Two Films by F.W. Murnau. After filming the landmark Nosferatu the silent cinema's master innovator F. W. Murnau demonstrated the reach of his genre versatility with a pair of films that explored the dimensions of the psychodrama and the adventure-programmer. All the Murnau characteristics are present: a vibrant naturalism exquisite imagery passages of dreamlike revery and an atmosphere redolent with romantic longing. In Phantom an aspiring poet on the verge of what he takes for a big break experiences a chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the street - and falls... headlong into love and fantasy. With debts piling up and his promised literary celebrity failing to materialise the poet descends into obsession deception and ultimately a criminal act in this delirious film that stands as an early precursor of Hitchcock's Vertigo. Die Finanzen des Grossherzogs sees Murnau exploiting the Mediterranean clime to film the tale of a rakish duke whose lifestyle has dried up his noble coffers. When word arrives about the existence of valuable sulphur deposits on his tiny duchy of Abacco a comic adventure of high-seas intrigue animal impersonators and the Crown Princess of Russia unreels at a sprightly pace. Max Schreck (the mythic actor behind the makeup of Nosferatu's Count Orlok two years earlier) appears in a supporting role in what might be Murnau's nimblest effort. [show more]
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A central figure in German Expressionism, F.W. Murnau was also one of the great innovators in film form. His gliding camera movements and troubled inner landscapes influenced both Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Two of Murnau's greatest silent films are featured in this collection - which also highlights the tremendous verstility of his work. PHANTOM (1922) tells the story of a store clerk who is almost driven to insanity when he sees an apparition of a girl driving a team of white horses. He is sentenced to 20 years in jail when he is convicted of stealing to raise money for a prostitute who looks just like the ghost girl. Though best known for his brooding dramas Murnau stepped out of the shadows for the silent German comedy THE GRAND DUKE'S FINANCES. The 1924 film follows the outlandish Grand Duke (Harry Liedtke) as he tries to deliver his small island nation from economic woes, and, if time permits, romance a Russian princess. Max Schreck (NOSFERATU) makes an appearance as one of the Duke's arch-fiends.
Two silent films by F.W. Murnau, German director of the 1922 masterpiece 'Nosferatu'. Alfred Abel stars in 'Phantom' (1922) as Lorenz Lubota, a man whose quiet, ordered life spins violently out of control when he becomes infatuated with a mysterious and beautiful woman who runs him over with her chariot. The comedy 'Die Finanzen Des Grossherzogs' (1924) tells the tale of the Grand Duke of Abacco (Harry Liedtke), who must embark on some novel fundraising exercises after his rakish lifestyle finally dries up his noble coffers.
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