Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (1924)

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WAXWORKS

Directed by Paul Leni.

WANTED - An imaginitive writer for

publicity work in a waxworks exhibition.

"Can you write startling tales

about these wax figures?"

Spring Heeled Jack, the most

amazing character of all times.

Werner Krauss

IVAN the TERRIBLE,

Czar of all the Russias.

Conrad Veidt

HAROUN-AL-RASCHID,

Caliph of Bagdad.

Emil Jannings

"It's Haroun-al-Raschid's arm -

it just broke off."

"I've got it! - I'll tell how

Haroun lost his arm!"

Harun-al-Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad,

was the most romantic and

mischief-loving rule of his age.

Above all, he hated monotony,

So he had a different wife

for every day in the year -

- but none of these was

as beautiful as Zarah, -

- wife of Assad, the baker.

The Caliph kept his brain from

becoming as fat as his stomach

by a daily game of chess

with his Grand Vizier.

"Checkmate!"

The smoke from Assad's chimney seemed

to be taunting him with his bad luck.

"VIZIER!"

"Dispatch the smoke-maker to Allah!"

"Exquisite! Exquisite!"

When a Grand Vizier flirts

with a baker's wife...

...and when a Caliph

loses a game of chess...

"You clumsy fool!

That is the only dress I have!"

"You should take lessons in

gallantry from the Grand Vizier!"

"Where is the head of

that dog of a baker?"

"I must have mislaid it."

"I was about to strike his

head off when I saw his wife..."

"She is more beautiful than the roses


of Shiraz - and I thought you might..."

"As is our royal custom,

we shall this night disguise ourselves

and migle with our subjects..."

"...seeking out the needy and

comforting the...the lovely."

When Bagdad slept, Haroun's

business day generally began.

The admiring eyes of the Grand Vizier

had lighted raging fires

in the head of Zarah.

"I have nothing to wear... I never see

anybody... I never go anywhere..."

"You shall have everything! For I shall

steal the Caliph's wishing ring for you!"

"Only a man would dare do that!

Only a man - you hear."

"I'll show you - before the

dawn - that I am a man!"

"My dear, foolish Assad is coming back!"

"Pet!"

"Sweet rose of Bagdad, I'm not a robber -

but I must tell you who I am..."

"...for you can plainly see

for yourself that I'm the Caliph."

Adn meanwhile the baker of Bagdad...

"Do not let that

bother you my nightingale -

your lack of clothes doesn't

disturb me in the least!"

"You have quarreled with your

husband, my casket of honey."

"He is so terribly jealous!"

"And he loves me deeply!"

"I shall speak to him

about that, my ringdove."

"This is the famous royal wishing ring."

"You make a wish, turn the stone,

and your wish is instantly granted!"

"Assad!"

"My pond-lily, have you a

hiding place for a fat man?"

"I have m*rder*d the Caliph!"

"And here is the wishing ring!"

"When I steal out, I always leave

a wax figure in my bed..."

"...and from that figure Assad has

stolen an imitation wishing ring."

"What have you done with

the Caliph's wishing ring?"

"Behold!"

"I wish..."

"...that the m*rder*d Caliph

shall appear here - alive!"

"And I also wish..."

...that my beloved Assad be made

baker to our mighty Caliph!"

Iwan was a blood-crazed monster on a

throne who turned cities into cemeteries.

His crown was a tiara of

molding bones, his scepter an axe.

His council room was a t*rture chamber,

with the Devil and Death as chief ministers.

In the gloom of night, Ivan,

accompanied by his astrolger,

would steal into the

cellars of the Kremlin

to gloat over the dying agonies

of his poisoned victims.

The Czar's personal poison mixer.

A favorite toy of Ivan's - the hourglass,

marking the last moments of victims

with each falling grain of sand.

When the name of his next victim was written

on the hourglass, it marked his doom.

"Beware of the poison mixer, Little Father!

He may inscribe your name..."

"The poison mixer."

Sensing his fate, the poison mixer

writes "IVAN" on the hourglass.

The next day a noble came to the Kremlin

to remind Ivan of his promise

to attend his daughter's wedding.

"You came to lure me out of the Kremlin!"

"Little Father, I myself will drive you!"

"Where is the Czar - and your father?"

"We shall change roles!"

"You shall be the Czar -

I will drive!"

"Assassins!"

"The Czar!"

"The Czar is dead!"

"The Czar is mightier than Death!"

"Father!"

"DON'T WEEP!"

"DRINK!"

"MUSIC!"

"DANCE!"

"The Czar has stolen my bride!"

"To the t*rture chamber!"

Her wedding night!

"Go - you are free!"

"Little Father, you have been poisoned!"

"How long have I to live?"

"Until the last grain of sand

falls to the bottom."

"I found this in the poison mixer's cellar."

So, Ivan the terrible,

believing that he had been poisoned

went mad and kept turning the

hourglass to the end of his days.

Spring Heeled Jack -

a notorious character -

pounced suddenly and silently

upon his victims.

"I dreamed that Spring Heeled

Jack stole you from me."

The End