GENUINE (1920)
Article 3549 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-10-2011
Posting Date: 5-3-2011
Directed by Robert Wiene
Featuring Fern Andro, Hans Heinrich von Twardwoski, Ernst Gronau
Country: Germany

A Lord keeps a dangerous wild woman locked up because of her destructive seductive powers over men. However, she escapes, and….

Robert Wiene is known primarily as the director of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. This movie is done in roughly the same style, which makes it at least visually of interest. However, I’m a little reticent at judging the movie based on the print I’ve seen, seeing as it is the 43-minute condensation of the movie; there are obviously scenes missing. Those expecting a conventional vampire will be disappointed; the title character is more of a vamp/femme fatale, which were commonly called vampires in that era. The story is muddled; why does the ring keep the servant in line? How did the barber’s son get away from Genuine? Just what powers does she have? The movie is never really clear about these, and overall it’s just not a very satisfying movie. Still, I think the skeleton clock is a nice piece of decor.