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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 663

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

192074 minGermany
HorrorCrimeFantasy
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
75:23
Subtitles
English

Languages and subtitles

Subtitles off by default

Wikimedia Commons · Robert Wiene / Carl Mayer / Hans Janowitz · Public domain

Subtitles: Wikimedia Commons · Open Classic Cinema

Synopsis

A travelling showman brings a sleepwalker to a town fair and invites the public to hear his predictions. After one visitor receives a terrifying answer, a series of deaths draws a young man into an investigation. Crooked streets, painted shadows and uncertain memories turn the search for a murderer into a mystery about perception and authority.

Cast

DirectorsRobert Wiene

Historical context

The film is a defining example of German Expressionist cinema. Its distorted sets make fear and instability part of the visible world rather than relying on realistic locations.

Behind the scenes

Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer wrote the story after the First World War. Designers Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Röhrig gave the production its deliberately graphic, unnatural spaces.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Conrad Veidt — MGM-photo by Clarence Bull.; eBay front back · Public domain
  • Werner Krauss — George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress); This image is available from the United States Library of Congress 's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.37082 . This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing . · Public domain
  • Friedrich Feher — Unknown author Unknown author; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs · Public domain
  • Lil Dagover — Alexander Binder; Ross-Karte Nr. 265/5 · Public domain
  • Rudolf Lettinger — Uncredited.; oldthing.de · Public domain

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