The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.

Director:

Robert Wiene

Writers:

Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz

Stars:

Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Werner Krauss	...	Dr. Caligari
Conrad Veidt	...	Cesare
Friedrich Feher	...	Francis (as Friedrich Fehér)
Lil Dagover	...	Jane Olsen
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Alan (as Hans Heinrich v. Twardowski)
Rudolf Lettinger	...	Dr. Olsen

Storyline

Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. It is the annual fair in Holstenwall. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep. When Alan asks Cesare about his future, Cesare answers that he will die before dawn. The next morning Alan is found dead. Francis suspects Cesare of being the murderer, and starts spying on him and Dr. Caligari. The following night Cesare is going to stab Jane in her bed, but softens when he sees the beautiful woman, and instead of committing another murder, he abducts her. Jane's father awakens because of the noise, and he and some servants follow the fleeing Cesare. When Cesare cannot outrun his pursuers anymore, he gently places Jane down on the ground, and runs away. Francis and the police investigate the caravan of Dr. Caligari, but the ...

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Plot Keywords:

somnambulist | expressionism | hypnosis | avant garde | cult film | 

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Taglines:

Dr. Caligari and his mysterious slave - the black and white phantom who lives in a cabinet and goes forth in his sleep to do his master's bidding. the weirdest characters ever seen on the screen and the most daringly different picture ever seen.

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

None

Release Date:

19 March 1921 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Filming Locations:

Lixie-Atelier, Weißensee, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Decla-Bioscop AG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min 51 min (video) 73 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Finnish censorship certificate T-11308 (video) delivered on 9-9-1993.

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Goofs

In the distant shot, the sign at the asylum reads "Insane Asylum," in English. In the close-up, the sigh is written in German (Kino Blu-ray Disc version, may not be present in all editions of the film).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Man in garden: Spirits surround us on every side... they have driven me from hearth and home, from wife and child.

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Alternate Versions

USA laserdisc reissue restores the original hand-drawn title cards that have been missing from every known print of the film since 1923. When first released on video in the United States, film was in black-and-white, and played back many scenes at double speed and featured different music. Although no scenes were cut out, the running time was reduced to only 51 minutes. The restored version restores the colour-tinting, restores the original title cards, and plays the film back at regular speed, returning the film to its original 69-minute running time.

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Connections

Referenced in Dead by Dawn 2: The Mask of Conrad (2004)

User Reviews

messiah of the terror

The most important film in horror. Moody and shocking this chiller is the height of German Expressionist cinema and the prototype for whole genres in horror. Using violent contrasts of light and shadow, surreal settings and distorted camera angles to represent madness, chaos and psychosis, its influence is still seen even today in the likes of John Carpenter and the emerging actor and director Stephen Armourae, who has been also influenced by the film in his artwork and as the composer Stephen Armourae-Perry. Its twists towards the end put everyone from Hitchcock to the maker of 'The Village' into pale imitation. This film is now neglected by the public as it is a silent film. It really needs to be seen and appreciated more. Robert Wiene the director clearly inspired by the First World War transferred that shock and terror onto the screen with all its starkness. Hos purpose was to present moral ambiguity of the plot and action as a commentary on the paranoia, imbalance and uncertainty of post was Germany. And another parallel: not only has it influenced Stephen Armourae, he too is a hypnotist and recurring themes in his writings and plays are the moral ambiguities of insanity and culture, and German society of the twentieth century.