Screams in the silence: Horror films of the silent era (Part 2)

Max Schrek as Count Orlok in 'Nosferatu...'

In part one we looked at the pioneering and highly influential work of George Méliès, the business model as created for the American market by Thomas Edison that would pave the way for the big Hollywood studios of the 1930s, and the first major star of horror Lon Chaney. In Part two we cast our eyes back to Europe to look at the shadowy world of the German Expressionist movement in cinema, as well as Britain's contribution to the history of horror, and finally how the monsters finally got their voices.

German Expressionism
The German Expressionist movement, perhaps more than any other style of cinema, has gone on to cast the longest shadow over horror films. Highly stylized and dreamlike, films made use of bizarrely constructed sets, long shadows, and distorting reality full of themes of a deeply psychological nature. The Expressionist films of the 1920's began to gain international notoriety as the anti-German sentiment of the post war years gradually began to fade and would have an noticeable effect on horror and film noire in the 1930's both in terms of the look of the films, as well the style of direction with several stars and directors making the jump to Hollywood when the Nazis gained power.

The origins of the Expressionist movement can be traced back to 'The Student Of Prague' in 1913. Written by Hanns Heinz Ewers and directed by Stellan Rye (his only film before dying in France during World War I), the film is a Faustian tale of obsession and magic that led to the film's star, Paul Wegener, gaining the role in the famed 'Golem' trilogy. The film displays many of the prototypical features that would become prominent in later expressionist outings for the likes of F.W. Murnau, Robert Wiene and Fritz Lang. 





However, it is 1920's 'The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari' that has the honour of being the most definitive of all the expressionist films. Directed by Robert Wiene and staring Conrad Veidt as the murderous somnambulist Cesare. '...Dr. Caligari' is one of the most overt uses of what would come to be known as horror to date. The angular misshapen sets, the dark-eyed and twisted antagonists, stark lighting with emphasis on dark shadows, murder, madness, and a twist ending have continued to resonate with fans of horror cinema ever since its release.

...'Caligari' had an undeniable star in the form of Conrad Veidt who would appear in another of Wiene's production 'The Hands Of Orlac' (1924) – a dark tale of a concert pianist who loses his hands in an accident only to have a murderer's hands transplanted on and which drive him to a killing spree. Films such as 'Waxworks' in 1924, and the 1926 remake of 'The Student Of Prague' ensured Veidt was written into the annals of Horror Cinema, while his performance as the disfigured Gwynplaine in the Paul Leni directed 'The Man Who Laughs' put him on a par with Lon Chaney for his dedication to uncomfortable makeup effects.




The other film that can just as easily claim to personify the German Expressionist movement is also the first attempt to bring literature's most famous vampire to the big screen. 'Nosferatu: Eien Symphonie Des Grauens' (1922), directed by F.W. Murnau and staring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' that was nearly lost save for one copy that survived and continued to influence horror fans. Schreck's rat-like count is reminiscent of the angular sets of 'The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari' while the long dark shadows and stop-motion gives the film an undeniably nightmarish quality. It is the film's use of shadows that has given rise to the most famous scene in all of silent cinema, where the count's shadow is seen climbing a staircase and opening a door near the climax of the film. It is a simple enough effect, but one that has reached into the fabric of cinematography. Today 'Nosferatu...' may look clichéd in a world full of vampire films, but this is one where all of the conventions and themes of the vampire film began. 

The shadow of the vampire...

Murnau made another important contribution to horror in the form of 'Faust' in 1926. Based on both the Goethe novel as well as traditional versions of the tale, Lang brought the infernal characters to life in an lavish production that would push the finances of UFA to their limits (only to stretch them further the following year with Lang's sci-fi epic 'Metropolis'). With a bigger budget, and better effects, the film is a richer production than 'Nosferatu', and it has stood the test of time as well even going on to influence Disney for the film 'Fantasia'.

F.W. Murnau circa 1920

Fritz Lang dipped his toe into the horror genre as well with the 1921 framed portmanteau 'Destiny'. The film isn't strictly a horror but the plot involving a woman trying to make a deal with death to save her lover does aesthetically link it to the likes of '...Caligari' and 'Nosferatu'. The film veers into fantasy, drama and adventure that proved to be a big influence on Douglas Faibanks for his film 'The Thief Of Baghdad' (1926), as well as the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Luis Buñuel.

