3/24/11

THE GOLEM



i had the most delightful time last night with my GF- ELLEN, (the H is silent) @ THE SILENT MOVIE HOUSE on fairfax ave.

this is what was playing-

THE GOLEM
(1920)
Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (original title)
85 min - Fantasy | Horror - 19 June 1921

In 16th-century Prague, a Jewish rabbi creates a giant creature from clay, called the Golem, and using sorcery, brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.



Directed by Carl Boese & Paul Wegener
Writing- Henrik Galeen & Paul Wegener

Cast -
Paul Wegener ... Der Golem / The Golem
Albert Steinrück ... Der Rabbi Löw / Rabbi Loew
Lyda Salmonova ... Miriam, des Rabbi Tochter
Ernst Deutsch ... Der Rabbi Famulus
Hans Stürm ... Der Rabbi Jehuda, der Älteste der Gemeinde (as Hanns Sturm)
Max Kronert ... Der Tempeldiener / Temple Servant
Otto Gebühr ... Der Kaiser / Emperor Luhois
Dore Paetzold ... Des Kaisers Kebse
Lothar Müthel ... Der Junker Florian / Knight Florian
Greta Schröder ... Ein Mägdelein mit der Rose / Little Girl with Rose
Loni Nest ... Ein kleines Mädchen / Little Girl
Carl Ebert ... Temple Servant (uncredited)
Fritz Feld ... Jester (uncredited)

Produced by Paul Davidson
Original Music by Hans Landsberger 7 Karl-Ernst Sasse

Cinematography by Karl Freund & Guido Seeber

Art Direction by Hans Poelzig & Kurt Richter
Costume Design by Rochus Gliese
Art Department- Edgar G. Ulmer
Robert Baberske .... assistant camera
Music-Douglas M. Protsik .... musician: piano

Watch The Golem: How He Came into the World in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com



THE LORE-
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th century chief rabbi of Prague.



The word golem is used in the Bible to refer to an embryonic or incomplete substance.Psalm 139:16 uses the word גלמי, meaning my unshaped form, which then passed into Yiddish as goylem.
In modern Hebrew the word golem means "dumb" or "helpless". The Mishnah uses the term for an uncultivated person:
"Seven characteristics are in an uncultivated person, and seven in a learned one".
Similarly, golems are often used today as a metaphor for brainless lunks or entities who serve man under controlled conditions, but are hostile to him in others. Similarly, it is a Yiddish slang insult for someone who is clumsy or slow.

THE GOLEM (1914) Rare clip of Lost German Horror... by super8monsters
The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th century chief rabbi of Prague, also known as the Maharal, who reportedly created a golem to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-Semitic attacks and pogroms.


To protect the Jewish community, the rabbi constructed the Golem out of clay from the banks of the Vltava river, and brought it to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations. As this golem grew, it became increasingly violent, killing gentiles and spreading fear. A different story tells of a golem that fell in love, and when rejected, became the violent monster seen in most accounts. Some versions have the golem eventually turning on its creator or attacking other Jews.


The Emperor begged Rabbi Loew to destroy the Golem, promising to stop the persecution of the Jews. To deactivate the Golem, the rabbi rubbed out the first letter of the word "emet" from the creature's forehead leaving the Hebrew word "met", meaning dead. The Golem's body was stored in the attic genizah of the Old New Synagogue, where it would be restored to life again if needed. According to legend, the body of Rabbi Loew's Golem still lies in the synagogue's attic.

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