Carl Mayer

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Remake of Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920). Shot entirely on green screen. Some exact shots from the 1920 film were superimposed to properly replicate the original. Francis relates the story of traveling magician Dr. Caligari and Cesare. Their arrival in a town coincides with savage killings.

Pygmalion

When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.

Dreaming Lips

Dreaming Lips was lovingly assembled by filmmaker Paul Czinner as an "ideal" vehicle for his popular actress wife Elizabeth Bergner. The star plays Gabrielle, the glamorous, spoiled wife of world-famous orchestra leader Peter (Romney Brent). Left alone by her constantly touring husband, she inaugurates a romance with brilliant but reclusive violinist Miguel de Vaye (Raymond Massey).

As You Like It

Film version of Shakespeare's comedy of a young woman who disguises herself as a man to win the attention of the one she loves.

The Dreamy Mouth

The story begins at a concert during which Beethoven's Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra is performed. Romaine, a mysterious woman, is in the concert hall. Pierre, her husband, is first violin of the Orchester Colonne. That evening, she discovers Marcel, a brilliant concerto soloist, and falls in love with him. Pierre and Marcel are friends, which complicates the situation. Pierre invites his friend to the house, without suspecting what will happen. The young woman, trying to find a clever pretext for a one-on-one meeting, quickly reveals her feelings to Marcel.

Dreaming Lips

The young Gaby is happily married to the musician Peter but cannot ignore the impression that his friend Michael, a violin virtuoso, makes on her. Even when Peter falls seriously ill, she cannot forget her love for Michael. Torn between the two men, Gaby sees only one way out...

The Blue Light

A young woman, Junta, lives apart from her village and, for her solitude and strangeness, is considered to be a witch; when she comes to the village for one reason or another, the townsfolk chase her away. They feel that she may in some way be responsible for the deaths of several young men of the village, who have felt compelled, one by one, to climb the local mountain - and fall to their deaths - on nights when the moon is full.

Ariane, Russian Maid

Arianne, a young Russian maid living in France, meets a man twice her age she falls in love with.

Ariane

Ariane was Hungarian director Paul Czinner's first talking picture. Starring in the title role is Czinner's charming wife, Elizabeth Bergner, likewise making her talkie debut. Young, naive Ariane sets herself for an emotional fall when she falls in love with Konstantin (Rudolf Forster), a much older and very married businessman. For his part, Konstantin regards the girl as just another harmless fling -- until he realizes a shade too late that he's really in love with her after all. Filmed in German, Ariane was simultaneously lensed in an English-language version, The Loves of Ariane.

The Man Who Committed the Murder

The story is about Conrad Veidt as military attache in Turkey where he learns to know an English consul (Heinrich George) and his attractive wife who is treated badly. They begin an affair and soon the husband proves to be an obstacle that has to be disposed of.

Storm Over Mont Blanc

In a lonely outpost atop the treacherous Mont Blanc, an intrepid scientist lives with minimal connection to the world below. Through the telegraph, Hannes (Sepp Rist) communicates with a beautiful astronomer (Leni Riefenstahl) and is occasionally visited by an airplane pilot (Ernst Udet) upon whom he depends on supplies. In the midst of a ferocious snowstorm, Hannes loses his gloves and his weather station is battered by the elements. Suffering frostbite and unable to descend the mountain, he sends out a desperate S.O.S. in the hope that someone can brave the elements and rescue him from certain death. Eerily romantic and overshadowed by the constant threat of doom, "Storm Over Mont Blanc" is a "quintessential" mountain film by Arnold Fanck, the genre's innovator and unparalleled master.

Fräulein Else

While staying with her aunt at a fashionable spa, Else receives an unexpected telegram from her mother, begging her to save her father from debtor’s jail. The only way out, it seems, is to approach an elderly acquaintance in order to borrow money from him. Through this telegram, Else is forced into the reality of a world entirely at odds with her romantic imagination – with horrific consequences.

4 Devils

Four orphans, raised by an aging clown, becomes a high wire act in a circus. Lost film.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Tartuffe

A young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's play "Tartuffe" in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets the young man's inheritance.

