Jacob Tiedtke Movies

Young Steyer (Eugen Klopfer) lives on a remote mountain farm with his parents and his daughter from a previous marriage, Aenne (Lucie Mannheim). Defying his elders, Steyer takes a second wife, Ludmilla (Aud Egede Nissen), not realizing that she is still lovers with the hunter Lauer (Wilhelm Dieterle). Hoping to stay closer to her lover, Ludmilla convinces the family to sell the farm and betroth Aenne to Lauer. They agree and sign a deed of sale for the farm. A snowstorm arises and Ludmilla takes shelter with Lauer in his house. Steyer finds them together and strikes Lauer, causing Ludmilla to faint. When the storm ends, Steyer's marriage is in ruins, and his parents leave the farm, unwilling to live there after it has been sold to a stranger. Note who plays the adulterous Lauer: Wilhelm Dieterle, who as William Dieterle would direct such Hollywood classics of the 1930s and '40s as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and All That Money Can Buy (aka The Devil and Daniel Webster). 23/65 ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

One Arabian Night is the inadequate American title bestowed upon director Ernst Lubitsch's brilliant German drama Sumurun. In what turned out to be his last on-camera appearance (he was a former slapstick comedian), Lubitsch stars as Yeggar, a hunchbacked clown who works with a travelling carnival. Arab sheik Paul Wegener demands that the troupe's dancing girl Pola Negri be sequestered in his harem. Yeggar faithfully follows along, and is a horrified witness as Wegener kills Negri for presumed unfaithfulness. The wizened clown vows revenge on the wicked Sheik. Inspired by the popular stage pantomime "The Arabian Nights", Sumurun is the film that encouraged Hollywood to invite Lubitsch into its fold-whereupon the director abandoned melodrama for good and all and concentrated instead on elegant sex comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henrik Galeen both acted in and directed this first version of the Jewish folk tale. A clay statue is unearthed by workmen who are digging a well. It is bought by Aaron (Galeen), an antique dealer. He also purchases a book from an old professor which explains that if a capsule containing certain magic words is placed in the figure's breast, it will come to life as a creature known as the Golem (Paul Wegener). When Aaron finds out that his daughter, Eleanor (Lydia Samonova), is having an affair with a count, he uses the Golem to keep her from going to a party that her lover is throwing. But Eleanor struggles with the Golem and knocks the capsule out of his breast, rendering him dormant. She goes to the party, and while she is away, the professor shows up and replaces the capsule in the Golem's breast. He comes to life and follows Eleanor to the count's party. The guests are thrown into a panic, and nobody can kill the monster. Only when the capsule is knocked from its breast once again does it stop. The Golem falls to the ground below, smashing into pieces. The Golem would make another appearance in 1920's Der Golem (and again in 1936, 1953, and in several more versions). Galeen and Wegner also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1920 version, which Wegener co-directed with Karl Boese. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide