Transition [DVD]

Hanns Heinz Ewers's tome The Student of Prague received two separate silent screen incarnations: one in 1913 at the hands of director Stellan Rye, and another in 1926 at the hands of director Henrik Galeen; this set includes both films, full and complete as they originally aired. Regarded as one of the first horror movies ever made, the 1913 version stars Paul Wegener as Balduin, a poor student in 19th Century Prague, Austro-Hungarian Empire, who rescues Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, then grows romantically fixated on her. Taking advantage of these feelings, Scalpinelli, a local sorcerer, offers the student 100,000 gold pieces and the lure of romance in exchange for Balduin's soil, which he extracts via a reflection in a mirror - thus dooming the naïve Balduin to a fate worse than death. The second film in the set stars the legendary Conrad Veidt (Casablanca) as Balduin, who in this case sustains a reputation as one of the most skilled fencers in all of Prague, but bemoans his low station in life - until Scalpinelli (Werner Krauss) turns up and offers him 600,000 gold pieces in return for any item of Balduin's that he chooses - with disastrous consequences for the young student. Both versions of the film, as is apparent from these synopses, constitute variations on the Faust legend.