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Conrad Veidt: Artistry and Humanitarianism
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Lois
January 2006
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Throughout his varied career, Conrad Veidt was an icon of German Expressionism, the heroic duty-bound officer, a British matinee idol and a smooth Hollywood villain. A man of great personal integrity he left Germany in disgust after the rise of the Nazi’s, became a British subject and tirelessly worked to raise funds for British War Relief. His liberal political views were often expressed, particularly in the German ‘aufklarungsfilme’ (enlightenment films) he made with Richard Oswald, and British films such as Jew Suss (Lothar Mendes, 1934) and The Passing of the Third Floor Back (Berthold Viertel, 1935), all of which called for tolerance and understanding. However, he is ostensibly remembered as either the somnambulist Cesare, in the inimitable art house classic Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (Germany, Robert Weine, 1920), or the evil Nazi, Major Strasser, in the popular Hollywood classic Casablanca (US, Michael Curtiz, 1942).
Veidt began his career as a member of Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theatre which was interrupted by his service in the army during the First World War. He returned to Reinhardt upon his discharge but swiftly took on film roles with great success. Veidt’s early film career was characterised by the ‘aufklarungsfilme’ (enlightenment or clarification films) he made with filmmaker Richard Oswald, such as Es Werde Licht! (Let There be Light!) (1918), Die Prostitution (1919) and the first ‘gay themed’ film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others) (1919). Oswald is acknowledged as being Veidt’s discoverer and, as well as the ‘aufklarungsfilme’, they worked prolifically together in costume epics, (Lucrezia Borgia, 1922), adventure films, (Die Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen (Around the World in 80 Days), 1919) and comedies, (Unheimliche Geslichten (Weird Tales), 1919).
However, it was his role as the somnambulist Cesare in Robert Weine’s expressionistic masterpiece Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari which brought Veidt to international attention. He was the perfect exponent of the dark themes of German Expressionism with his air of prophetic doom; his long slender body and impressive height together with his high forehead and hollow cheeks created an unnerving sight, especially with his dark hair and pale blue eyes – so pale that they looked transparent or appeared to glow. His silent work went from strength to strength as he worked with some of Germany’s finest filmmakers – including F.W. Murnau (Der Gang in Die Nacht (A Walk in the Night), 1920, Der Januskopf (The Janus Head), 1920) and Paul Leni (Prinz Kuckuck (Prince Cookoo), 1919, Patience – Die Karten des Todes (Patience – Death's Calling Cards, 1920) – helping to enhance their careers as well as his own.
By the mid-1920s Veidt was one of Germany’s finest actors along with Werner Krauss and Emil Jannings and the trio starred in Leni’s Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (Waxworks), 1924) (albeit in separate segments). Veidt worked frequently with Krauss – most notably in Caligari – but only once with Jannings – in Paul Czinner’s Nju (1924). 1926 was a watershed year for Veidt as he perfected the art of silent acting, starring impressively in Der Student von Prag (The Student of Prague) (Henrik Galeen, 1926) and Amleto Palmeri’s Die Flucht in die Nacht (The Flight in the Night aka Enrico IV). Sadly Die Flucht in die Nacht only exists as a tiny fragment; but his concentrated study of madness, and the realisation that he has wasted his life in madness, is truly brilliant and absorbing.
In 1926, Veidt received a telegram from the Great John Barrymore inviting him to appear in his Hollywood production of The Beloved Rogue (Alan Crossland, 1927) – a second telegram urged him to accept and Veidt arrived in Hollywood shortly afterwards. He moved over to Hollywood in 1927 and signed with Universal, where his workload was not as hectic as it had been in Germany. He made only three films with Universal, A Man’s Past (George Melford, 1927), The Man Who Laughs (Paul Leni, 1928) and The Last Performance (Paul Fejos, 1929). The Man who Laughs saw his greatest Hollywood performance as the disfigured Gwynplaine – the make-up treatment of the grotesque fixed smile meant that Veidt was unable to move his face and relied solely on his eyes to express the innermost torment his character. A truly remarkable portrayal. During the filming of The Last Performance sound hit Hollywood and, as Veidt felt his English was too poor and accent so strong, he returned to Germany.
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As Cesare, in Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari, 1920
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With Reinhold Schunzel in Anders als die Andern, 1919
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The Blind Painter in Der Gang in die Nacht, 1920
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The Reflection in Der Student von Prag, 1926
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With John Barrymore on the set of The Beloved Rogue, 1926
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