Waxworks (1924) | Directed by Paul Leni - Full Movie

A wax museum hires a writer to give the sculptures stories. The writer imagines himself and the museum owner's daughter in the stories.

Waxworks (German: Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) is a 1924 German silent anthology film directed by Paul Leni. The film encompasses several genres, including a fantasy adventure, a historical film, and a horror film through its various episodes. Its stories are linked by a plot thread about a writer (William Dieterle) who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad (Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt) and Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss) in order to boost business.

The film's format may have influenced later horror anthologies such as the British Dead of Night (1945) and the Italian Black Sabbath (1963) by Mario Bava. Critic Troy Howarth mentions "Of all the later horror anthologies, it seems to have had the most direct effect on Amicus' Torture Garden (1968), which reused the waxworks motif". The film was also known as Three Wax Men. The 1924 silent film supposedly inspired a 1988 "remake" of sorts, Waxwork, but "any similarity between the two ends there."

Directed by: Paul Leni, Leo Birinski
Written by: Henrik Galeen
Produced by: Alexander Kwartiroff, Leo Birinski
Starring: Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, William Dieterle
Cinematography: Helmar Lerski
Production company: Neptune-Film A.G.
Distributed by: UFA
Release date: 13 November 1924
(U.S.)
Running time: 63 minutes (Original cut), 84 minutes (Restored cut)
Country: Weimar Republic
Languages: Silent film, German intertitles