There is more than a little of the "Dr. Caligari" (1921) to this compendium of three stories. Visually very similar in style, with angular - seemingly disjointed and out of scale sets and wonderfully targeted use of lighting serves to augment these episodes. A waxworks provides that environment where William Dieterle works, charged with writing some texts to accompany the effigies of three historical figures. The first is a fun "Arabian Nights" tale with Emil Jannings as "Harun", the second sees Conrad Veitd portray the Russian Czar Ivan IV (the terrible), finally he embarks on a tale of "Jack the Ripper" - supplied by Werner Krauss. As he writes, he imagines that he - and the owner's daughter - Olga Beljeff - are actually part of his series. All three present them with comical and perilous escapades, the first sees Jannings unceremoniously stuffed into a baker's oven, having fallen in love with the wife of the baker; the second depicts Ivan as a megalomanic reduced to simpering dolt and the final story is left hanging intriguingly as the would be author finally succumbs to sleep. For what it's worth, my favourite is the second story - but the third one is probably the more accomplished piece of cinema. The techniques of overlaying the film to give us an haunting feeling as "Jack" stalks his victims is really quite effective - if all too brief. As three short stories, this works well and though I am certainly no expert on German cinema, this has to be one of the more enjoyable - with engaging characters and plots - "expressionism" efforts I have yet encountered.