The expressionist style soon began to spread out from Germany to other European nations with the likes of 'Haxan' (Swedish/Danish), 'The Phantom Carriage' (Swedish) and 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' (Spanish) all taking their cues from the pioneering styles of likes of Wiene, Murnau and Lang. These may have been overshadowed by the German film makers for much of the 20^th century, but the docu-drama style of 'Haxan', the structure and effects used in 'The Phantom Carriage' and 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' have had a strong effect on later directors such as Ingmar Bergman. 

Ivor Novello as Johnathan Drew in 'The Lodger...'

Ghoul Britannia

Great Britain's contributions to horror cinema are inexorably bound to the films of Hammer and Amicus in the 50s, 60s and 70s. But Britain's contribution to the silent roots of the genre, while somewhat eclipsed, was still developing in it's own unique way. From the short trick films of early cinema, it slowly evolved and developed throughout the silent era and into the talkies until the British film industry was forever linked to horror.

Shortly before the pioneering effects of George Méliès would go on to capture the pre-first world war imagination on both sides of the Atlantic, an English inventor named Robert W. Paul made his mark on the fledgling medium. Starting out in the Kinetoscope market, Paul would go on to invent the first British-made film camera and projection system. His biggest innovation came in 1896 with the invention of a portable field camera that could capture multiple exposures on the same role of film, which would directly lead to the the first “trick” films that would make use of these special effects. 




In addition to inventing Paul would also, like Edison, found his own film production company and film studio that would produce a variety of different kinds of short film for music halls around the country. Two of the most notable are 'The Haunted Curiosity Shop' (1901) and 'Scrooge, Or Marley's Ghost' (1901). 'Scrooge...' being the oldest adaptation of a work by Charles Dickens for cinema. The film is a heavily streamlined retelling of 'A Christmas Carol' that dispenses with multiple ghosts in favour of Scrooge's deceased friend Marley showing him his past present and future. Like Méliès the films lack any potential shock, and instead plays up the camera trickery. 




Another film to come out of Paul's production line is the dark but ultimately comical 'The Freak Barber' (1905). Directed by J.H. Martin, the film sees a barber behead his customers, who eventually rise up and dismember him in return for his diabolical crimes. Again with a comedic element to it and an emphasis on the clever camera tricks the film lacks any real sense of horror, but its subject matter is nonetheless quite dark.

Cecil M. Hepworth circa 1915

A contemporary of R.W. Paul, Cecil M. Hepworth was also quick to sieze upon the popularity of moving pictures. Hepworth produced a large number of short films in the pre-war years before moving into longer productions. He is perhaps most notable for being the first person to commit 'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' to film in 1903, as well as developing an early method of adding sound to his films with his Vivaphone invention. But for the purposes of this article it is his 1914 film 'The Basilisk' that links him to the development of horror cinema.

This 28-minute long film sees a mesmerist become obsessed with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. He uses his powers to put her into a trance and orders her to kill her fiance but is foiled by the appearance of a deadly serpent. The occult power of mesmerism echoes the later 'Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari'as is a classic morality tale which sees good triumph over evil in a more horror-orientated style than previous films.

Like George Méliès Hepworth's fortunes would ultimately take a turn for the worse. His melodramatic style failed to keep up with the grand productions of Hollywood and the cerebral style of the Germans. Ultimately his production company would fold, despite his earlier acclaim, and he would declare bankruptcy.

However, thanks to the likes of Hepworth, British horror cinema would go continue to grow and develop its own identity. Adaptations of great novels such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1913), The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1916), The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1921) would become the first of many film outings for their authors works. While characters such as She, Faust, and Sweeny Todd would become popular in their own right inspiring many films both in the silent era and beyond. Also locations such as Madame Tussauds would also become ingrained in the public consciousness thanks to films such as 'Chamber Of Horrors' (1929), which would use the wax museum as a backdrop for it's plot Indeed the groundwork was laid for British horror's ultimate coming of age in the 1950s, 60s and 70s with Hammer and Amicus' glorious and titillating technicolour productions.

