Cast:
Arnold Korff (Schlossherr von Vogelschrey), Lulu Korff-Kyser (Centa von Vogelschrey), Lothar Mehnert (Graf Johann Oetsch), Paul Hartmann (Graf Peter Paul Oetsch), Paul Bildt (Baron Safferstätt), Olga Tschechowa (Baronin Safferstätt), Hermann Vallentin (Landgerichtsrat a. D.), Julius Falkenstein (Ängstlicher Herr), Georg Zawatzky (Küchenjunge), Robert Leffler (Majordomus), Victor Blütner (Pater Faramund), Walter Kurt Kühle (Diener), and Loni Nest (Kleines Mädchen) Directed by F. W. Murnau (#256 - Nosferatu, #499 - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, #1335 - Tabu: A Story of the South Seas and #1885 - City Girl)
Review:
Admittedly, it is tough to assess a director from the silent era when a lack of preservation hinders someone like F. W. Murnau. Of his first nine films, only two survive: Journey into the Night (1921) and this film (known in its native Germany as Schloß Vogelöd). Thankfully, one can see the film in restored condition as well, complete with multi-colored title cards. Contrary to the title (the English title anyway, since the German one just refers to a man's castle), it isn't a haunted house movie, since it really is a potboiler mystery film that was based on a story by Rudolf Stratz (as originally written in the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung), with the script adaptation being done by Carl Mayer, who had worked with Murnau on his previous efforts in The Hunchback and the Dancer (1920) and Journey into the Night (1921) and would work with him again on such films as The Last Laugh (1924) and Sunrise (1927).
Honestly, I find it just as interesting to cover some random title from a century ago that I never heard of until the day of watching it than just going with an obvious pick from a few years ago. It is important to keep the past alive in some small way, regardless of the varying quality that comes with extant silent films. The one defining aspect of the film, aside from being decent, is the vast space one sees throughout the movie as staged by Murnau. Space seems to mean the most when it comes to always feeling apart from the characters portrayed in the film, who despite their evident rich qualities seem to be just as powerless to react to the situation around them as someone without as much time to spend around other people in "power". It sure is a shame the film isn't particularly well known, and it may possible that the lack of cast recognition or a definitive lead may be a key reason: Korff (an Austrian-born American actor) is in theory the lead, because he plays the host, but it really could be thought of as the film for Mehnert (he apparently played in three films while being more of a stage guy before his death in 1926 at 51), playing a guy accused of getting away with murder while having a face that might as well scream "suspicion". But it sort of is a movie between Tschechowa (a Russian-German known as Olga Chekhova in everywhere but Germany, making her first appearance in a German film with this) as a Baroness talking to someone named Father Faramund about what may have led to murder. I would say Tschechowa probably does the best among the actors who are haunted among the space by the things they wish to say but can't because of their supposed adherence to the rules; she is the one with the most to say among her facial expressions when it comes to guilt, although Mehnert comes close with his sneer of defiance. So yes, the movie flakes a bit, particularly when it features two surreal sequences that don't exactly have much to do with the plot, but it is fairly effective within its runtime that runs under 90 minutes when it comes to drawn out cleverness within spooky space. As long as you watch the film with patience and don't think about it as a non-horror prototype for Nosferatu (released a year later), you might find something to look into, particularly with its climax that delivers a useful payoff that proves you can't get too ridiculous no matter how rich one might be when it comes to long-winded schemes. Do I like the movie? It is probably a bit winded in title cards to really be anything special, but it passes by with useful motion and doesn't insult my time, so I would say it might make your while as a decent little yarn of mystery that is best gone into without any warning.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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