The Sound of Silence: The Golem (Der Golem, The Golem: How He Came Into the World) (1920)

I may have said it before but, in case I didn't, one of the great things about doing these annual marathons of reviews is that I get a chance to check out movies I've known of for years but haven't gotten around to. Also, given the theme of foreign horrors, we clearly had to start with some German Expressionism, of which The Golem is one of the most famous examples that I hadn't seen. I'm sure I first learned of it when it was briefly talked about in the documentary, Universal Horror, as one of the inspirations for Boris Karloff's portrayal of Frankenstein's monster, but the first time it made an impression on me is when it was featured in The History of Sci-Fi and Horror. Fittingly, it was mentioned in the documentary's section on the Frankenstein story's legacy in film, with the similarities between it and the 1931 movie again being discussed, specifically in the scene between the Golem and the little girl. Since then, I'd seen sporadic clips of the film and heard it mentioned in various sources, like in the special features for the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of Frankenstein (notably, it was said that the original makeup which was tested on Bela Lugosi early in that film's production was very Golem-like) and when James Rolfe talked about the two earlier lost Golem movies in his video, CineMassacre's Top Ten Lost Horror Films, but it wasn't until late in 2021 that I finally sat down and watched the actual movie. I've since watched twice more, and, I must say, I think it's quite good, mainly because it effectively tells a simple, straightforward story. It's also filled with that interesting expressionistic art direction you get in so many of these films, some impressive special effects for the time, and the title monster is quite memorable and iconic in his own right, and you can definitely see how he would go on to inspire both Karloff and James Whale's work over a decade later (Whale screened the film before beginning work on Frankenstein).

In 16th century Prague, Rabbi Low, the community leader of a Jewish ghetto, believes the stars are foretelling a imminent disaster for his people. He warns the community elders of this and asks them to pray at the temple, while the next day, his warning appears to come true, as the Emperor decrees that the Jews must leave Prague by the new moon. He sends Florian, a young squire, to deliver the message, and upon arriving at the ghetto, is asked to meet with Low. Low, meanwhile, in an effort to protect his people, begins sculpting a huge, humanoid being called a Golem out of clay in his home's cellar, planning on imbuing it with life through magic. When he meets with Florian, he tells him that he drew up the Emperor's horoscopes and warned him of disaster in the past, before asking him to relay that he has a secret message for him. Once the time comes to bring the Golem to life, Low has his assistant, Famulus, assist him, first in taking the inanimate statue upstairs and in the actual ceremony, which he performs after learning that the Emperor has invited him to attend the Rose Festival at his palace. When the planets are properly aligned, he summons the spirit known as Astaroth, who speaks the magic word that brings the dead and the inanimate to life. Low writes down the word, inserts into a special amulet, or "shem," and places it on the Golem's chest. The creature promptly comes to life and proves to be imposing but obedient, and can be rendered inert again when the shem is removed. Low begins using the Golem as a servant and then takes him to the Rose Festival in order to show him off to the Emperor and the castle's audience. This proves to be fortuitous, as Low is able to have the Golem save the Emperor and his court from a calamity, leading to the Jews being pardoned and allowed to remain in their ghetto. However, the Golem begins to rebel against his creator, refusing to allow him to remove the shem, and Low reads that soon, Astaroth will possess the Golem and use him to go on a rampage that could doom the newly pardoned Jewish community.

The film was the brainchild of Paul Wegener, an actor and filmmaker who's considered one of the pioneering figures of German Expressionism, as well as German cinema in general. While acting in and co-directing his first film, 1913's The Student of Prague, Wegener first learned of the ancient Jewish legend of the Golem and decided to adapt it into a film; ultimately, he would direct and star as the title character in three films, the first of which was released in 1915. His dissatisfaction with that film, mainly due to compromises and studio interference, which included setting it in contemporary times, is what led him to make this, which serves as a prequel. According to IMDB, Wegener directed twenty films in his lifetime, his last one being in 1937, but he was an actor in dozens more, including the 1926 horror film, The Magician (his only Hollywood film), and 1928's Alraune, based on a 1911 novel that, itself, is based on a legend from the Middle Ages. (I mention that film because I also first learned of that story from The History of Sci-Fi and Horror. In addition, Wegener had planned to do a film that brought together the title character of Alraune and the Golem but it never came to be.) When the Nazis came to power, he was "lucky" to find himself favored by the regime, who put him in a number of propaganda films rather than persecute, arrest, or exile him, as they had done to so many other actors and directors. However, Wegener hated the regime, which had harassed a number of his friends and colleagues, and is said to have financed a number of resistance groups, as well as helped rebuild and improve living conditions in Berlin after World War II. The last film he acted in was 1949's The Great Mandarin, released a year after he died at the age of 73, although in 1951, Eyes of Love, a film featuring him that was shot during the war but put on the shelf, was finally released.

