“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” (1922)

This night we explore the history of early horror cinema by featuring the earliest film adaptations of two of our most beloved and enduring ‘monsters’ from literature, Frankenstein’s creature and Dracula.

The feature film is Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, a German Expressionist vampire horror film, directed by F.W. Murnau and released in 1922. It is the world’s first (unauthorized) adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, with names and other details changed because the German studio could not obtain the rights to Stoker’s novel. (The legal battle between Bram Stoker’s aggressive widow and the German filmmakers is an epic that will be gleefully related to you by Mr. Butler.) Nosferatu eventually found its way to America , and went on to become one of the world’s seminal horror classics.

Frankenstein is a little-seen short film made by Edison Studios in 1910, written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. For many years, the film was considered lost. It was the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Shot in three days, it was filmed at the Edison Studios in the Bronx, New York City. Although some sources credit Thomas Edison as the producer, he in fact played no direct part in the activities of the motion picture company that bore his name. That’s just as well, because this isn’t a very captivating short when viewed out of context; it’s static and brief. But we consider it a rare milestone in movie monster history, so we’re gonna watch it!

NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR
Prana-Film. Black & White, with original color tints. (Our version: 81 minutes). Premiered on March 4, 1922. Directed by F.W. (Friedrich Wilhelm) Murnau. Script by Henrik Galeen, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Photographed by Fritz Arno Wagner. Art Direction by Albin Grau. Cast includes Max Schreck (Graf Orlock), Gustav von Wangenheim (Hutter), Alexander Granach (Knock), and Greta Schroeder-Matray (Ellen).

FRANKENSTEIN
Edison Manufacturing Company. Black & White. 12 minutes. Released on March 18, 1910. Directed by J. Searle Dawley. Script by J. Searle Dawley and Augustus Phillips, based on the novel Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus by Mary W. Shelley. Cast includes Charles Ogle (The Creature), Augustus Phillips (Dr. Frankenstein), and Mary Fuller.

“The Man Who Laughs” (1928)

This remarkable film is as visually stunning as it is emotionally resonant. Conrad Veidt stars as Gwynplaine, a nobleman’s son who is kidnapped by a political enemy, and then is mutilated by a gypsy ‘surgeon’ who carves a monstrous smile on his face. Finding shelter in a traveling freak show, Gwynplaine falls in love with a blind girl (The Phantom of the Opera’s Mary Philbin), the one person who cannot be repulsed by his appearance. As years pass, the hand of fate draws Gwynplaine back into the world of political intrigue. He becomes the plaything of a jaded duchess (Freak’s Olga Baclanova), and his enemies renew their efforts to control him.

In an effort to top the critical and financial success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, Universal Pictures studio head Carl Laemmle recruited two influential artists of the German Expressionist school: actor Conrad Veidt (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and director Paul Leni (Waxworks). The shadowy exteriors, the carnival setting, the demoniacally misshapen ‘hero’ made The Man Who Laughs something entirely new to American cinema – the foundation upon which the classic Universal horror films would be built. Film critic Roger Ebert stated "The Man Who Laughs is a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in Expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film." Oh, and it’s kinda dark.

THE MAN WHO LAUGHS
Universal-Super Jewel Pictures. 110 minutes. Premiered at the Central Theatre, New York City , on April 27, 1928. Presented by Carl Laemmle. Produced by Paul Kohner. Directed by Paul Leni. Screenplay by J. Grubb Alexander, adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo. Photographed by Gilbert Warrenton. Film Editing by Edward L. Cahn and Maurice Pivar. Makeup Effects by Jack Pierce. Cast includes Conrad Veidt (Gwynplaine), Mary Philbin (Dea), Olga Baclanova (Duchess Josiana), and Cesare Gravina (Ursus).

"Metropolis" (1927)

Metropolis is a silent German Expressionist science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang. Set in a futuristic urban dystopia, Metropolis examines a common science fiction theme of the day: the social crisis between workers and owners in capitalism. The film stars Alfred Abel as the leader of the city, Gustav Fröhlich as his son, who tries to mediate between the elite caste and the workers, Brigitte Helm as both the pure-at-heart worker Maria and the debased robot version of her, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the mad scientist who creates the robot.

The most expensive film of its time, Metropolis cost approximately 7 million Reichsmark to make. The film was cut substantially after its German premiere, and there have been several efforts to restore it, as well as rediscoveries of previously lost footage. Due to recent discoveries, a definitive ‘final cut’ is actually due to premiere in Berlin on February 12, 2009; so join us on February 11 as we offer a final cut of our own!

METROPOLIS
UFA ( Germany )/Paramount Pictures (US). 153 minutes/24 frames (German premiere cut); 114 minutes/25 frames (US cut). Released January 10, 1927 ( Germany ), March 6, 1927 (US). Produced by Erich Pommer. Directed by Fritz Lang. Screenplay by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou. Cinematography Karl Freund, Günther Rittau, and Walter Ruttmann. Music for the original version by Gottfried Huppertz. Cast includes Alfred Abel as Joh Fredersen, Brigitte Helm as Maria/robot, Gustav Fröhlich as Freder, Joh Fredersen's son, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as C. A. Rotwang.

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda, and is directed by Wallace Worsley. The film is the most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, aside from the 1996 Disney adaptation. The film was Universal's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film to date, grossing over $3 million.

The film is most notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as Lon Chaney's performance and spectacular make-up as the tortured bell-ringer of Notre Dame. The film elevated Chaney, already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood . It also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Today, the film is in the public domain.

Original prints of the film were on cellulose nitrate film stock and were either worn out, decomposed or were destroyed by the studio (mostly the latter). Original prints were on tinted film stock in various colors, including sunshine, amber, rose, lavender and blue.

The only surviving prints of the film are 16 mm "show-at-home" prints distributed by Universal in the 1920s and 1930s for home-movie purposes, and no original 35mm negatives or prints survive. Most video editions (including public domain releases) of the film are derived from 16 mm duplicate prints that were distributed by Blackhawk Films in the 1960s and 1970s. A DVD release of a newly restored print of the film was released by Image Entertainment on October 9, 2007.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
Universal-Super Jewel. 12 reels, 12,000 ft. Released on September 6, 1923. In production December 16, 1922 to June 3, 1923. Presented by Carl Laemmle. Directed by Wallace Worsley. Scenario by Edward T. Lowe, Jr., Adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo by Perley Poore Sheehan. Photographed by Robert Newhard and Tony Kornman. Additional Photography by Virgil Miller, Charles J. Stumar, and Stephen S. Norton. Edited by Sydney Singerman, Maurice Pivar, and Edward Curtiss. Art Direction by Elmer E. Sheeley and Sidney. Cast includes Lon Chaney (Quasimodo), Patsy Ruth Miller (Esmeralda), Norman Kerry (Phoebus de Chateaupers), Nigel De Brulier (Dom Claude Frollo).