Paul Leni, one of the masters of German expressionist filmmaking, directed this 1924 fantasy/horror anthology, in which three eerie tales are connected by a linking narrative in which a young writer (Wilhelm Dieterle) is hired by the owner of a wax museum (Johan Gottowt) to write exciting backstories for his creepy creations. The writer then appears in each of the three tales he pens, along with the owner’s beautiful daughter Eva (Olga Belajeff), though they play second fiddle to a trio of the greatest German screen stars of the day, who impersonate the “real” figures behind the wax statues.
First up is Emil Jannings; he plays Harunal-Rashid, the eighth-century Caliph of Baghdad, as a portly, lascivious fellow who gets infuriated when the smoke from a baker’s oven distracts him during a game of chess. He orders his vizier to execute the baker, but when told how beautiful the intended victim’s wife is, decides instead to ravish her. By chance, the baker has chosen that very night to steal the Caliph’s wish ring for his wife, but in doing so cuts off the hand of the wax dummy the ruler left in his place and thinks he has killed the Caliph. When the baker returns unexpectedly with his prize, pursued by royal soldiers, the flustered ruler hides in the oven, and the baker’s wife uses the ring to “wish” him back to life. Though it has a few unnerving moments, this initial episode—by far the longest—is played as broad comedy.
The second tale is far nastier. Conrad Veidt stars as Czar Ivan the Terrible, who delights in poisoning his enemies using a huge hourglass that determines the moment they will die. When a nobleman invites the Czar to his daughter's wedding, Ivan suspects a plot to assassinate him and changes places with the nobleman, who is in fact killed in an ambush. Ivan ghoulishly orders the wedding to proceed and plans vengeance on the couple, but his poison-maker has come to believe that the Czar is going to kill him and acts first, writing the ruler’s name on the hourglass and inviting a closing twist worthy of Rod Serling.
The final segment is a brief dream sequence in which the writer and Eva are pursued through the carnival by a revivified Jack the Ripper, played by Werner Krauss and conflated with another Victorian-era killer, Spring-Heeled Jack. None of the tales is truly horrifying, but all are notable for surrealistic sets, elaborate camera tricks, and the use of colored tinting for atmospheric effect.
In addition to an illustrated booklet, bonus features include an audio commentary by critic Adrian Martin; a featurette in which Julia Wallmüller explains the reconstruction of the film, including what might have been found in its still-lost twenty-five minutes (20 min.); a discussion by critic Kim Newman about the film’s lasting influence (17 min.); and the first of the so-called Rebus-Films, short puzzle pictures combining live-action and animation that Leni made for German theatres. Recommended.