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May 2001, Week 2

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Subject:
From:
Staven Bruce <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 10 May 2001 10:16:41 -0500
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Hello Bill (And everyone else),

I have researched the subject of Murnau as much as possible, but it is
indeed an elusive subject at best, as so little about him has survived
and so little about him has ever been written. With that being said, the
most reliable sources of information I have been able to find have been
Lotte Eisner's two books "Murnau" and "The Haunted Screen" (Much like
you, I found a handful of internet sites that seem to contradict each
other or altogether lack creditable information). Both books are now out
of print, however, I believe amazon.com can do an OOP book search for
you and I think the Berkeley University Press might still print some of
Eisner's work.

Eisner was a "film historian" or sorts, ala Louis Brooks, and was a
contemporary of Murnau in Germany and thus knew a lot of the same
characters and shared common friends. However I don't think the two ever
actually met.

Her documentation and writings on Murnau are, I believe, some of the
best record we have of him and his work. The Vampire story, or the idea
that Shreck was a Vampire, seems to the best of my research, to be
completely fabricated for the film, "Shadow Of A Vampire", which seems
to take it's share of liberties with what little is known about Murnau.

It would seem in order to sell tickets, Lions Gate Films revved up it's
marketing machine,(probably also pulling from the novel of the same
name) to circulate fabricated and ludicrous tales surrounding the making
of a somewhat unremarkable Murnau film. Meaning only that the story and
Murnau's attention to detail, as well as makeup and cinematography made
for an impressive film, however I would argue not close to his best.
Murnau's work in "Nosferatu" and for that matter
his work in "Expressionism" seems to have culminated in his last German
and UFA film in 1926, "Faust",  which seems to be considered by many a
true masterpiece of German Expressionism. His foray into Realism which
somewhat begins with his film, "The Last Laugh", would find it's
crowning achievement in Murnau's last feature, "Tabu", which was filmed
entirely on location in Tai Pei with natives of the islands as the only
actors.

All in all though, it would appear that for Hollywood, Murnau's real
life and work weren't interesting enough to script and shoot, so they
had to "add" their gratuitous "embellishments". Ideas that the actor Max
Scheck, who went on be featured in around 20 other films (www.imdb.com
lists his other films), was a Vampire are just a part of that ploy to
get you to see the "Shadow Of A Vampire" and perhaps to get you to buy
the badly "remastered" edition of "Nosferatu" on DVD which was released
a couple of weeks before "Shadow Of The Vampire".

In retrospect, looking at Schreck's career which lasted until 1935, and
seeing that he was featured in anywhere from 1 to 3 films a year from
the time Nosferatu was made until he died in 1936, (he was in 2 films
the year Nosferatu was released and in another 3 the following year), it
seems preposterous that anyone in Germany would have believed him to be
a real Vampire. I suppose it would be the modern equivalent of a film
studio releasing a film 80 years from now on the making of Francis Ford
Coppla's "Dracula" and insisting at the time the film was released,
rumors began to circulate that Tom Cruise was really a Vampire. Albeit
Shreck probably never achieved the popularity that Cruise has today, but
he was still just as easily a recognizable star in German Cinema.

Not to ramble, but I hope this helps some.

- Staven

----
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