A young Alfred Hitchcock

Britain's undisputed biggest contribution to horror though came in the form of the renowned director and master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. The young director worked in his native England and briefly in Germany before finding fame in Hollywood. Initially his films proved to be cursed. Starting out as a title designer he worked his way up to the position of director and took the helm for a number of pictures in the early 1920's for Gainsborough Pictures a combination of financial problems and commercial flops almost ended his career before it had begun. However during this time he was able to work in Germany and witnessed part of the filming of F.W. Murnau's 'The Last Laugh' an experience that, in combination with Fritz Lang's 'Destiny', would profoundly impact the future style of the young Hitchcock.

These German Expressionist influences would emerge in Hitchcock's first major hit film, 'The Lodger: A Story Of The London Fog' (1926), which would also be his first major contribution to the horror genre. This atmospheric thriller stars Ivor Novello in the title role, playing a shady man that has taken up residence at a London boarding house against the back drop of a hunt for a Jack The Ripper style serial killer known as “The Avenger”. The film saw the introduction of classic “Hitchcokian” themes that would continue through films such as 'Rear Window' (1954), 'Psycho' (1960), and 'The Birds' (1963). 

Bela Lugosi in 'Dracula'

It... speaks!

“How do you do? Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture without just a friendly word of warning: We are about to unfold the story of Frankenstein, a man of science who sought to create a man after his own image without reckoning upon God. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation; life and death. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So, if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now's your chance to uh, well, ––we warned you!!” - Edward Van Sloan in the introduction to 'Frankenstein' (1931)

This brings us back neatly to where we began. The slow development of the horror genre from the advent of trick films, though the stream-lined melodramas to the German Expressionist movement would come together with one more important element to kick off horror as a genre in it's own right... sound. Experiments with adding sound to film had been around for a couple of decades in various forms, and indeed some silent horror films had elements of sound featured with them as a result. One prime example is the Carl Dreyer directed film 'Vampyr', which was actually recorded in 1932. As a result of the new technology the film was recorded in different languages and therefore featured little dialogue, relying instead on title cards. The shooting of the film pre-dates the advent of the Universal Studios monsters, but German studio UFA delayed the release until the American films had premièred. In comparison of 'Dracula' (1931) and 'Frankenstein' (1931), Vampyr feels archaic. Its expressionist and often dreamlike style is still very much in keeping with the conventions that Universal incorporated into their own films, but the lack of faith in adding audible dialogue led to the films commercial failure.

'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein' however, proved to be huge international hits. Bela Lugosi's suave persona and exotic voice would form the blueprint for every subsequent depiction of Count Dracula in popular culture. As would Boris Karloff's staggered growls and lumbering gait serve to cement the image of the creature. Drawing elements from the early trick films, the lavish makeup of Lon Chaney, and the shadowy expressionist movement, the addition of sound brought a whole new and much more personal dimension to the monsters that would, as Edward Van Sloan says in the introduction to 'Frankenstein'; “thrill”, “shock”, and even “horrify” the audience and turn horror into Hollywood's biggest money maker.


That's it for the final part. Don't forget to have a look at part one if you haven't already, and make sure you add these films to your Halloween viewing this year!

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Screams in the silence: Horror films of the silent era (Part 1)

Lon Chaney as Erik from 'The Phantom Of the Opera'

Horror, more than any other cinematic genre, taps into the deepest and most primal parts of the human psyche. From things that go bump in the night to the plausible terror that the quiet man that owns the motel is a psychotic serial killer, the genre has continued to evolve for every generation of cinema goers.

Yet there was a time before horror existed as a genre. The monster movie boom of the 1930s that started with Bela Lugosi's infamous lines “I am – Dracula.” [...] “I bid you welcome.” first gave Hollywood studios its biggest taste for horror. But what a bout the pioneering films and their icons of the early years of cinema that brought horror to the silver screen? For that we need to step back to a time before sound and into the world of the silent film.

Many early films have been lost or destroyed as the decades have progressed. But those that survive offer a tantalising glimpse into the move from theatrical special effects into basic camera tricks to add supernatural visuals to the stories on the screen. The interplay of light and shadow of German expressionism and the pioneering makeup techniques of the 'Man with a thousand faces' Lon Chaney.