Wegener co-directed the film with another man, Carl Boese, which he'd also done with his first two versions of The Golem (specifically, he co-wrote and directed the 1915 film with Henrik Galeen, who also acted in the film and went on to co-write this film with Wegener and to pen Nosferatu, while Rochus Gliese was his co-director on The Golem and the Dancing Girl, having already co-directed a number of his early films and worked as his art director). While Wegener was mainly an actor and only directed a large handful of films, Boese was a very prolific producer and director, shooting over 150 films between 1917 and 1957, the year before his death at the age of 70. It seems like this was the only time the two men's paths crossed, professionally.

As has been noted, this is actually the third in a trilogy of movies based around the legend of the Golem, with the first having been made in 1915 and the second, a comedic spoof called The Golem and the Dancing Girl, in 1917. The original film was simply titled The Golem, and as this film is meant to be a prequel depicting how the Golem was first created, it was given the subtitle, How He Came Into the World. But, since both of the earlier films are now lost, this film is often just called The Golem, which is how I and everybody else have always known it. An entire reel of the original 1915 film has been found, and there are rumors that an entire print may exist somewhere, but, if so, it has never been made officially available; The Golem and the Dancing Girl, on the other hand, seems to be entirely lost, despite claims that it could be found somewhere in Eastern European film archives.

The fairly small cast of characters is pretty one-dimensional, although Rabbi Low (Albert Steinruck), the head of the Jewish community in the Prague ghetto, is memorable in how, fearing for his people's safety, he creates and then brings the Golem to life and does so despite the risks of summoning the malevolent spirit of Astaroth in order to learn the word that bestows life. When he succeeds in animating the Golem, he's ecstatic and initially uses him as a servant, having him perform everyday chores and run errands. He also intends for him to be a potential guardian for his daughter, Mirjam, as he doesn't approve of her infatuation with Squire Florian. When Low is granted an audience with the Emperor at the Rose Festival, he takes the Golem with him, using him to show off to the Emperor and, ultimately, to save him and his court when one magical feat he performs goes wrong. This act inspires the Emperor to grant the Jews a full pardon and allow them to continue living in their ghetto. Upon returning home, Low has the Gatekeeper awaken everyone with his shofar so he can relay the good news to them, but when he gets back to his house, he notices that the Golem is becoming more rebellious and antagonistic towards him, especially when he tries to remove the shem that keeps him animate. He finally does manage to make the Golem inert once more and, upon doing some more reading, learns that an upcoming astrological alignment will allow Astaroth to possess him and wreak havoc. Low attempts to destroy the Golem before this happens, but is called away to the temple so he can be thanked for getting the pardon. While he's gone, the Golem is brought back to life and goes on a rampage that leads to him dragging Mirjam through the streets. Learning of this, Low performs a spell that expels Astaroth from the Golem, rendering him docile once more and leading to his being vanquished.

Mirjam (Lyda Salmonova), Low's daughter, is little more than a rebellious young woman who, despite the affections of Famulus, Low's personal assistant, becomes infatuated with Florian (Lothar Muthel), the young squire whom the Emperor repeatedly sends as an envoy to the ghetto. Though he seems rather prissy in the way he dresses, stands, and acts, twiddling a flower between his fingers when he first arrives with the decree and clearly doesn't like to be touched, he's smitten with Mirjam the minute he lays eyes on her. In fact, she's the only thing he really cares about, as he's otherwise

