Waxworks

6/6/2022

There is more than a little of the "Dr. Caligari" (1921) to this compendium of three stories. Visually very similar in style, with angular - seemingly disjointed and out of scale sets and wonderfully targeted use of lighting serves to augment these episodes. A waxworks provides that environment where William Dieterle works, charged with writing some texts to accompany the effigies of three historical figures. The first is a fun "Arabian Nights" tale with Emil Jannings as "Harun", the second sees Conrad Veitd portray the Russian Czar Ivan IV (the terrible), finally he embarks on a tale of "Jack the Ripper" - supplied by Werner Krauss. As he writes, he imagines that he - and the owner's daughter - Olga Beljeff - are actually part of his series. All three present them with comical and perilou