The Early Shorts
With the invention of the cinematograph in the 1890s by French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière it became inevitable that the traditions of horror fiction and theatrical plays would find a natural home in the new medium. The medium's inventors saw no future in motion pictures outside of their brief fairground attraction showing very short pieces of footage and turned their attention back to photography. But a fellow Frenchman by the name of George Méliès saw its potential and began to produce a huge variety of short films that ranged from a few minutes in length to nearly quarter of an hour and drawing on everything from fantasy, science fiction and horror. 

George Méliès

Méliès' occupation as an illusionist allowed him to experiment with new ideas to bring his stage magic to his films. Stage effects and automata and basic editing techniques such as double exposure, superimposing images and stop tricks all became industry standards and advanced the technical wizardry of cinema. Although his most well known films are the science fiction cum fantasy adaptations of 'A Trip to the Moon' (1902) and 'The Impossible Voyage' (1904), one of his early creations was the comedic horror 'Le Manoir du diable' (1896) AKA 'The Haunted Castle'. Credited as “the first horror film” 'The Haunted Castle' follows an encounter with the Devil in a haunted house and emphasises creating wonder and astonishment in its audience with its focus on special effects rather than fear. This was something that would characterise all of Méliès' subsequent horror films such as 'Le Château Hanté' (1897), 'La Damnation De Faust' (1898), 'Le Diable Au Couvent ' (1899), 'Faust Et Marguerite' (1904), 'Le Diable Noir' (1905), and 'Les Quat' Cents Farces Du Diable' (1906). Méliès' fortunes waned, and by the time the first world war broke out he was bankrupt. Many films were melted down by the French government for the war effort and Méliès himself burned a number of his negatives. Around 200 of his films survived but his pioneering use of special effects set the tone for cinema until the advent of CGI. 








Outside of Méliès' work there were other willing to dip their toes into darker waters. The Japanese market produced 'Bake Jizo' AKA 'Jizo The Ghost' and 'Shinin no Sosei' AKA 'Resurrection Of A Corpse', both made in 1898, and which are now sadly lost. While a French contemporary of George Méliès named Alice Guy Blache created 'Esmeralda' (1905), which featured the first on-screen depiction of Quasimodo from the Victor Hugo novel 'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame'. While over in the USA D.W. Grifith, who would later find success with epics such as 'The Birth Of A Nation' (1915) and 'Intolerance' (1916), looked to Honoré de Balzac and Edgar Allen Poe for his dark short 'The Sealed Room' (1909). 




D.W. Grifith's countryman, the inventor and industrialist Thomas Edison, who had been the creator of the Kinetoscope peepshow machine – a favourite pre-cinema device around the world – got into the film business. Although he played no direct role in the creation of the 1,200 films produced by his company, his name was nevertheless ingrained into the annals of horror cinema as it was an Eddison film that first brought the gothic horror classic 'Fankenstein' to the silver screen in 1910.
As with the films of Méliès, the sixteen-minute long production of 'Frankenstein' downplays the horror aspect of the novel and focusses instead on the fantastic and psychological nature of the source material.

The novel by Mary Shelly never explicitly describes the creation of the monster, and while a scientific scene is universally portrayed in subsequent adaptations, the creation of the monster in the 1910 version owes a lot more to alchemy. Also rather than cast any doubt on the scientific endeavour of people such as Thomas Edison, the monster is less of a grim warning but a more allegorical suggestion of the horrors inside the human mind. As such the film lacks the true sense of shock and horror that the later films starring Boris Karloff would bring to the screen. 

The Edison Kinetogram Catalogue featuring a still from 'Frankenstein'

“To those familiar with Mrs. Shelly's story it will be evident that we have carefully omitted anything which might be any possibility shock any portion of the audience. In making the film the Edison Co. has carefully tried to eliminate all actual repulsive situations and to concentrate its endeavours upon the mystic and psychological problems that are to be found in this weird tale.” - Edison Kinetogram 2. Mar 15, 1910. pp. 3–4

However the films, according to sources, wasn't well received, perhaps due to the tide of tastes moving towords more dynamic productions with a longer running time. Or perhaps due to the somewhat “blasphemous” overtones to the story. Either way, the film was withdrawn not long after circulation and its survival is owed to a private collector from Wisconsin. 