dismissive and impatient when it comes to dealing with the Jews, although he does agree to put forth Low's request to meet with the Emperor. When Florian returns with Low's invitation to the Rose Festival, he initially steals away with Mirjam, putting his hand on her chest and clinging to her, until Low walks in on them. Florian gives Low the invite and leaves, but his and Mirjam's mutual attraction hasn't gone unnoticed and Low does not approve. Mirjam, however, is indignant and her father then tells her that she will soon have a guardian. Like a lot of people, she's terrified of the Golem when she sees him. It's unlikely that she's aware of his unearthly origins but she clearly knows there's something unnatural about him and it unnerves her. Regardless, when the Rose Festival comes along, Mirjam and Florian use its distraction as a means to get together, with Florian slipping away from the palace and bribing the Gatekeeper to let him into the ghetto. The two of them have a passionate night together but fall asleep until late the next morning, when Florian finds himself trapped in Mirjam's bedroom when Low returns and the whole town is awakened to rejoice in the news of the Jewish pardon. Worst of all, when Famulus hears the sound of Florian's voice in her room, he reanimates the now possessed and dangerous Golem and orders him to chase him away. The Golem proceeds to attack and chase Florian up to the roof, where he throws him off to his death. After setting fire to Low's house, the Golem then drags Mirjam through the streets by her braids, letting her go only when Astaroth is exorcised from him.

Famulus (Ernst Deutsch) is shown to be quite trusted by Low in that he's the only one in the Jewish ghetto who knows of the Golem's unearthly origins, with Low asking him to help in the ceremony that brings him to life. He's quite leery of the notion of summoning Astaroth, with Low having to literally drag him into place during the ceremony, and he also tries to stop him from writing down the word of life. When the Golem is brought to life, Famulus uses him to run errands for Low, although he finds him to be a tad difficult to deal with, given his rigid nature and immense strength. When Low is gone to the Rose Festival with the Golem, Famulus is left in charge of the house but falls asleep at his desk, allowing Florian to sneak in for his rendezvous with Mirjam. The next day, upon telling Low of how he is to be taken to the temple for the celebration of the Jews' pardon, he excitedly goes to tell Mirjam, hoping to escort her to the temple. But when he hears Florian in her bedroom, Famulus, due his own feelings for Mirjam (which were barely touched upon, I might add), gets jealous, awakens the Golem, and tells him to chase the stranger away. Things get out of hand when the Golem breaks down the door, attacks both Mirjam and Florian (Famulus does nothing at all about the former), and kills Florian. Horrified at the latter and when the Golem takes an interest in Mirjam, Famulus attempts to remove his shem, only for the Golem to attack him with a torch. This leads to the house being set on fire, forcing Famulus to flee and warn the others of what's happening. Once Astaroth has removed from the Golem and things have quieted down, Famulus seeks Mirjam's forgiveness, promising to say nothing of her romance with Florian, all traces of whom were destroyed in the fire. No one else learns of his role in what happened and he's never punished for it, which is a bit frustrating, as I'll talk about more later.

Interestingly, the Emperor (Otto Gebuhr), despite signing a decree meant to expel the Jews from their community, sees Rabbi Low and his magical powers and invocations as a source of amusement. He invites him to the Rose Festival at his palace in order for him to entertain everyone with his skills, giving Low the opportunity to present the Golem to them. At first, the Emperor isn't sure what to make of the creature, but he eventually grows impressed with him and asks Low to show them more of his magical capabilities. Low then creates a vision of his people's ancestors but asks that no one make a sound, as there will be trouble otherwise. The Emperor, not really taking it seriously, allows Low to go through with it, but he and his court do laugh at a vision of Ahasverus, the Wandering Jew. As a result, a calamity hits the palace, causing the ceiling to slowly come down on them, threatening to crush them. With everyone panicking, the Emperor begs for Low to save them, offering to pardon the Jews in return, and then, with the Golem's help, everyone at the palace is saved.

You can definitely see how Paul Wegener's performance as the Golem influenced the classic portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in many ways, namely in how he's portrayed as a man-made monster who seems docile at first but, in the end, turns on his creator and goes on a rampage. When he's first brought to life, he is naturally imposing and, as Famulus learns, if you don't get out of his way when he's walking, he'll shove you aside, but he does whatever he's told, performing various acts and chores and initially doesn't mind when they remove the shem from his chest to "deactivate" him. He's not one for manners, as he angrily motions for a bunch of curious kids to stop bugging him while he's on his way to a shop to pick up some things and plows right into the place, kicking away a flower pot in his path, but on the whole, is fairly benign. Also like Frankenstein's monster in the James Whale film, the Golem is revealed to have something of a soul within him, as seen when Low takes him to the Emperor's palace in order to show him off. Although he's a bit perturbed when the ladies of the court surround him from all sides, jerking his head around to one who reaches to touch his chin, when one gives him a flower, his demeanor softens. He goes to pat her on the head, although his erratic movements make him come off as a tad too unpredictable for her and she and the other women back away, and then sniffs the flower, after which he's overcome with emotion and smiles. But, when things go awry at the palace, he simply stands there amidst the chaos and falling rubble, only acting when Low tells him to save everyone.

