Le golem (1936)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

André-Paul Antoine (writer)
Julien Duvivier (writer)

Release Date:

21 March 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Plot:

The Golem, a giant creature created out of clay by a rabbi, comes to life in a time of trouble to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution. |

Plot Keywords:

Golem | Rabbi | Prague | Genocide | Jewish Ghetto

Cast

Harry Baur	...	Emperor Rudolf II
Charles Dorat	...	Rabbi Jacob
Jany Holt	...	Rachel
Roger Karl	...	Chancellor Lang
Germaine Aussey	...	Countesse Strada
Truda Grosslichtová	...	Mme. Benoit (unconfirmed)
Julien Carette
Marcel Dalio
Walter Schorsch	...	Court Jester
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Raymond Aimos	...	Toussaint
Alfred Bastýr	...	Cardinal
Jan Cerný	...	Keppler
Roger Duchesne	...	Trignac
Ferdinand Hart	...	Golem
Gaston Jacquet	...	Chief of Police
Frantisek Jerhot	...	Pacholek
Antonín Jirsa	...	Kat
F.X. Mlejnek	...	Pacholek
Stanislav Neumann	...	Daniel
Robert Ozanne
Karel Schleichert	...	Alchemist

Also Known As:

The Golem (USA)
The Golem: The Legend of Prague (USA)
The Legend of Prague (UK)
The Man of Stone (USA)

Runtime:

83 min | Czechoslovakia:87 min

Country:

France | Czechoslovakia

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

AB

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster (1999) (V)

Disappointing "Sequel"

Golem, Le (1936)

** (out of 4)

Sequel to the 1920 German horror classic has a fairly interesting backstory. This sequel was planned to be made in Germany but due to the "pro-German, anti-Jewish" state of the country, the production was moved to France. In this film, the Rabbi from the first film has died and the Germans continue their slaughter of the Jewish. A new Rabbi, when the time is right, will unleash the Golem to save the day. This film is much more a political drama than a horror film since the Golem doesn't show up until the final five minutes of the movie. The film starts off rather interesting but grows very tiresome due to countless dialogue scenes. Most of these scenes are the evil ruler running around scared not knowing what the Golem will do to him. By 1936 standards the film is rather violent with several scenes of torture, hangings and Jews being fed to lions. The look of the Golem doesn't match the first film either. An interesting idea but the end results are highly disappointing.