Editing The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (section)

==Release==
[[File:The Cabinet of Dr Caligari Conrad Veidt.jpg|thumb|The premiere of ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' was so successful that women in the audience were said to have screamed during the scene in which Cesare ([[Conrad Veidt]]) is revealed|alt=A sepia-tinted close-up of a man looking directly forward with wide eyes. He has short black hair and pale white skin, and is wearing a black shirt with a high collar.]]
Though often considered an [[art film]] by some modern critics and scholars, ''Caligari'' was produced and marketed the same way as a normal commercial production of its time period, able to target both the elite artistic market as well as a more commercial horror genre audience.<ref name="Robinson43">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=43}}</ref><ref name="Budd23">{{Harvnb|Budd|1990b|p=23}}</ref> The film was marketed extensively leading up to the release, and advertisements ran even before the film was finished. Many posters and newspaper advertisements included the enigmatic phrase featured in the film, "{{lang|de|Du musst Caligari werden!}}{{-"}}, or "You must become Caligari!"<ref name="Robinson46">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=46}}</ref><ref name="Kracauer71">{{Harvnb|Kracauer|1947|p=71}}</ref> ''Caligari'' premiered at the Marmorhaus theatre in Berlin on 26 February 1920, less than one month after it was completed.<ref name="Robinson46" /> The filmmakers were so nervous about the release that Erich Pommer, on his way to the theatre, reportedly exclaimed, "It will be a horrible failure for all of us!"<ref name="Janowitz237" /><ref name="Robinson47">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=47}}</ref> As with the making of the film, several urban legends surround the film's premiere.<ref name="Robinson46" /> One, offered by writers [[Roger Manvell]] and [[Heinrich Fraenkel]] in ''The German Cinema'', suggests the film was shelved "for lack of a suitable outlet", and was only shown at Marmorhaus because another film had fallen through.<ref>{{Harvnb|Manvell|Fraenkel|1971|p=137}}</ref> Another suggested the theatre pulled the film after only two performances because audiences demanded refunds and demonstrated against it so strongly. This story was told by Pommer, who claimed the Marmorhaus picked ''Caligari'' back up and ran it successfully for three months after he spent six months working on a publicity campaign for the film. David Robinson wrote that neither of these urban legends were true, and that the latter was fabricated by Pommer to increase his own reputation.<ref name="Robinson46" /> On the contrary, Robinson said the premiere was highly successful, showing at the theatre for four weeks, an unusual amount for the time, and then returning two weeks later. He said it was so well received that women in the audience screamed when Cesare opened his eyes during his first scene, and fainted during the scene in which Cesare abducts Jane.<ref name="Janowitz237" /><ref name="Robinson47" />

''Caligari'' was released at a time when foreign film industries had just started easing restrictions on the import of German films following World War I.<ref name="Robinson43" /> The film was acquired for American distribution by the [[Goldwyn Pictures|Goldwyn Distributing Company]], and had its American premiere at the [[Capitol Theatre (New York City)|Capitol Theatre]] in New York City on 3 April 1921.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kaes|2006|p=41}}</ref> It was given a live theatrical prologue and epilogue,<ref name="Budd32" /><ref name="Robinson47-48">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|pp=47–48}}</ref> which was not unusual for film premieres at major theatres at the time. In the prologue, the film is introduced by a character called "Cranford", who identifies himself as the man Franzis speaks with in the opening scene. In the epilogue, Cranford returns and exclaims that Franzis has fully recovered from his madness.<ref name="Robinson47-48" /> Mike Budd believes these additions simplified the film and "adjusted [it] for mass consumption",<ref>{{Harvnb|Melnick|2012|p=18}}</ref> though Robinson argued it was simply a normal theatrical novelty for the time.<ref name="Robinson48">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=48}}</ref> Capitol Theatre manager Samuel Roxy Rothafel commissioned conductor [[Ernö Rapée]] to compile a musical accompaniment that included portions of songs by composers [[Johann Strauss III]], [[Arnold Schoenberg]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Igor Stravinsky]] and [[Sergei Prokofiev]]. Rotafel wanted the score to match the dark mood of the film, saying: "The music had, as it were, to be made eligible for citizenship in a nightmare country".<ref>{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=49}}</ref>

''Caligari'' had its Los Angeles premiere at Miller's Theater on 7 May 1921, but the theatre was forced to pull it due to demonstrations by protestors. However, the protest was organised by the Hollywood branch of the [[American Legion]] due to fears of unemployment stemming from the import of German films into America, not over objections to the content of ''Caligari'' itself.<ref name="Robinson51">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=51}}</ref> After running in large commercial theatres, ''Caligari'' began to be shown in smaller theatres and film societies in major cities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Budd|1990b|p=34}}</ref> Box office figures were not regularly published in the 1920s, so it has been difficult to assess the commercial success or failure of ''Caligari'' in the United States. Film historians Kristin Thompson and David B. Pratt separately studied trade publications from the time in an attempt to make a determination, but reached conflicting findings; Thompson concluded it was a box office success and Pratt concluded it was a failure. However, both agreed it was more commercially successful in major cities than in theatres in smaller communities, where tastes were considered more conservative.<ref name="Robinson50-51">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|pp=50–51}}</ref>

''Caligari'' did not immediately receive a wide distribution in France due to fears over the import of German films, but film director [[Louis Delluc]] organised a single screening of it on 14 November 1921, at the Colisée cinema in Paris as part of a benefit performance for the [[Spanish Red Cross]]. Afterward, the Cosmograph company bought the film's distribution rights and premiered it at the Ciné-Opéra on 2 March 1922.<ref name="Robinson51" /> ''Caligari'' played in one Paris theatre for seven consecutive years, a record that remained intact until the release of ''[[Emmanuelle (1974 film)|Emmanuelle]]'' (1974).<ref name="Peary48" /> According to Janowitz, ''Caligari'' was also shown in such European cities as London, Rome, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest, as well as outside Europe in China, Japan, India and Turkey, and also in [[South America]]n nations.<ref>{{Harvnb|Janowitz|1941|p=239}}</ref>