Phantom

F.W. Murnau
1922

This silent rarity from the famed director of "Nosferatu" (1922), F.W. Murnau, is of little interest, being mostly a cut -and-dried morality tale. City clerk Lorenz begins to spend above his means and covet fancy dames when a local bookstore owner claims his poems are genius and that his writing will surely bring him celebrity. The old man's judgement is flawed however as the poems are of little interest to the publisher, and thus Lorenz's debts escalate into a financial quagmire. With the help of his fallen sister and her petty-crook husband, Lorenz first borrows and then attempts to steal money from a beloved and wealthy aunt. Inevitably, things come to a predictably dreary conclusion that gives way to the naive hero's eventual redemption. The film's title refers to the fantastic vision Lorenz sees of a beautiful women driving a coach lead by snow-white horses. It's a metaphor for desire which is both fascinating and evocative, but is unfortunately buried in the morally black-and-white melodrama of long-suffering mothers on deathbeds, disgraced children, slippery hucksters, and busybody widows. For my money, "Sunrise" (1927) is a far more complex, satisfying, and enjoyable picture.