What did 1920s German fans and critics say about Caligari and Nosferatu?
Research question: What did German audiences and reviewers in the 1920s say about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu when they first opened?
German critics on Caligari were, according to David Robinson, almost without exception favorable to ecstatic in their response 2. John Barlow argued that the film also drew considerable disapproval from those eager to fix definitions of the cinematic arts against the theatrical, so the praise was not uniform 5. The records show Nosferatu was not a hit with contemporary audiences, though critics were impressed by Murnau's technical prowess and the film's tensions 3. Despite a major publicity campaign led by Albin Grau, it did not attract large box-office business at its first release 4. The evidence is thin on German audience reaction specifically, since a 1921 Chicago Tribune piece reprinted in the Omaha Daily Bee gives no audience or reviewer reactions 1.
Sources
"they even tried futurism in the film "Caligari," which was their first big success."Image 24 of Omaha daily bee (Omaha [Neb.]), May 22, 1921
""[t]he German critics, almost without exception, ranged from favorable to ecstatic" (56)"Revisiting Weimar Film Reviewers’ Sentiments: Integrating Lexicon-Based Sentiment Analysis with Large Language Models (2024)
"As the literal definition of ‘before its time’, Nosferatu was not a hit with contemporary audiences — although critics were impressed by Murnau’s technical prowess and the tensions of the piece."Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) — Horror Film History
"Despite the major publicity campaign masterminded by Grau, Nosferatu didn’t drum up major business"Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) — Horror Film History
"the film received considerable disapproval from those eager to assign fixed definitions of the cinematic arts in contrast to the theatrical (29)"Revisiting Weimar Film Reviewers’ Sentiments: Integrating Lexicon-Based Sentiment Analysis with Large Language Models (2024)