Paul Wegener
Encyclopedia
Paul Wegener was a German
actor
, writer
and film director
known for his pioneering role in German expressionist
cinema.
acting troupe in 1906. In 1912, he turned to the new medium of motion pictures and appeared in the 1913 version of The Student of Prague
. It was while making this film that he first heard the old Jewish legend of the Golem
and proceeded to adapt the story to film, co-directing and co-writing the script with Henrik Galeen. His first version of the tale The Golem
(1915, now lost) was a success and firmly established Wegener's reputation. In 1917, he made a parody of the story called Der Golem und die Tänzerin, but it was his reworking of the tale, The Golem: How He Came into the World
(1920) which stands as one of the classics of German cinema and helped to cement Wegener's place in cinematic history.
Another of his early films was Der Yoghi (1916), in which he played the role of a yogi
and young inventor, and which provided him with the opportunity to accommodate three of his interests, trick photography (it was one of the first films to feature invisibility), the supernatural and Eastern mysticism
.
's The Magician
, in which he played the Aleister Crowley
-esque Oliver Haddo in an adaptation of Somerset Maugham's story. In 1928, he starred alongside Brigitte Helm
in his old collaborator Galeen's adaptation of Hanns Heinz Ewers
' Alraune
, playing the Frankenstein
-like Professor ten Brinken.
In 1932 Wegener made his sound debut in Richard Oswald
's black comedy
/horror film Unheimliche Geschichten
, in which he made fun of himself as well as the whole expressionist movie genre.
As the war closed Wegener was one of the first to rebuild cultural life in Berlin
. Despite ill-health he became president of an organisation to improve standards for its inhabitants.
He was married six times, thirdly and sixthly to the actress Lyda Salmonova (his co-star on several occasions), who became his widow. His fourth wife was Grete Schröder (previously married to the dancer Ernst Matray). The geographer Alfred Wegener
was his cousin and the physicist Prof. Peter P. Wegener was his son.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
known for his pioneering role in German expressionist
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
cinema.
Stage and early film career
At the age of 20 Wegener decided to end his law studies and concentrate on acting, touring the provinces before joining Max Reinhardt'sMax Reinhardt (theatre director)
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
acting troupe in 1906. In 1912, he turned to the new medium of motion pictures and appeared in the 1913 version of The Student of Prague
The Student of Prague (1913 film)
The Student of Prague is a 1913 German silent horror film. The film was remade in 1926, 1935, and 2004 under the same title The Student of Prague.-Plot:...
. It was while making this film that he first heard the old Jewish legend of the Golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
and proceeded to adapt the story to film, co-directing and co-writing the script with Henrik Galeen. His first version of the tale The Golem
The Golem (1915 film)
Der Golem is a 1915 silent horror film written and directed by Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen. The film is an original work inspired by ancient Jewish legend. It is a long lost film...
(1915, now lost) was a success and firmly established Wegener's reputation. In 1917, he made a parody of the story called Der Golem und die Tänzerin, but it was his reworking of the tale, The Golem: How He Came into the World
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
The Golem: How He Came Into the World is a 1920 silent horror film by Paul Wegener. It was directed by Carl Boese and Wegener, written by Wegener and Henrik Galeen, and starred Wegener as the golem. The script was adapted from the 1915 novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink...
(1920) which stands as one of the classics of German cinema and helped to cement Wegener's place in cinematic history.
Another of his early films was Der Yoghi (1916), in which he played the role of a yogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...
and young inventor, and which provided him with the opportunity to accommodate three of his interests, trick photography (it was one of the first films to feature invisibility), the supernatural and Eastern mysticism
Eastern mysticism
Eastern mysticism or Eastern spirituality is a broad and largely Western concept summarizing and sometimes amalgamating mystic traditions of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and the Far East, a separate realm from Western mysticism...
.
