The Golem: The Legend of Prague

The time is the early 17th Century. The Jews of Prague suffer under the rule of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. Fearing he will institute anti-Semetic pogroms, the people plead with Rabbi Jacob to unleash the legendary Golem. Years earlier, the animated clay statue had come to the Jews' aid in a time of great need, only to return to lifelessness afterwards. Before a decision can be reached, Rabbi Jacob is arrested by the Emperor's forces. Knowing her husband is being tortured, the Rabbi's wife awakens the Golem...but without a compassionate hand to guide him, the creature has become a mindless monstrosity intent on destroying everything in its path, including those who sought his aid...

Aware of what was happening in Nazi Germany, French director Julien Duvivier wanted to address the plight of the Jews, if only symbolically. He did so by crafting a sequel to the 1920 German classic The Golem: How He Came Into The World, directed by Paul Wegener. Duvivier is considered one of the founding fathers of French cinema for films such as S.S. Tenacity (1934) and Pépé le Moko (1937). He fled France in advance of the German occupation for Hollywood, where he made prestigious pictures like Tales of Manhattan (1942) with Charles Boyer and Rita Hayworth and Flesh and Fantasy (1943) with Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck. His Golem sequel remains an unfairly overlooked entry in his filmography. Harry Baur is considered one of the greatest actors of the French cinema. He played Ludwig Van Beethoven in Abel Gance's Beethoven's Great Love (1936) and Jean Valjean in Raymond Bernard's Les Miserables (1934), considered by many to be the best adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel. He tragically died in 1943 while making a movie in Berlin, after being arrested and tortured by the Gestapo on suspicion of anti-Nazi activities.

In French with English subtitles.

Note: Due to the age and rarity of this film, some picture anomalies exist.