In 1908 Edison had also founded the Motion Picture Patents Company AKA “The Edison Trust” as it was sometimes know, as a means of controlling copyright and standardising distribution in the industry. The company saw that the domination of foreign films in America end, but also discouraged its members from producing feature length films while collecting fees on all aspects of production and exhibition. The control of the MPPC eventually led filmakers to locate their productions in Hollywood, California away from the companies patent enforcement. One new company that set up in Hollywood was Universal. Started by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, and others in 1909 the company created Universal City Studios, on a 230-acre site to become the largest studio in Hollywood and would become one of the most dominant producers in films for much of the 20^th century. They would also give rise to some of the biggest names in horror.

Lon Chaney as the "Man in the Beaver Hat" from 'London After Midnight'

Famous Monsters
Early cinema generally didn't credit the actors who portrayed the characters on the screen. But by the time Leonidas Frank Chaney AKA Lon Chaney donned the makeup for his portrayal of Quasimodo in Universal Pictures' 1923 version of 'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame' the practice of crediting actors was well established and his depictions of grotesque yet sympathetic characters would cement his legacy as the first icon of horror cinema. Chaney, already a skilled character actor due to his time in Vaudeville and a veteran of dozens of other films, was elevated in the eyes of the public.

'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame' like many of the films before it was not strictly a horror film in terms of plot, Chaney's Quasimodo – the half deaf and half blind hunchback bell-ringer of Notre Dame cathedral – is shocking thanks to his masterful use of stage makeup. He's the first identifiable monster of Hollywood, which set a precedent carried throughout Chaney's other forays into horror and beyond into Universal's cannon of famous monsters. 



The portrayal of Lon Chaney's “monsters” Quasimodo and Erik from his 1925 film 'The Phantom Of The Opera' are undoubtedly horrifying in appearance, but Chaney's ability as an actor endeared them to the audience by filling them with pathos and humanity making sure they lived in the public's imagination beyond the initial shock reveals. Chaney also went beyond the grotesque but sympathetic when playing the mad doctor Ziska in 'The Monster' (1925) with the altogether more conventional looking Ziska harbouring a more monstrous nature. While the lost 'London After Midnight' (1927), directed by Todd Browning ('Dracula', 'Freaks'), sees Chaney's makeup skills get put to good use as the vampiric looking “Man in the Beaver Hat” which is less of a supernatural character and more of a gruesome disguise. 

As Chaney's prototype horror films progressed we see more of the Hollywood conventions come into play that would separate them further from the dramas and comedies that preceded them. The shock reveal of the monster, murder, mystery, the supernatural, nefarious scientists all become tools to instil terror in the audience. 

The most infamous 'Shock Reveal' of silent horror...

Chaney may have been Hollywood's biggest horror icon, but there were still more films beyond his now legendary appearances contributing to the foundations of the horror genre. In 1920, three years before Chaney's portrayal of Quasimodo, John Barrymore took on the role of horror's most famous case of split personality 'Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde'. Already a cinema favourite seeing adaptations in 1908, 1912, 1913, and another 1920 production. The 1920 Paramount Pictures adaptation featured a great initial transformation scene in which Barrymore contorts his face into a foul grimace setting a high bar for the subsequent 1931 and 1941 remakes to live up to. While 1925's 'The Lost World' implants the Dinosaur as the focus of horror sewing the seeds for films such as 'King Kong' (1933), 'Godzilla' (1954) and 'One Million Years BC' (1966).

Hollywood may have been making stars and slowly fuelling the public's taste for horror but it was the work of Europe's own masters of horror that showed Hollywood that scaring your audience is just as valid a form of entertainment as making them laugh or cry. Directors such as Paul Wegener, Robert Wiene, Friedrich Murnau, Fritz Lang, and Paul Leni with actors such as Conrad Veidt and Max Schreck.

That's it for part one. Check back next week for part two as we delve into the shadows of German expressionism and uncover the roots of Hammer and Amicus in Britain's own catalogue of silent films...

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