Later film career
In 1926 he appeared in his only Hollywood film, Rex IngramRex Ingram (director)
Rex Ingram was an Irish film director, producer, writer and actor. Legendary director Erich von Stroheim once called him "the world's greatest director."-Early life:...
's The Magician
The Magician (1926 film)
The Magician is a 1926 horror film directed by Rex Ingram about a magician's efforts to acquire the blood of a virgin for his experiments to create life.It was adapted by Ingram from the novel The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham...
, in which he played the Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
-esque Oliver Haddo in an adaptation of Somerset Maugham's story. In 1928, he starred alongside Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Helm was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double, the Maschinenmensch, in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis.-Career:...
in his old collaborator Galeen's adaptation of Hanns Heinz Ewers
Hanns Heinz Ewers
Hanns Heinz Ewers was a German actor, poet, philosopher, and writer of short stories and novels. While he wrote on a wide range of subjects, he is now known mainly for his works of horror, particularly his trilogy of novels about the adventures of Frank Braun, a character modeled on himself...
' Alraune
Alraune
Alraune is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character.-Legend:...
, playing the Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
-like Professor ten Brinken.
In 1932 Wegener made his sound debut in Richard Oswald
Richard Oswald
Richard Oswald was an Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter.Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began his career as an actor on the Viennese stage. He made his film directorial debut at age 34 with Das Eiserne Kreuz...
's black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
/horror film Unheimliche Geschichten
Unheimliche Geschichten
Unheimliche Geschichten is a 1932 German horror/black comedy film directed by the prolific Austrian film director Richard Oswald, starring Paul Wegener, and produced by Gabriel Pascal....
, in which he made fun of himself as well as the whole expressionist movie genre.
Life under the Nazi regime
When in 1933 The National Socialists came to political prominence and theatre companies were disbanded and many of the actors and directors were arrested, persecuted or exiled, Wegener became an actor of the state, serving the Nazis as a loyal supporter of the regime. He appeared in the 1944-45 propaganda film Kolberg, an epic about the Napoleonic Wars.As the war closed Wegener was one of the first to rebuild cultural life in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Despite ill-health he became president of an organisation to improve standards for its inhabitants.
Death
Wegener last film was Der Grosse Mandarin (1948). In July 1948 he reprised his old role as Nathan the Wise at the Deutschen Theatre, but in the very first scene he collapsed and the curtain was brought down. Two months later, on 13 September 1948, he died in his sleep.He was married six times, thirdly and sixthly to the actress Lyda Salmonova (his co-star on several occasions), who became his widow. His fourth wife was Grete Schröder (previously married to the dancer Ernst Matray). The geographer Alfred Wegener
Alfred Wegener
Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German scientist, geophysicist, and meteorologist.He is most notable for his theory of continental drift , proposed in 1912, which hypothesized that the continents were slowly drifting around the Earth...
was his cousin and the physicist Prof. Peter P. Wegener was his son.
Further reading
- Monty Jacobs: Der Schauspieler Paul Wegener. Verlag Erich Reiß, Berlin [ca. 1924]
- Kai Möller, ed.: Paul Wegener. Sein Leben und seine Rollen. Rowohlt, Hamburg 1954
- Wolfgang Noa: Paul Wegener. Henschel, Berlin 1964
- Herbert Pfeiffer: Paul Wegener. Rembrandt, Berlin 1957
- Heide Schönemann: Paul Wegener. Frühe Moderne im Film. Menges, Stuttgart 2003 ISBN 3-932565-14-2
- Hans Günther Pflaum: 'Kinetische Lyrik. P. W.s "Rübezahls Hochzeit" 1916' in: Peter Buchka, ed.: Deutsche Augenblicke. Eine Bilderfolge zu einer Typologie des Films (Reihe: "Off-Texte" 1, des Münchener Filmmuseums) Belleville, München 1996 ISBN 3923646496
- Hans Günther Pflaum: 'Ins eigene Herz. P. W.s "Student von Prag" 1919' in: Peter Buchka, ed.: Deutsche Augenblicke; pp. 20f.