

A poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper. While writing, the poet and the daughter of the owner, Eva, fantasize the fantastic stories and fall in love for each other.
Direction
Leni's twisted angles invented horror grammar.
Production
Sets so stylized they practically sweat anxiety.
Acting
Veidt's Ivan: eyeballs as performance art.
Director
Leo Birinski
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Paul Leni's last German film before Hollywood poached him for The Man Who Laughs. Germany's loss, Lon Chaney's gain.
The caliph sequence's Orientalist fantasy is peak 1920s exoticism—gorgeous, problematic, and absolutely intentional escapism from Weimar economic despair.