Le Golem

Le Golem
French film poster
Directed by	Julien Duvivier
Produced by	Charles Philip
Written by	André-Paul Antoine Julien Duvivier
Starring	Harry Baur
Music by	Josef Kumok
Cinematography	Jan Stallich Vaclav Vich
Edited by	Jirí Slavícek
Release dates	19 February 1936 (1936-02-19) ^[1]
Running time	95 minutes
Country	France Czechoslovakia^[2]

Le Golem is a 1936 French monster movie filmed in Prague, Czechoslovakia and directed by Julien Duvivier.

Plot

In a Prague ghetto, poor Jews find themselves oppressed by Emperor Rudolph II (Harry Baur) which leads to talk among the Jews of re-awakening the Golem who is being held in an attic by Rabbi Jacob (Charles Dorat). During a food riot Rudolph's mistress, the Countess Strada (Germaine Aussey), is rescued by the enamored De Trignac (Roger Cuchesne) who gets hurt in the process. De Trignac is taken to Rabbi Jacob's house by his wife Rachel (Jany Holt). When Rudolph gets engaged to his cousin Isabel of Spain, it angers Strada who charms De Trignac to steal Jacob's Golem.

Friedrich (Gaston Jacquest), the prefect of the police informs Rudolph of the Golem's disappearance. Rabbi Jacob is brought to into the palace by Rudolph and told if any Jews are found in relation with the Golem's disappearance, then they will be hung. Rachel seeks De Trignac to aid Jacobs escape from the castle. De Trignac offers what he claims to be Charlemagne's sword for Jacob's release. After Jacob and De Trignac leave, Rudolph wanders his palace where he meets up with the Golem. After a failed polite gesture to the statue, Rudolph attacks it with his sword and has it chained to the walls of his dungeon. Rudolph then demands all Jewish leaders be imprisoned and executed, including Jacob. Rachel had learned previously from her Jacob that when a beast roars the Golem will awake. As people enter the palace to honour Rudolph, Rachel gets the lions near the Golem's cell to roar. Rachel carves the Hebrew word "emet", meaning truth on the Golem's forehead which brings the creature to life.

The Golem snaps his chains and causes panic through the palace along with the released lions. Friedrich and many other of Rudolph's other advisors are attacked and killed by the golem while Rudolph escapes the palace. Jacob erases the first Hebrew letter on the Golem's head (which now spells "dead") making the Golem disintegrate while Rudolph's benevolent brother Mathias approaches Prague.^[1]^[3]

Cast

Harry Baur as Rudolph II
Roger Karl as Chancellor Lang
Charles Dorat as Rabbi Jacob
Ferdinand Hart as the Golem

Release

The movie is a sequel to Paul Wegener's 1920 film The Golem: How He Came into the World, and was released in Czechoslovakia under the title Golem.^[1] The film opened in Britain in 1937 with a running time that was cut to 83 minutes. It was then reissued the next year under the title The Legend of Prague with a running time of 70 minutes.^[4]

References

Notes

1 2 3 Soister, 2004. p.186
↑ Erickson, Hal. "Le Golem". Allrovi. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
↑ Soister, 2004. p.187
↑ Soister, 2004. p.191

Bibliography

Soister, John T. (2004). Up From the Vault: Rare Thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1745-5. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
Chihaia, Matei (2011). Der Golem-Effekt. Orientierung und phantastische Immersion im Zeitalter des Kinos. transcript. ISBN 978-3-8376-1714-6. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

External links

Le Golem at AllMovie
Le Golem at the Internet Movie Database

Films directed by Julien Duvivier

Filmography

Haceldama ou Le prix du sang The Reincarnation of Serge Renaudie The Hurricane on the Mountain The Death Agony of the Eagles Les roquevillard The Reflection of Claude Mercœur L'oeuvre immortelle Coeurs farouches A Machine for Recreating Life Credo ou la tragédie de Lourdes L'abbé Constantin Poil de carotte Le mystère de la tour Eiffel The Marriage of Mademoiselle Beulemans L'homme à l'Hispano L'agonie de Jérusalem The Maelstrom of Paris La Vie miraculeuse de Thérèse Martin Mother Hummingbird The Divine Voyage David Golder Au bonheur des dames The Five Accursed Gentlemen La Vénus du collège Here's Berlin Poil de carotte A Machine for Recreating Life A Man's Neck The Little King S.S. Tenacity Maria Chapdelaine Golgotha La Bandera The Golem La belle équipe The Man of the Hour Pépé le Moko Dance Program The Great Waltz The End of the Day The Phantom Carriage Lydia Tales of Manhattan The Heart of a Nation Flesh and Fantasy The Impostor Panique Anna Karenina Au royaume des cieux Black Jack Under the Paris Sky The Little World of Don Camillo Holiday for Henrietta The Return of Don Camillo L'affaire Maurizius Marianne of My Youth Voici le temps des assassins The Man in the Raincoat Pot-Bouille The Female Marie-Octobre The High Life Boulevard The Burning Court The Devil and the Ten Commandments Chair de poule Diabolically Yours

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