But, just like with the criminal brain accidentally put into the Frankenstein monster's skull, the Golem begins to grow more hostile and standoffish with Low due to the spirit of Astaroth taking possession of him. He's unwilling to let Low remove the shem, with the rabbi having to do so quickly enough to where he can't cover it with his hand. Low, looking through his books and realizing what's happening, attempts to destroy the Golem, but becomes distracted by the Jews' celebration of their having been pardoned, leading to the Golem being reanimated by a jealous Famulus. Now fully

possessed by the malevolent Astaroth, he becomes violent and dangerous, attacking Mirjam and Fabien, chasing the latter up onto the roof and throwing him off to his death. He then turns his attention to Mirjam, as he grabs her, takes her back downstairs, puts her on a table, and looms over her body, sneering and smiling in a very unsettling manner, as Astaroth clearly has nasty intentions. Famulus tries to stop the Golem but he refuses to allow him to remove the shem and attacks him with a torch, eventually setting the house aflame. He takes Mirjam, drags her out into the streets by

by her braids, and attacks several townspeople offscreen, with Low and the others finding them lying in the streets, knocked out. Once Low performs the spell that expels Astaroth from him, the Golem puts Mirjam on a large stone in a secluded spot and wanders off, seemingly confused, and eventually finds his way to the gate. Seeing some young girls playing on the other side, he smashes the gate doors open, causing them to flee, save for one, who's more curious than scared. She offers him the apple she has and he picks her up in his arms, now more benevolent than ever. This is one of the most obvious links with Whale's

Frankenstein, but the twist here is that, instead of the Golem accidentally killing the girl, she, in essence, unwittingly kills him! Out of curiosity, she removes the shem, causing him to become inert, drop her, and fall backwards. The other girls then come back, play around the Golem's body, and one of them tosses away the shem, ensuring that he'll never be reanimated.

Though nowhere near as familiar to general audiences as the look of Frankenstein's monster in the Universal movies, the design of the Golem is iconic in its own right, with its heavy clothes, enormous belt, and boots, the star-shaped shem on his chest, and the molded hairpiece atop his head. A lot of the character's success also has to do with how great Paul Wegener himself looks in the costume. As you saw in the photo of him at the beginning, Wegener didn't look much different out of the makeup, truly seeming to be chiseled out of

rock with how large and robust he was. Also, his eyes were very expressive, as was his entire face, and while some of his facial mannerisms do come off as unintentionally funny (like the wide eyes and frown he puts on when he's first awakened), he was really able to make the Golem come off as deadly when he was angry and possessed by evil, as well as gentle and benevolent when he was moved by something. And finally, his almost Asian-like facial structure helped make the character feel out of place and otherworldly.

Speaking of otherworldly, the portrayal of both the Jews and their community is almost completely fantastical. While they do encourage prayer to Jehovah and often do so at a synagogue, the rabbis, particularly Low, are depicted more as wizards and sorcerers rather than as spiritual leaders or teachers, with their long beards, pointy Merlin-like hats, and dabbling in magic and the black arts, which they sometimes in performances for the Emperor's amusement. Heck, when Low summons Astaroth, he even uses a magic wand in the ceremony! And while we're on the subject of Low, he, in another tie between this film and

Frankenstein, is very much like Dr. Frankenstein himself in that he creates the Golem with his own hands (Henry Frankenstein describes having made the monster "with my own hands" in the James Whale film, which some have seen as analogous to sculpting, as Low does with the Golem) and then imbues it with life through the help of an assistant. Though Low uses magic rather than scientific methods, both the Golem and Frankenstein's monster are still brought to life through unearthly forces. And finally, just like with Frankenstein, Low comes to realize that his creation is more destructive and uncontrollable than he initially realized, prompting him to attempt to destroy it, although fate has other ideas.

