Tartuffe (1925)

Germany 74m, B&W, Silent
Director: F.W. Murnau; Cast: Hermann Picha, Rosa Valetti, Werner Krauss, Lil Dagover, Lucie Höflich, Emil Jannings

Tartüff is a film within a film adapted from the Molière play “Tartuffe, ou l’Imposteur” in which a young man attempts to warn his grandfather about the machinations of his treacherous housekeeper who plots to place herself as the heir to his estate. In disguising himself as traveling purveyor of film, he convinces his grandfather and housekeeper to watch the story of Tartuffe. The film, starring Emil Jannings who has duped a nobleman, is intended as warning about the housekeeper’s true intentions. Along with Murnau’s expressionist art direction, fluid camerawork, unique camera angles, and meticulously framed shots is a story which moves along at a surprisingly fast pace for films of this era (Klaus Ming March 2012).