Der Golem (1915)

In this version of the golem legend, the golem, a clay statue brought to life by Rabbi Loew in 16th century Prague to save the Jews from the ongoing brutal persecution by the city's rulers,... See full summary »

Directors:

Henrik Galeen, Paul Wegener

Writers:

Henrik Galeen, Paul Wegener

Stars:

Paul Wegener, Henrik Galeen, Lyda Salmonova

Cast

Credited cast:
Paul Wegener	...	Golem
Henrik Galeen	...	Troedler
Lyda Salmonova	...	Jessica
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rudolf Blümner	...	Gelehrter
Robert A. Dietrich
Carl Ebert	...	Troedler
Jakob Tiedtke

Storyline

In this version of the golem legend, the golem, a clay statue brought to life by Rabbi Loew in 16th century Prague to save the Jews from the ongoing brutal persecution by the city's rulers, is found in the rubble of an old synagogue in the 20th century. Brought to life by an antique dealer, the golem is used as a menial servant. Eventually falling in love with the dealer's wife, it goes on a murderous rampage when its love for her goes unanswered.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | psychotronic film | golem | love | synagogue | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This lost film (please check your attic) is often confused with director Paul Wegener second and readily available interpretation of the legend; Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920). To add to the confusion, Danish director Urban Gad reportedly made his own Golem movie in 1916, although it is doubtful that Gad's movie was ever completed or even made it into production.

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Connections

Featured in Psalm III: 'Night of the Meek' (2002)

User Reviews

Fragments Are Very Much Worth Watching

Der Golem (1915)

Paul Wegener will always be remembered for his 1920 film DER GOLEM but most people don't realize that he played the character in two earlier pictures. Sadly this 1915 version is lost as is the 1917 film. Thankfully, however, there are about five-minutes worth of fragments from the 1915 version that are out there to be viewed.

In all honesty, these five-minutes are a true thrill for fans of the 1920 film, which was pretty much a prequel to this. There are a couple sequences shown in the fragments where we get a terrific look at the Golem make-up and this alone makes this worth celebrating. The make- up here is actually very similar to what we saw in the 1910 version, although actor Wegener was much skinnier here. There's another sequence showing a bunch of people running out of a house and into the streets, which I'm going to guess was them trying to escape from the Golem.

Again, the fragments just total five-minutes but if you're a horror fan or film buff then they're very much worth watching.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

8 April 1915 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Monster of Fate

Filming Locations:

Bioscop-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deutsche Bioscop GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1