Nosferatu a symphony of horror
F. W. Murnau (Director), Fritz Arno Wagner, Albin Grau (Art director), Max Schreck (Actor), Alexander Granach (Actor), Greta Schroeder-Matrey (Actor), Bram Stoker, Prana-Film GmbH
The first cinematic adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula received an unexpected publicity boost when Bram Stoker's widow sued the producers for breach of copyright. The resulting controversy increased ticket sales as well as sales of Stoker's novel. Actor Max Schreck's portrait of the vampire Nosferatu, in the first vampire film, became a touchstone for the dozens of imitations that would follow. With his bald head, long talons and gangly silhouette, Schreck's Nosferatu defined the genre for decades. After selling his castle to the hapless real estate agent Hutter, Count Orlok, (the vampire Nosferatu) leaves his native Transylvania and travels by sea to Bremen, in a ship carrying coffins filled with dirt and plague infested rats. When the boat arrives in Bremen without crew or captain, it is clear that they have fallen victim to the insatiable Nosferatu during the course of the voyage. Once in port, the rats invade the city, spreading the plague as they move from house to house. Determined to stop this evil from consuming the city, Hutter's young wife Nina decides to keep the monstrous vampire by her bed until sunrise, when he will melt in the rays of the sun
Film, English, 1922
Prana-Film GmbH, Germany, 1922