Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii Editor's Note xiii Introduction to the 2004 Edition xv Preface li Introduction 3 I: THE ARCHAIC PERIOD (1895-1918) 1. Peace and War 15 2. Forebodings 28 3. Genesis of Ufa 35 II: THE POSTWAR PERIOD (1918-1924) 4. The Shock of Freedom 43 5. Caligari 61 6. Procession of Tyrants 77 7. Destiny 88 8. Mute Chaos 96 9. Crucial Dilemma 107 10. From Rebellion to Submission 115 III: THE STABILIZED PERIOD (1924-1929) 11. Decline 131 12. Frozen Ground 138 13. The Prostitute and the Adolescent 153 14. The New Realism 165 15. Montage 181 16. Brief Reveille 190 IV: THE PRE-HITLER PERIOD (1930-1933) 17. Songs and Illusions 203 18. Murderer Among Us 215 19. Timid Heresies 223 20. For a Better World 232 21. National Epic 251 SUPPLEMENT: PROPAGANDA AND THE NAZI WAR FILM 1. Nazi Views and Measures 275 2. Film Devices 277 3. The Swastika World 280 4. Screen Dramaturgy 288 5. Conflict with Reality 297 Note on the Inaccuracies 309 Bibliography 315 Updated Bibliography 327 Name Index 333 Film Index 339

Promotional Information

An undisputed classic of modern film historiography, Kracauer's From Caligari to Hitler had a major impact on the way we relate movies to history and society. Although Kracauer is not afraid of using such contested concepts as collective psychology and German 'soul,' his productive readings of Weimar films as harbingers of emerging fascism still resonate today. Leonardo Quaresima's engaging and erudite introduction is critical in situating Kracauer's project both in its historical moment and in our time. -- Anton Kaes, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) was a film critic and independent film historian and theorist. He is the author of "The Mass Ornament" and "A Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality", edited by Miriam Bratu Hansen (Princeton). Leonardo Quaresima is Professor of Film History and Criticism and Director of Cinema Studies at the University of Udine, Italy.

Reviews

"The thesis of this unusually interesting book is that the German films of the twenties were filled with premonitions of the German totalitarianism of the thirties."--Nation "One of the great works of film history, this look at early German cinema, first published in 1947, is still a must-have for cineastes and scholars alike."--H.J. Kirchhoff, Toronto Globe and Mail "The book is an invaluable guide to a golden period of cinema."--Christopher Wood, The Times