ReFocus: The Films of Paul Leni

Erica Tortolani; Martin F. Norden

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2021

ReFocus

The Films of Paul Leni

Erica Tortolani and Martin F. Norden

In the series ReFocus: The International Directors Series

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474454537

Overview
Contents

About this book

Offers the first comprehensive English-language book on the life and career of Paul Leni

Covers many dimensions of Leni's professional creativity, including his early visual and theatrical work in Germany during the 1910s, collaborations with contemporary filmmakers, career in and experiments with set and stage design, and transition from German to Hollywood filmmaking
Engages with new historical, analytical, and theoretical perspectives on Leni's most influential films

Silent-era film scholarship has all too often focused on a handful of German directors, including Fritz Lang, F. W. Murnau and Ernst Lubitsch, but little attention has been paid to arguably one of the most influential filmmakers of the period: Paul Leni. This collection – the first comprehensive English-language study of Leni’s life and career – offers new insights into his national and international films, his bold forays into scenic design and his transition from German to Hollywood filmmaking.

The contributors give fresh insights into Leni’s most influential films, including Waxworks (1924), The Cat and the Canary (1927) and The Man Who Laughs (1928), and explores such lesser-known productions as The Diary of Dr. Hart (1918), Backstairs (1921) and the Rebus film series (1925–7). Engaging with new historical, analytical, and theoretical perspectives on Leni’s work, this book is a groundbreaking exploration of a cinematic pioneer.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Notes on Contributors Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Chronology Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
1 Introduction Erica Tortolani and Martin F. Norden Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Exploding the Cosmopolitan and Treating the Foreigners’ Foreignness: Paul Leni’s The Diary of Dr. Hart Jaimey Fisher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
3 The Unnatural in the Natural: Leopold Jessner and Paul Leni’s Early Weimar Film Backstairs Jason Doerre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
4 Cinema Panopticum: Wax, Work, Waxworks Erik Born Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
5 The Proto-Horror-Comedy: Waxworks Joel Westerdale Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
6 Intersectional Avant-Garde: Paul Leni’s Rebus-Film Series and the Confluence of Experimental Visual Styles Erica Tortolani Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
7 Bravura Beginnings: Paul Leni and the Art of the Prologue Martin F. Norden Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
8 Paul Leni’s The Cat and the Canary: Adaptation into Genre Rebecca M. Gordon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
9 Specters of the Mind: Ghosts, Illusion, and Exposure in Paul Leni’s The Cat and the Canary Simone Natale Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
10 Misfitting in America: Paul Leni, Conrad Veidt, and The Man Who Laughs Gábor Gergely Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
11 Masculinity and Facial Disfigurement in The Man Who Laughs Bruce Henderson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
12 Cinematic Space and Set Design in Paul Leni’s The Last Warning Bastian Heinsohn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
13 The Last Warning: Uncertainty, Exploitation, and Horror Shawn Shimpach Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Filmography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 288
Illustrations
- Other: 26 B/W illustrations
Keywords: Film, Media & Cultural Studies

eBook

Published: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 9781474454537