The Last Laugh

An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

New Year's Eve

A man must choose between his mother and his wife as the rivalry ratchets up throughout New Year's Eve. Like Pick's previous films, New Year's Eve does not use intertitles.

The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning

a silent movie by Robert Wiene

Earth Spirit

When the old, wealthy Doctor Schön takes Lulu under his wing, he has no idea that she will be his certain death. Young and beautiful, Lulu is endowed with tremendous erotic charisma that utterly enchants any man in her reach. Although Schön sees disaster approaching, he cannot let go of her. (Stumfilm.dk)

Vanina

Vanina loves rebel leader Octavio, who gets caught. He gets a pardon and marries Vanina. When he is captured again, Vanina helps him to escape prison. They are both caught, and after his execution she dies from grief.

Backstairs

In a poor neighborhood of a big city, a crippled mailman is in love with a maid who lives in his building. However, she is in love with a wealthy and handsome young man, who soon disappears. The mailman provides the maid with letters that get her hopes up... but tragedy will soon befall all three.

Torgus

John, a young man raised by his aunt, is in love with Anna, a servant girl who is going to have his baby. He is willing to marry her but his stern aunt wants him to marry a rich girl. To separate the lovers, she arranges for her nephew to be enrolled at a university in a distant town. She then has Anna sent away to live with Torgus the coffin maker and his mother where she will be secluded until the birth of the child. Torgus, a clumsy golem-esque sort of fellow, is immediately charmed by the beautiful girl and takes pity on her. Meanwhile, Anna anxiously awaits John's return.

Nights of Terror

The young Evelyne lives with a man, her fiancee Frank, with whom she has a child. But her fiancee is a rundown drunk constantly hanging over the bottle. Evelyne wants to leave Frank.

Shattered

The everyday lives of a poverty-stricken railway trackman, his wife and daughter in a remote, isolated house in a winter landscape. One day, they receive a telegram announcing the arrival of the section inspector, who is to live with the family. After his arrival, a downward spiral begins.

Danton

At the height of Reign of Terror Maximilien Robespierre orchestrates the trial and execution of several of his fellow leading French revolutionaries including Georges Danton.

Danton

At the height of Reign of Terror Maximilien Robespierre orchestrates the trial and execution of several of his fellow leading French revolutionaries including Georges Danton.

The Haunted Castle

The sinister Count Oetsch scandalizes the aristocratic social gathering at Castle Vogelod as he announces his intention to "crash" the festivities. Baroness Safferstätt is expected shortly, and the guests are well-aware of the rumors that Count Oetsch murdered the baroness' late husband. Oetsch refuses to leave, vowing that he will reveal the identity of the real killer. Before the weekend is through, the Count and Baroness will reveal secrets too shocking to be believed!

Journey into the Night

Dr. Egil Börne, an eminent physician, comes under the spell of an unscrupulous cabaret dancer and deserts his fiancée. The plot finds echoes throughout the Weimar period, including Sternberg’s The Blue Angel. Conrad Veidt appears in a supporting role as a sinister blind painter, whose entrance eerily presages Murnau’s Nosferatu. Der Gang in die Nacht, the earliest surviving film by F. W. Murnau, is also, paradoxically, the only Murnau film for which the original camera negative exists.

Der Dummkopf

An overly trusting young man inherits the fortune of his great uncle and his scheming relatives plot to get their hands on the money.

Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire

Since completing a portrait of Genuine, a high priestess, Percy becomes irritable and withdrawn. He loses interest in painting and refuses to see his friends, preferring to spend his time alone with the portrait in his study. After turning down a wealthy patron's offer to buy the picture, Percy falls asleep while reading stories of Genuine's life. Genuine comes to life from the painting and escapes.

The Hunchback and the Dancer

Wilton, a hunchback, who was always scorned and ridiculed by women, returns from Java a rich man after having discovered a diamond mine. He romances Gina, who is on the rebound from a broken affair, and showers her with expensive gifts. After Gina reconciles with her boyfriend, she continues to see Wilton because of what he gives her. After he discovers her perfidy, Wilton develops a poison and mixes it into her lipstick, which will kill any man who kisses her. Lost film.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. 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.