The Spiders Part 1- The Golden Lake, Part 2- The Diamond Ship (1919)
by Fritz Lang
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Carl de Vogt, Georg John, Lil Dagover, Reiner Steiner, Ressel OrlaDirector: Fritz Lang
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 137 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-08-17
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Spiders Part 1- The Golden Lake, Part 2- The Diamond Ship (1919)
Movie Review: Not top-notch Lang but still interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
The earliest known surviving film directed by Fritz Lang, this two-part serial, originally intended as a four-parter, isn't exactly a shining example of either Lang or silent cinema as its finest, but it is interesting enough story-wise, as well as having some pretty impressive sets and good acting. Film was really in a transitional state in the late Teens and early Twenties, moving from the more simplistic plots and overly dramatic acting styles popular in the early years of silent features to the more mature and complex types of films that emerged in the next phase of silent cinema. This film in particular really does seem like a precursor of sorts to Indiana Jones. It opens with an old man sending out a message in a bottle just before he is murdered, and we come to find out that he was a Harvard professor who was taken prisoner by Incas who still practice human sacrifice. When this news reaches the story's hero, millionaire adventurer Kay Hoog, he calls off his involvement in an upcoming yacht race in favor of going off in search of the vast treasure the professor said these Incas have. At the same time that his party sets out, the criminal organisation the Spiders also sends out a party (after having attacked Kay when they discovered his plans), since they want the treasure for themselves. The adventure continues in South America and back into Europe, and then into other exotic locales such as India and the Falkland Islands. Along the way there are a lot of action sequences, mind control, kidnappings, the search for a lost diamond, a love triangle, and intrigue.
However, because this was made when film was at a transitional period, and Lang was just learning his craft, it doesn't exactly come across as a great story. The pacing can be really uneven (such as how a number of intertitles are along the lines of "Two days later" and "Five weeks later," as well as how some rather important events, such as Kay being overpowered by the Spiders and thrown into a cell, never happen onscreen but instead are relayed via intertitle), coupled with a lot of ridiculous and implausible plot twists, such as the passenger pigeon conveniently just outside of Four-Finger John's window who then just as conveniently flies to the ship where the rest of the Spiders are, the love at first sight between Kay and the Incan priestess, the diamond's alleged power to free Asia from foreign tyranny, and the poisonous gas that comes up just in time to enable Kay's escape from the Spiders when they're holding him hostage at one point. Part Two seems to be better than Part One, though it ends rather abruptly (albeit after tying up some of the more important plot points), almost in media res. If the third and fourth installments had been made, it probably could have been a much more satisfying and entertaining viewing experience. The print isn't exactly wonderful, but I've seen a lot worse, and we should be grateful that any print of such a rare film, long presumed lost, still exists at all instead of pedantically complaining that it wasn't crystal-clear and didn't have the utmost restoration done.
Summary of The Spiders Part 1- The Golden Lake, Part 2- The Diamond Ship (1919)
The Spiders by Fritz Lang is considered by many to be the real beginning of the golden age of the German silent film. An adventure story about an organized band of criminals who scheme to dominate the world, "The Spiders" was long considered a lost film until its three year reconstruction by film historians David and Kimberly Shepard using original German censorship records and Lang's own instructions for color tinting.Fritz Lang's first major success as a director was with this exotic, globetrotting adventure. It's actually made up of two short silent features that were the first of a proposed quartet of movies about the adventures of high-society adventurer Kay Hoog (Carl de Vogt, whose gaunt, expressionless face resembles a younger William S. Hart) and his arch nemesis, a secret criminal organization known as the Spiders. Part 1 ("The Golden Lake") is a treasure hunt that takes both Kay and Spiders mastermind Lio Sha (Ressel Orla) to Peru, where they battle primitive Incas (who capture Lio for a human sacrifice) and each other for a fortune in hidden gold. Part 2 ("The Diamond Ship") is a longer and far more intricate conspiracy involving a hidden criminal underground beneath the streets of Chinatown, a legendary lost jewel known as the Buddha Head Diamond, and an ambitious plot to rule all of Asia. Full of secret passages, coded messages, treasure maps, double-crosses, and death-defying escapes, Lang's pulpy action-fantasy borrows from the wacky serials of Louis Feuillaude (notably the deliriously entertaining Les Vampires). But behind the wild plots, gorgeous sets, and driving, breakneck-paced direction lies a dark undercurrent of death and doom that transforms his gallant hero into a brooding, vengeful spirit. The prints are seriously scratched and worn in places but always watchable. They have been appropriately tinted, and Gaylord Carter's organ score is upbeat and exciting. --Sean Axmaker
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