Scifirenegade's Trash Can

Wilhelm Tell. The 30s one. The bad one.
Painfully boring. Wouldn't bother with it unless you like hips. You van tell Veidt didn't want to be there.

Opium.
Some beautiful shots and interesting imagery (nymphs and satyrs aplenty). However, it's soap-opera-ey and features racist depictions of non-western cultures :/

Opium Caligari pops out of nowhere. Homoerotic. Veidt starts veidting, and is Romantic (note the capital R), but is not here much.



Under the Red Robe.
Not as bad as I thought it would be.

Still bad though. Bad acting, no sword fights, weird editing sometimes. Veidt feels like he doesn't want to be there. Some lines made me chuckle.

Oh! And the version I got was a recording of a Channel 4 airing, so we got a couple of ads. It was unexpected, but it was highly amusing.

Escape.
There's a reason why, after this film, Conrad Veidt had a clause in his contract that, were he to play a Nazi, he had to be undoubtedly the big bag. The lead was so uninteresting (and at times unlikeable), the film almost fails to deliver its message.

I like that Kurt von Kolb as diseasitis or something and suddently dies. Nancy Drew is there.

Apparently Hitchcock was going to direct it. I wish he did. Give me better pacing and more compelling characters, come on!

The cover makes the film look like a romcom.

Die Grosse Sehnsucht.
Meh. I liked the setting, because I'm a film nerd and like seeing the behind the scenes things. I don't know where Herr Veidt is doing.

Whistling in the Dark.
Veidt over here making the film better.

Had a few chuckles, but it's meh overall. Red Skeleton or whatever his name is is obnoxious. The pacing is too slow sometimes (okay, a lot of the time).

We part in radiant contemptment, at least.

Bonus: Actually good films :D

Der Kongress Tanzt.
Nobody:
Metternich: *slobbers over a scone or smth*

Also Uralksy is my son, I shall protect him. If only he stopped fawning over every girl he sees...

(The film does slow to a crawl to show the crazy amount of extras and the beautiful sets, and suffers from it :/ )

The English version is faster-paced but I don't know if it's necesseraly the better version, especially considering the only print available is incomplete, from the 50s, and in rough shape. Veidt's weird English is worth it though. Bless him.

Le Joueur d'Échecs.
Really enjoyed it. It's a political thriller with some small retrofuturistic elements. A little funny, but mostly dramatic. The baroque/rococo aesthetic is strong, it's a beautiful film.

Kempelen is a mood (and invented synthesised speech!). I did not cry in the end, I swear.

Die Flucht in die Nacht.
It feels like an adaptation of a stage play. Because it is.

Shame that the only copy in existence is so badly preserved and missing so much footage. Veidt gave an incredible performance.

Bonus bonus: Saw both the 1971 and 1995 adaptations of Persuasion, and really enjoyed them.