora)
Gustav Diessl	...	Jack the Ripper (as Gustav Diesel)
Michael von Newlinsky	...	Marquis Casti-Piani (as Michael v. Newlinsky)
Sig Arno	...	Der inspizient - the instructor (as Siegfried Arno)

Storyline

The dancer and prostitute Lulu is the mistress of the newspaper owner Dr. Ludwig Schön and lives in an apartment paid for by him. When her former "protector" Schigolch visits Lulu, he brings the opportunist agent Rodrigo Quast that invites Lulu to dance in a play. Dr. Schön tells Lulu that he will marry the aristocratic Charlotte Marie Adelaide v. Zarnikow and mesmerizing Lulu forces him to marry her. However, in the wedding party, Dr. Schön finds Lulu partying with Schigolch and Rodrigo Quast in their bedroom and he gets his pistol and forces Lulu to shoot him. Lulu is arrested and almost six months later, she goes to the tribunal for trial. Despite the testimony of Dr. Schön's son Alwa Schön and his friend Countess Anna Geschwitz, Lulu is sentenced to five years in prison in a prejudicial verdict. But her friends cause a bedlam in court and Lulu flees. Alwa and Lulu decide to travel to Paris, but in the train, they are convinced to follow the crook Marquis Casti-Piani in the ...

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Plot Keywords:

lust | train | wedding | escape | mistress | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

22 February 1930 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Pandora's Box

Filming Locations:

Nero-Film Studio, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,950 (USA) (16 June 2006)

Gross:

$9,950 (USA) (16 June 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nero-Film AG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 133 min (restored) 152 min (Copy with French titles at Brussels Musée du Cinéma) 131 min (original) 110 min (VHS)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Louise Brooks' memoir, "Lulu in Hollywood", Alice Roberts was not aware her character was a lesbian until filming began, and she was initially opposed to playing the role as being attracted to Lulu. Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Brooks writes, convinced Roberts to pretend she was making her love gestures to Pabst, who was standing just off-camera.

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Goofs

The poster warning Londoners of Jack the Ripper is in German instead of English.

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Quotes

Dr. Ludwig Schön: [title card] Kill yourself!

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Connections

Version of Lulu (1978)

User Reviews

Astonishingly modern

I had heard "Pandora's Box" called a German Expressionist film, the class to which such great and outlandish films as Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", and Lang's "Metropolis" and the sadly dated but very interesting "Nosferatu" by Walter Murnau, I expected it to have the same elements-- extremely stylized acting and direction, bizarre artificial sets, and a general atmosphere of utter surreality. So I was very surprised at and fascinated with the naturalism of G. W. Pabst's "Pandora's Box", particularly with Louise Brook's celebrated performance as the cheerful, childlike, tragic femme fatale Lulu. Pabst's direction is essentially modern, even without the use of sound. While sometimes the direction and acting in even "Caligari" and "Metropolis" provoke laughter from the bemused audience,"Pandora's Box" holds the viewer spellbound, and its not infrequent humor is intentional. Like other German Expressionist silent films, "Pandora's Box" has a dark message. From the beginning, however, it is far less stylized, and the settings look like they might actually have existed in the 1920's, instead of only in someone's dream world. Nevertheless the film makes excellent use of Expressionistic lighting and chiaroscuro, which highlights the visions of fruitless and immoral frivolity, desperate gambling and unhealthy sexuality.

Altogether, this film is beautiful and absorbing, and even if nothing else, it should not be missed for Louise Brooks' superb performance.