A young poet (William Dieterle) is hired by the owner of a wax museum (John Gottow) to animate through three stories as many statues exhibited in the museum, Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt), Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss), the Caliph of Baghdad Harun al-Rashid (Emil Jannings)… Leni’s film (also known in Italy as ‘Tre amori fantastici’), which has many connections with Wiene’s ‘The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari’ and Lang’s ‘Destiny’, despite its incompleteness – a fourth episode was never shot due to economic problems – stands as a spectacular kolossal, capable of exalting the forms of expressionism (just look at the astonishing sets or the disturbing photographic effects) and of fully exploiting the great talents of the actors, from Emil Jannings to Conrad Veidt and Werner Krauss.
script: Leo Birinski, Henrik Galeen
scenography: Paul Leni, Alfred Junge
costumes: Ernst Stern
other titles: Waxworks, Le Cabinet des figures de cire
color: Bianco & Nero
production company: Neptune-Film A.G.
Su gentile concessione dell'Ente dello Spettacolo