The ghetto the Jewish community lives in is just as unusual as the people themselves, with the architecture full of the stylization you'd come to expect from German Expressionism. Set behind an enormous gate that's overseen by a keeper in a guard post atop the wall, the ghetto is filled with strange, twisted houses and buildings sculpted out of earth and stone, rather narrow streets, alleyways, exterior corridors, and stairways, and archways joining various buildings together. Interior-wise, the most significant place is the building where Low lives with Mirjam, gazes at the stars through a telescope on the roof, and does his sorcery. It is, as

you'd expect, strange-looking, with the twisting stairway leading up to the roof having random sections which look like interior tunnels that leave off on parts where the stairs are totally exposed, windows with warped shapes, a main room with a kiln where Low keeps all of his equipment and books on magic, and the cellar, which is accessed by a trapdoor and is where, behind a door with a paper seal on it, he creates the Golem, following a diagram on the wall. Even Low's office looks weird, with furniture and arches on the ceiling that have off-putting, even ugly, shapes carved into

them, and the same goes for Mirjam's bedroom, which also has strange, leaf and vine patterns running along the curved, angled walls. And their holy temple is just a dimly lit space with little detail to it aside from an altar where the rabbis lead the people in prayer. By contrast, the Emperor's palace has a much more traditional, fairy tale-like look, with no bizarre shapes or costumes, making the Jewish community feel all the more alien. In fact, their ghetto feels so isolated and in the middle of nowhere, with the only glimpse of the outside world being the space outside the gate and a path that Low and the Golem take to and from the Emperor's palace, that it wouldn't be that surprising to learn they do live on another planet.

And yet, despite the film's setting being limited to the ghetto and the Emperor's palace, it has an impressive sense of scale to it. The size of some of the interiors, the expanse of the ghetto's streets and exterior corridors, and the sheer height of the buildings, as well as the huge throngs of extras in various scenes, tells you that this was not a small movie by any means, with art director Hans Poelzig (whom Boris Karloff's character in The Black Cat would later be named after) making good use of the backlot and stages at Berlin's Tempelhof Studios. In addition, cinematographer Karl Freund makes sure to get big, wide beauty

shots of the sets and exteriors, while Paul Wegener sometimes uses montages to make the film feel more epic, such as the cutaways of people jumping out of the palace windows when the roof is coming down and people peeking out their windows upon hearing the sound of the Gatekeeper's shofar. The same goes for the physical effects of the palace ceiling slowly descending, threatening to crush the people, the Golem stopping it by holding it up and breaking the beams in two, and the fire that completely engulfs Low's home during the climax, culminating in the entire building collapsing. And there are also instances where Poelzig uses big, painted backdrops to depict the night skies and city skylines, which not only add a little more to the scale but also contribute to that artificiality that makes everything feel otherworldly.

As for the film's actual look, you can see why Freund is considered one of the pioneers of cinematography, as he gives the movie that unmistakable, shadowy look of German Expressionism, with many nighttime interior shots done in almost total darkness. Throughout the film, he and Guido Seeber, the film's other cinematographer, do some interesting things with filters and irises, as there are instances where the edges of the screen will be completely black around one image, be it a close-up of a person's face (an example is the Emperor when he's first introduced), a shot of a set or exterior, or a

significant character or object. The shape of these isolated images tends to change from one to another: sometimes, it's a typical circle or a square, other times it's a narrow pillar of an image going straight down the center of the screen, and sometimes, it leads to shapes that are almost as bizarre as some of the architecture, like with this one shot of Florian arriving at the Jewish ghetto for the second time. These are far from the only instances of memorable visuals in the movie, as Paul Wegener was fascinated with trick photography and Seeber himself was another pioneer who developed several special effects

techniques. Together, they came up with stuff that's still impressive, especially given the time. The scene where Rabbi Low summons Astaroth has moments that include a ring of fire appearing around Low after he mimes drawing one, flaming sprites dancing through the air above him and Famulus, an eerie image of Astaroth's ghoulish face appearing out of the darkness and literally breathing out the word of life, which appears in the air in front of him after he expels smoke from his mouth, and flashes of animated lightning which, if you look closely, also contain the word within

them. Later, at the Emperor's palace, Low creates a vision of the Jewish people's ancestors that consists of a large, ethereal screen floating in the air in front of the audience. This effect I find to be especially amazing for the time, given how well both elements integrate with each other. And when Low and the Golem return home, there's a shot of the sky with a crescent moon that was clearly added in, as it's in front of the clouds (I have a feeling it was a daytime shot as well), but, again, it kind of fits with the movie's otherworldly nature.

