F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Century of Chilling Cinema History
Uknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
History Flakes: The Berlin History Podcast is back! In honour of the October spooky season, Pip and I are launching season 2 with a look at one Berlin cinema history’s most infamous works: Nosferatu by F. W. Murnau.
For this episode we watched the original 1922 Nosferatu. Good news! Since it’s out of copyright, you can easily watch it on YouTube yourself. Like a vampire that never dies, Nosferatu holds up remarkably well. Five minutes or so in and you’re sucked into the world of Count Orlok and his victims. You really forget that you’re watching a 100+ year-old movie.
Underwood & Underwood, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Who was F.W. Murnau?
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, came into the world on the 28th of December, 1888. He was born into a wealthy family in Bielefeld, and enjoyed all things acting and theatre even as a child. As a teenager he studied literature, philosophy, and art history, and even trained with German theatre legend Max Reinhardt.
Did you know? Murnau and Reinhardt would eventually live around the corner from one another in Berlin’s wealthier than wealthy Grunewald district.
Like most men of his generation, Murnau was called up to fight in the First World War. He became a pilot, and although he was shot down, his situation was rather fortunate in comparison to the soldiers in the trenches: Murnau spent most of the war in a POW camp, and reportedly put on stage shows while locked up.
F.W. Murnau’s former home in Berlin Grunewald
F.W. Murnau & the Birth of Horror Movies
It’s in the immediate aftermath of the November Revolution at the end of WWI, in new, democratic Germany that Murnau sets up his film production company and creates his first feature-length film, Der Knabe in Blau (The Boy in Blue). Like many of Murnau’s early works, sadly, no prints survive.
Murnau would quickly follow this up with two more films that have been lost to time. The first is the ambitious Satanas (1920), a horror film starring Conrad Veidt, one of the most famous actors of his day. The film was incredibly ambitious, spread across three historical eras in which Satan continually reappears. Only a fraction of just one scene survives. Murnau’s other 1920 film was Der Januskopf (The Janus Head), an unlicensed adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The name refers to the Roman god Janus, often depicted as having two heads. The original script used the names Jekyll & Hyde, but they were removed before production. The film once again starred Conrad Veidt, who in the future would sign off his letters to Murnau as Mr. Hyde.
Did you know? Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi had a small role as a butler in Der Januskopf?
Lugosi would go on to play the lead in Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931).
F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu
Murnau’s next film was the infamous Nosferatu (1922). Once again, Murnau and scriptwriter Henrik Galeen lifted their story, in this case, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The majority of the acting in Nosferatu is played as true to life as possible, meaning lead actor Max Schreck’s exaggerated and stilted movements in his portrayal of Count Orlok stand out as the defining expressionist element of the movie. What Murnau and cameraman F.A. Wagner achieved is a sense of unease, evil, and dread whenever Orlok is on screen. The way the Count looks at his victims neck, as though already savouring their blood, builds an uneasy atmosphere, but crucially, we don’t outright see Orlok going in for the kill until the end of the film, it’s the use of light and shadow along the way, combined with Orlok’s unnatural movements, that leaves the viewer with the thought of the bite, the blood, and the kill in their own mind - sometimes what you don’t see is what scares you the most.
Murnau Goes to Hollywood
After Nosferatu, Murnau’s reputation grew, leading to Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (1924) and Faust (1926), both of which showcased innovative techniques, notably cameraman Karl Freund’s moving camera, and Murnau’s attempts to tell stories in the silent era using as few title cards as possible, as seen in Der Letzte Mann, which tells the story almost entirely through visuals, facial expressions, gestures, and Freund’s camerawork.
As his star was rising in 1926, Murnau moved to Hollywood. There he directed Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), a visually ambitious film that won him critical acclaim at the world’s first Oscar ceremony. However, his subsequent Hollywood projects, including Four Devils and City Girl, failed to replicate Sunrise’s success, and Murnau eventually collaborated with Robert Flaherty on Tabu (1931), filmed in Tahiti.
F.W. Murnau with Henri Matisse in Tahiti, 1930
Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Murnau Goes to the Pacific
Murnau’s final film was Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931), a silent film released during the age of sound cinema. This was in the beginning of the ‘talkie’ era, so its silent format limited its appeal to audiences at the time, but critics praised its stunning visuals, with cinematographer Floyd Crosby winning an Academy Award for his work.
Set in the South Pacific and featuring non-professional actors, Tabu combined a documentary-like realism with a tragic romance, showcasing Murnau’s skill in evoking atmosphere and emotion purely through visual storytelling.
Sadly, Murnau would never know what audiences made of Tabu. He died in a car accident just a few days before its release.
Where is F.W. Murnau’s Grave?
Murnau died in 1931. His funeral was attended by some of the most prominent figures in cinema. He was buried in the family plot at Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery just outside Berlin. The grave itself has become somewhat famous. For a long time it was simply a place of pilgrimage for film enthusiasts - who’s better grave to visit than the father of horror himself?
This led to a rather macabre incident back in 2015: Murnau’s skull was stolen. To this day, it has never been recovered.
Sources for the History Flakes: The Berlin History Podcast’s Nosferatu and F.W. Murnau episode
Where to Begin with F.W. Murnau, Ben Nicholson
Nosferatu review, Roger Ebert
F.W. Murnau, Director of the Nosferatu - Stuff You Missed in History Class
The F.W. Murnau Foundation - www.murnau-stiftung.de
'The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler's Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood' by Donna Rifkind
The Horror Films of F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Phantom, The Haunted Castle and Faust), Dark Corners Reviews
F.W. Murnau Biography - Director of Nosferatu, Portraits of History
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