Table of Contents

Foreword to the English language edition 

1 The Predisposition towards Expressionism 

2 The Beginnings of the Expressionist Film 
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari; Genuine; Von Morgens bis Mitternachts; Torgus;
Raskolnikow

3 The Spell of Light: the Influence of Max Reinhardt 
The Student of Prague (1913); Max Reinhardt; The Go/em (1920);
Die Chronik Pon Grieshuus; Vanina; Carl Boese on the special effects
for The Go/em

4 Lubitsch and the Costume Film 
!vfadame Dubarry; Sumurun; Anna Boleyn; Danton; Othello; Pola Negri

5 The Stylized Fantastic 
Der Miide Tod

6 The Symphonies of Horror 
Nosferatu; the demoniac bourgeois; the sway of the Doppelgiinger

7 'Decorative· Expressionism 
Waxworks; the concept of space; the obsession with corridors
and staircases; Paul Leni on set designing

8 The World of Shadows and Mirrors 
Warning Shadows; the Expressionist actor

9 Studio Architecture and Landscape 
Die Nibelungen; geometric grouping

10 The Expressionist Debut of a 'Realistic' Director 
Der Schatz

11 Kammerspielfilm and Stimmung 
Hintertreppe; Scherben; Sylvester; Paul Czinner; Elisabeth Bergner; Stimmung

12 Murnau and the Kammerspielfilm 
The Last Laugh; the mobile camera

13 The Handling of Crowds 
Metropolis; the influence of the Expressionist choruses and Piscator

14 The Fritz Lang Thriller 
Die Spinnen; Dr Mabuse der Spieler; Spione; Die Frau im Mond

15 Tragedies of the Street 
Die Strasse; The joyless Street; Asta Nielsen; Dirnentragiidie;
the Absolute film; Asphalt

16 The Evolution of the Costume Film 
Tartuffe

17 The Eye of the Camera in E.A. Dupont 
Das Alte Gesetz; Variety

18 The Climax of the Chiaroscuro 
Faust

19 Pabst and the Miracle of Louise Brooks 
Pandora's Box; Diary of a Lost Girl; Censorship and Pabst's realism

20 The Decline of the German Film 
The coming of sound; Die Dreigroschenoper; M; Das Testament
des Dr Mabuse; Miidchen in Uniform; the Ufa style; Leni Riefenstahl;
the post-Nazi era

Appendix: The Dreigroschenoper Lawsuit
Principal Works Mentioned in the Text
Selective Filmography, 1913-33
Index
Sources of Illustrations

About the Author

Film critic, poet, and historian Lotte H. Eisner (1896-1983) was Chief Archivist for the French Cinematheque and a member of the French Legion d'honneur.

Reviews

"A sumptuous meal for those interested in the dark and brooding days of German cinema."
*Cinema Journal*

"Arguably one of the best books on cinema yet written."
*Times Literary Supplement*