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

Included among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Jay Schneider.

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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: [to Alwa] Just one thing, my boy, beware of that woman.

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Connections

Edited into Mrs. Harris (2005)

User Reviews

A Classic

Describing a film like PANDORA'S BOX is difficult. As a sterling example of German Expressionism you know it's not a piece of fluff. It's complex, deep, and not for the sitcom and Star Trek crowds. You have to lose yourself in it, and that is to lose yourself in Louise Brooks as PANDORA'S BOX is her movie. Not to diminish the genius of G.W. Pabst but it is Brooks that dominates this movie like so few actors can do. Without Brooks this movie could not exist.

Whew. And what's it about you may ask? It's a morality play made and set in the Berlin of 1928. While I watched the film I could not shake the knowledge of the cataclysm that was to be unleashed on Germany in five short years. In a way Pabst knew it too. (I was particularly weirded by the prominent display of a menorah in one of the Berlin apartment sets.)

I recommend that everyone that loves movies should at some point find the video store in their neighborhood that stocks old movies, rent PANDORA'S BOX, and experience it for themselves.