Visual and technical accomplishments aside, the main reason why I like The Golem is that it's a very to-the-point type of movie. When viewed at the best frame rate, it's only around 74 minutes long and wastes no time in telling its story, which it does in five acts. As soon as it begins, you see Rabbi Low predicting disaster for the Jewish people, prompting him to create the Golem while also attempting to stave off their eviction from the ghetto by meeting with the Emperor. Just a few minutes before the halfway mark, the Golem has been both molded into shape and brought to life, and we get a little bit of Low using him as a

servant before presenting him to the Emperor. We also get a little bit of comedy at Famulus' expense, as the Golem pushes him to the floor when he stands in his path while he's first walking and when he has some trouble in controlling him when sending him on errands. When he and the Golem return from a shop with supplies, he has to tell him to extend his arm in order to slide off the basket containing some vegetables, as it was getting stuck in the crook of his arm, and almost gets whacked by it. He then has the Golem pull the lever in order to fan the flames in the kiln, only for him to do it too hard and cause the flames to really flare up. He

also can't get the Golem to stop and Low has to come in and make him. As humorous as it is, this scene is also a prelude to the havoc that's to come, as after Low and the Golem return home upon entertaining and then saving the Emperor and his court, the Golem starts to act more rebellious and aggressive, getting really angry when Low tries to remove his shem and threatening him when he tries again. Thus, we get into the climax, where Famulus unknowingly resurrects a now malevolent Golem to dispense with Florian. He tears down Mirjam's bedroom door, Florian attempts to stop

him with a knife to the chest, only to succeed in bending the blade, the Golem attacks both him and Mirjam, and, under Famulus' continuing encouragement, chases Florian up to the roof of the building and throws him off to his death. He then abducts Mirjam and tries to have his way with her downstairs, and when Famulus attempts to intervene, he attacks him with a torch from the kiln, ultimately sending the entire building up in flames.

However, the final act is a bit of a letdown following that, as it mainly focuses on the people panicking and Low attempting to save them from the Golem's wrath, while the Golem himself wanders about the ghetto, carrying Mirjam by the braids. Being a monster movie lover, I can't help but wish we could've seen a little more havoc caused by the Golem, like maybe him breaking into other houses and attacking various townspeople, rather than just the aftermath of one such attack in the street. I also don't care for how Famulus' role in the disaster is never revealed and he's never punished for, among other things,

getting Florian killed. Moreover, he may be remorseful about causing Low's house to burn but he seems more relieved that there are no traces of Florian, thus ensuring Mirjam's love affair with him is never uncovered, rather than sad that he got an innocent person killed. (Granted, you could say Florian wasn't entirely innocent, given his lustful interest in Mirjam, but as far as she was concerned, his attention wasn't exactly unwelcome.) I do, however, like the ending, where the Golem has become docile and has his moment with the little girl before she unwittingly "kills" him. The sad fact

of the matter with that scene is twofold: first with the girl innocently rendering him inert and then tossing away the shem, and second with the knowledge that, even if she hadn't done that, he would have likely been attacked and destroyed by the townspeople who would have no way of knowing that the evil Astaroth no longer had control of him or probably wouldn't have even cared.

Talking about silent movies is always kind of tricky because of their public domain status, leading to numerous home media versions with different audio tracks and frame rates, as well as how there's often various versions of them in different levels of completeness. Speaking for myself, the version of The Golem I watched for this review is the 2017 digital restoration done by the F.W. Murnau Foundation, which is the version Kino Lorber put out on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2020. They constructed it from two different camera negatives, mainly one original domestic negative that was better preserved, had all the best material, and had most of the original intertitles, with footage from a U.S. distribution print and a secondary domestic negative used to fill in any gaps (you can tell when they did so, as the film quality becomes much more grainy and scratchy). There were also three different music scores for that release and the one I listened to, while not amazing, what was perfectly fine and had the added effect of heavy breathing for some moments involving the Golem, including when he first comes to life. According to IMDB, a DVD release put out by Alpha Video in 2002 may be the most complete version of the film, as it runs 101 minutes long, while most run from 74 to 85 minutes, depending on the frame rate. I don't know what's in it that wasn't in the version I watched, but given how I didn't feel like there was anything missing, I doubt it was that significant.

If you're a fan of silent horror films and German Expressionism and you haven't yet seen The Golem, I'd highly advise you to check it out, as it's a well-made, well-designed and -shot movie, with impressive special effects for the time and a very memorable and influential title creature, and whose biggest accomplishment is that it effectively and efficiently tells a simple, straightforward story. There are some flaws, such as most of the characters being fairly unremarkable, the final act not being quite as awesome as the scene that ended the previous one, and the character of Famulus not getting a comeuppance for what he did, but those are minor problems that the movie more than manages to overcome.