German Silent Movie Classics

Wiesbaden/München: Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes. Near Fine. (c.2002). First Edition. Hardcover. (photographic covers; no dust jacket, probably as issued) [very slight handling wear only]. (B&W and color photographs, facsimiles) Surprisingly substantive for a book of such modest dimensions (just a little bit bigger than a mass-market paperback), this volume packs of lot of information on the high points of the German silent cinema into its 165 pages. Following a nice compact introduction to the historical and aesthetic aspects of the period, most of the book is devoted to analyses of these individual films: THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI; THE (truncated) GOLEM; NOSFERATU; DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER; DIE NIBELUNGEN; METROPOLIS; FAUST; and ASPHALT. The volume is wrapped up with a short interview with composer Aljoscha Zimmermann, under the title "Sounds for Silent Movies," and a one-page bibliography. The attractive illustrations are a combination of film stills, frame enlargements (many enhanced with the original color-tinting), and reproductions of production design drawings. Scattered throughout are mini-biographies and filmographies of the filmmakers: Robert Wiene, Paul Wegener, F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and Joe May. (The text, by the way, is entirely in English.) . (Inventory #: 28410)