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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
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===Casting=== [[File:The Cabinet of Dr Caligari Werner Krauss.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Werner Krauss]], who portrayed Caligari, suggested changes to his own make-up and costumes so they would match the film's Expressionist style.|alt=A man wearing round-framed glasses, wearing a black coat and shirt, and white gloves with black lines along the knuckle lines. The man is looking off camera with a concerned look on his face.]] Janowitz originally intended the part of Cesare to go to his friend, actor [[Ernst Deutsch]].<ref name="Janowitz226" /><ref name="Robinson12" /> Mayer wrote the part of Jane for Gilda Langer,<ref name="Robinson12" /> but by the time the film was cast Langer's interests had moved on from Janowitz and Mayer to director [[Paul Czinner]], leaving the role to be played by Lil Dagover.<ref>{{cite AV media |last=Kalat |first=David |date=2014 |title=The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari |medium=Audio commentary |time=0:20:47 |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Eureka Entertainment |series=Masters of Cinema |url=https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari |quote=... she didn't miss out on Caligari because she was dead. She was actually alive during the entire production. Torn between Mayer and Janowitz, Gilda Langer took the chance to trade up from a pair of starving writers in favor of an up-and-coming director and producer named Paul Czinner. By marrying Czinner, Gilda effectively left their orbit ... |access-date=1 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929021943/https://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari |archive-date=29 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Janowitz claimed he wrote the part of Caligari specifically for Werner Krauss, whom Deutsch had brought to his attention during rehearsals for a Max Reinhardt play; Janowitz said only Krauss or [[Paul Wegener]] could have played the part.<ref name="Janowitz226" /> The parts of Caligari and Cesare ultimately went to Krauss and [[Conrad Veidt]], respectively, who enthusiastically took part in many aspects of the production.<ref name="Barlow34" /> Krauss suggested changes to his own make-up and costumes, including the elements of a top hat, cape and walking stick with an ivory handle for his character.<ref name="Robinson41">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=41}}</ref> The actors in ''Caligari'' were conscious of the need to adapt their make-up, costumes and appearance to match the visual style of the film.<ref name="Robinson40">{{Harvnb|Robinson|1997|p=40}}</ref> Much of the acting in German silent films at the time was already Expressionistic, mimicking the [[pantomimic]] aspects of Expressionist theatre.<ref>{{Harvnb|Barlow|1982|p=41}}</ref> The performances of Krauss and Veidt in ''Caligari'' were typical of this style, as they both had experience in Expressionist-influenced theatre, and as a result, John D. Barlow said they appear more comfortable in their surroundings in the film than the other actors.<ref name="Barlow43" /> Prior to filming, Kraus and Veidt appeared on stage in the winter of 1918 in an Expressionist drama, {{Interlanguage link|Reinhold Goering|de}}'s ''[[Seeschlacht]]'', at the Deutsches Theater.<ref name="Robinson40" /> By contrast, Dagover had little experience in Expressionist theatre, and Barlow argues her acting is less harmonious with the film's visual style.<ref name="Barlow43" /> Wiene asked the actors to make movements similar to dance, most prominently from Veidt, but also from Krauss, Dagover and Friedrich Feger, who played Franzis.<ref name="Thomson139" /> Krauss and Veidt are the only actors whose performances fully match the stylisation of the sets, which they achieved by concentrating their movements and facial expressions.<ref name="Eisner25" /><ref name="Budd38">{{Harvnb|Budd|1990b|p=38}}</ref> Barlow notes that "Veidt moves along the wall as if it had 'exuded' him ... more a part of a material world of objects than a human one", and Krauss "moves with angular viciousness, his gestures seem broken or cracked by the obsessive force within him, a force that seems to emerge from a constant toxic state, a twisted authoritarianism of no human scruple and total insensibility".<ref name="Barlow43" /> Most of the other actors besides Krauss and Veidt have a more naturalistic style.<ref name="Eisner25" /> Alan, Jane and Franzis play the roles of an idyllically happy trio enjoying youth; Alan in particular represents the archetype of a sensitive 19th-century student.<ref name="Barlow43-45" /> Mike Budd points out realist characters in stylised settings are a common characteristic in Expressionist theatre.<ref name="Budd38" /> However, David Robinson notes even the performances of the more naturalistic supporting roles in ''Caligari'' have Expressionist elements, like Hans-Heinz von Twardowski's "strange, tormented face" as Alan. He also cites Feher's "large angular movements", especially in the scene where he searches the deserted fairground.<ref name="Robinson41" /> Other minor roles are Expressionistic in nature, like two policemen who sit facing each other at their desks and move with exaggerated symmetry, and two servants who awaken and rise from their beds in perfect synchronisation.<ref name="Robinson41" /> Vincent LoBrutto said of the acting in the film:<ref name="LoBrutto64" /> {{pull quote|The acting style is as emotionally over-the-top as the narrative and visual style of ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari''. The behavior of the characters represents the actors' emotional responses to the expressionistic environment and the situations in which they find themselves. Staging and movement of the actors respond to the hysteria of Caligari's machinations and to the fun-house labyrinth that appears to be the reflection of a crazy mirror, not an orderly village.}}
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