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Features: Silent, DVD
Editor's Note
Marrying war time climate of fear and subterfuge with the period fascination with exotic plots and locations, Fritz Lang took the favored genre of cliffhanger serials and crafted a complex tale of international intrigue and mystical espionage. A dazzling serial adventure complete with Inca treasure, human-sacrifice, wild chases and close calls, this early work inspired the "Indiana Jones" films sixty years later. Kay Hoog the Indiana Jones-like wealthy playboy adventurer jets off to Mexico after finding a treasure map inside a bottle and is closely followed by secret crime underground, The Spiders, led by beautiful and seductive Lio Sha. From hot air balloon escapes, to sub-aquatic lakes of gold, Lang utilized all of his visual and narrative skills to create a compelling series of adventures. As the first part climaxes, the genre shifts dramatically to a western and sees the protagonist on horseback desperately trying to flee Mexico with the sun priestess. An early glimpse into Lang's themes of secret societies and the intersection between crime, morality and mysticism, Part I of THE SPIDERS, is a seminal example of early film and a precursor of Lang's seminal crime films of the 30's through the sixties.
Plot Summary
Legendary directors Lang's (METROPOLIS, M) earliest surviving feature is an INDIANA JONES prototype and concerns the plot of a secret organization to steal the gold of the dying Inka race. Kay Hoog, an intrepid adventurer and yachtsman, finds a note in a bottle from a Harvard anthropologist asking for help. Hoog soon figures out who is after the Inka's gold and is going toe to toe with the nefarious and sexy Lio Sha in no time. This film was Lang's first popular success and boasts the pre CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI set design of Hermann Warm.
| Features | Source: Image Entertainment, Inc. |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Image Entertainment |
| Release Date: 8/17/1999 |
| Running Time: 137 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1919 | | Catalog ID: 4678 | | UPC: 00014381467826 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Available Audio Tracks: English Title Card | | Video: B&W |
| Cast & Crew | Lil Dagover | | Georg John - Featured | | Hermann Warm - Set Designer | | Ressel Orla - Featured | | Gaylord Carter - Composer | | Carl De Vogt - Featured | | Fritz Lang - Director |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Quite charming..." 11/08/1979 p.C17 |
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