Phantom (1922 film)

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Phantom
DVD cover
Directed by	F. W. Murnau
Produced by	Erich Pommer
Written by	Thea von Harbou
Starring	Alfred Abel, Grete Berger, Lil Dagover, Lya De Putti, Anton Edthofer
Cinematography	Axel Graatkjaer, Theophan Ouchakoff
Distributed by	Uco
Release date(s)	1922
Running time	117-125 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German
Preceded by	Nosferatu
Followed by	Der brennende Acker
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Phantom is a silent film that was directed by F. W. Murnau in 1922, the same year he directed Nosferatu. It is an expressionist film with a surreal, dreamlike quality.

[edit] Plot summary

Lorenz Lubota (Alfred Abel), is a clerk in a minor government office and an aspiring poet. While going to work one day, a woman (Lya de Putti) driving two white horses hits him in the road. Physically, he is unharmed, but from that point forward, the woman in the carriage consumes his every thought.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

His obsession with the woman costs him his job when he fails to show up for work and threatens his boss for accusing him of stalking the girl. Unable contact her, she being wealthy and engaged to someone of her own class, he instead begins courting a golddigger who looks like her (also played by Lya De Putti), lavishing her with expensive things, all the while reliving the day he was run over in his mind again and again.

He swindles money out of his aunt (Grete Berger), a cutthroat pawnbroker, pretending his poems are to be published and taking a loan against his future royalties. When she discovers it is all a lie and threatens to have him arrested, he and his accomplice (Anton Edthofer) break into her house after she has gone to sleep and attempt to steal enough money to pay back the loan. She wakes up and discovers them, running to the window to call for the police. A struggle ensues, and the accomplice kills her.

Lubota is arrested and sent to prison. After his release, he writes his life story down, in an attempt to purge his mind from the phantom woman who continually hits him in her carriage.

[edit] External links

Phantom at the Internet Movie Database

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Der Knabe in Blau (1919) • Der Januskopf (1920) • Abend - Nacht - Morgen (1920) • Satanas (1920) • Sehnsucht (1920) • Der Gang in die Nacht (1920) • Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin (1920) • Schloß Vogelöd (1921) • Marizza (1922) • Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) • Phantom (1922) • Der brennende Acker (1922) • Die Austreibung (1923) • Der letzte Mann (1924) • Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (1924) • Herr Tartüff (1926) • Faust (1926) • Sunrise (1927) • Four Devils (1928) • City Girl (1930) • Tabu (1931)

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau

Der Knabe in Blau (1919) • Der Januskopf (1920) • Abend - Nacht - Morgen (1920) • Satanas (1920) • Sehnsucht (1920) • Der Gang in die Nacht (1920) • Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin (1920) • Schloß Vogelöd (1921) • Marizza (1922) • Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) • Phantom (1922) • Der brennende Acker (1922) • Die Austreibung (1923) • Der letzte Mann (1924) • Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (1924) • Herr Tartüff (1926) • Faust (1926) • Sunrise (1927) • Four Devils (1928) • City Girl (1930) • Tabu (1931)