Faust (1926 film)
| Faust | |
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U.S. theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | F. W. Murnau |
| Produced by | Erich Pommer |
| Written by | Hans Kyser |
| Starring |
Gösta Ekman Emil Jannings Camilla Horn Wilhelm Dieterle Frida Richard Yvette Guilbert |
| Music by |
Werner Richard Heymann (in the premiere) William Axt (US, uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Carl Hoffmann |
| Distributed by |
UFA (Germany) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (USA) |
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Release date
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Running time
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106 minutes |
| Country | Weimar Republic |
| Language |
Silent film German intertitles |
| Budget | 2 million marks |
Faust (German: Faust – Eine deutsche Volkssage) is a 1926 silent film produced by UFA, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Gösta Ekman as Faust, Emil Jannings as Mephisto, Camilla Horn as Gretchen/Marguerite, Frida Richard as her mother, Wilhelm Dieterle as her brother and Yvette Guilbert as Marthe Schwerdtlein, her aunt. Murnau's film draws on older traditions of the legendary tale of Faust as well as on Goethe's classic version. UFA wanted Ludwig Berger to direct Faust, as Murnau was engaged with Variety; Murnau pressured the producer and, backed by Jannings, eventually persuaded Erich Pommer to let him direct the film.
Faust was Murnau's last German film, and directly afterward he moved to the US under contract to William Fox to direct Sunrise (1927); when the film premiered in the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin, Murnau was already shooting in Hollywood.
The demon Mephisto has a bet with an Archangel that he can corrupt a righteous man's soul and destroy in him what is divine. If he succeeds, the Devil will win dominion over earth.
The Devil delivers a plague to the village where Faust, an elderly alchemist, lives. Though he prays to stop the death and starvation, nothing happens. Disheartened, Faust throws his alchemy books in the fire, and then the Bible too. One book opens, showing how to have power and glory by making a pact with the Devil. He goes to a crossroads as described in the book's procedure and conjures up the forces of evil. When Mephisto appears at the roadside, he induces Faust to make a trial, 24-hour bargain with the Devil. Faust will have Mephisto's service till the sand runs out in an hourglass, at which time the Devil will rescind the pact. At first, Faust uses his new power to help the people of the village, but they shun him when they find out that he cannot face a cross. They stone him and he takes shelter in his home.
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