Conrad Veidt (1893-1943)

[anselmo1]

Everyone remembers Major Strasser in the legendary film Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The actor that played the part, Conrad Veidt, was one of the great actors in Europe before he had to flee Nazi Germany in 1933.

Has anyone seen his 1928 film, "The Man Who Laughs"? I have to say it was one of the finest films I have ever seen.

 

[Fletch]

I'm familiar with Veidt from the very strange (if not very good) science-fiction romance F.P.1 (1932), where he played a cynical aviator who agrees to save an offshore airport built by his friend in order to steal his girl. The girl was the then Mrs. Laurence Olivier and the friend was "Nails" Nathan from The Public Enemy.

 

[anselmo1]

Leslie Fenton

Conrad Veidt's best films were during the "Silent Era" in Germany during the 1920's. Leslie Fenton played Nails Nathan in The Public Enemy in 1931. He married Ann Dvorak who played in the 1931 movie Scarface with Paul Muni.

 

[Sefton]

Veidt was the somnambulist Cesar in the classic 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Wonderful film.
I would like to see more of his silent work. A very talented actor and something of an icon (for villains,that is!)

 

[The Wolf]

What a wonderful actor. He was actually quite a handsome man but used his face to good effect in a variety of roles (as demonstrated by the films mentioned).

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[anselmo1]

Greatly under appreciated actor in the 1920's until his death in 1943

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Very romantic, handsome, courageous and a little humorous in Contraband by the great Michael Powell.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I Was a Spy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024161/ with the beautiful Madeleine Carroll will be at Cinefest this year http://www.picking.com/cinefest2007.html

 

[Doh!]

I've never seen The Man Who Laughs, but do know that Veidt's appearance in it was the inspiration for The Joker in the original Batman comics. The still on the first page of this thread makes it all too obvious.

 

[Dapper Dan]

It's been said already, but I'll say it again. See "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." The plot is goofy and the acting is (not surprisingly) over-the-top. Veidt was quite good in it, though. Anyway, the real draw to it is the amazing set design. The sets are all painted wood that makes the film feel and look like a moving piece of German Expressionism.

 

[pigeon toe]

I loved him in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I actually wrote a 13 page historical fiction piece loosely based on the film (I had to write it for my history class senior year in high school), if anyone's interested in reading it.

 

[Fletch]

More about F.P.1

I looked around the web for shots of Conrad in F.P.1 but couldn't find much.
The thing is - the picture was made in 3 languages at once (!!!), all with different actors.
The German film, called F.P.1 antwortet nicht (F.P.1 Does Not Reply), was quite the hit.
The English one got chopped up badly, cutting out a lot of the flying and model work for some reason, and only attracted much attention in Australia.
The French version has disappeared.

Anyway, here are the leads from each on the "aircraft platform" soundstage, which was actually built on a small island out in the Baltic. L-R, they are Hans Albers (German version), Veidt (English), and Charles Boyer (French).

BTW, the screenplay came from a novel by Curt Siodmak, whose name is well known to s-f and horror film filberts.