From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film (Princeton Classic Editions)

I use it more for information on the film industry as a whole for that time and the basis of what we inherited today. It is interesting that from the beginning people complained that the film was to long and inclusive or too short and excluded characters form history or books.

Two good parallel and overlapping timeline books for the era are "Caligari's Children: The Film as Tale of Terror". Which is a different view on the same subject and "The UFA Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945 (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism, 23)"

They tried to capture the feel of the time and of the German actors' attitude toward film, in the movie "Shadow of the Vampire" (2001)


A theory on German Expressionist film of the 1920's   January 30, 2002
davidrhys.white@ntlworld.com (Cardiff, Wales)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I like this book a lot, and would recoment it to anyone who has a strong interest in film as it might broaden your knowledge of film culture and history. You may especially like this book if you are interested in the Horror genre, as "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" the first horror film and first German Expressionist film also. You'll notice from this period of film where Tim Burton get's his ideas from. This book will help you understand the mise-en-scene from german expressionist films and how it's referential to society at that time. Other books to look for would be "The Haunted Screen" by Lotte Eisner. But beware this book uses a lot of film language which can be difficult to understand for some.