“Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (Decla-Bioscop, 1924), directed by Fritz Lang; starring Gertrud Arnold, Margarete Schon, Hanna Ralph, and Paul Richter.”

HPL REACTION BELOW 👇

(with context on the evening & surrounding events/venue details)

“….. Kleiner left first, but Kirk, Mortonius & I stayed on till 2:30 a.m.—James Ferdinand finding this possible because he was stopping in darktown with his former housemate Walker at 138th St. I then returned to 169, read the Bulletin, & retired.

Awaking late on Thursday the 10g) received a call from Leeds inviting me to see the great film of "Siegfried" at the Century—a stupendous German spectacle in which the scattered myths of the Nibelung ring from the early Volsung saga to the Wagnerian tetralogy are fused into one concise & coherent whole, & shewn to the accompaniment of a mighty orchestral composite of Wagnerian musick.

Balcony seats were 50¢, & Leeds insisted on treating even though he can ill afford it. I tried to stop him, but he is as bad as all the rest of the gang for generosity. I can nevet catch up with all the donations they seem determined to shower about!

Having written some letters, I took the subway & arrived at Columbus Circle (the theatre is a few doors north of this in Central Park West) on time, finding Leeds in front of the theatre & at once going in with him.

The sumptuousness of the house—which I had never before entered—pleased me exceedingly, even though there is something a trifle over-ornate—Byzantine, as it were, in suggestion—about the stucco relief decorations of the main auditorium. I presume you may recall from the newspapers that this house—first called the "New Theatre"—was built about fifteen years ago as a sort of experiment in an endowed classic theatre like the Comedie Francaise in Paris, but that the failure of the original venture soon threw it on the market for miscellaneous productions.

As for the film—it was an ecstasy & a delight to be remembered for ever!

It was the very inmost soul of the immortal & unconquerable blond Nordic, embodied in the shining warrior of light, great Siegfried, slayer of monsters & enslaver of Kings.

The central figure was acted by a German of perfectly adapted colouring & physique—Paul Richter—& the scenery was an absolute triumph of Northern phantasy worthy of Dunsany.

Great & mysterious forests spread out with their titan trees, creeping roots, & fantastick play of light & shadow. Castles of mystery crowned haunted crags, & in the Icelandick scenes the abode of Brunhilde was a portentous wonder in colossal lava, brooding spectral & desolate under never-dying auroras.

The musick, too, was of ineffable inspiration. Insensible as I am to musick in general, I cannot escape the majesty of Wagner, whose genius caught the deepest spirit of those ancestral yellow-bearded gods of war & dominion before whom my own soul bows as before no others—Woden, Thor, Freyr, & the vast Alfadur—frosty blue-eyed giants worthy of the adoration of a conquering people!”

QUOTE ENDS HERE 🛑

As you can see, this is quite in line with HPL’s style of waxing wroth regarding things of which he was enamored.

He often spares ink 🫟 on films with high inaccuracy, and says something like “lines were well-delivered” without citing a named actor.

And on a film like KING KONG, his whole comment was “good mechanical effects”.

So it’s notable and also important that he went on at such length about this film. Hope you enjoy the statement, and if you feel inspired to do so, that you enjoy the film 🎞️ too!

Definitely an A-level example of retro-futurism!

THE UNHOLY THREE — HPL REACTION:

“Belknap now left, whilst Loveman & I indulged in nutriment; after which we proceeded westward toward Greenwich to loiter until time to meet Leeds at Columbus Circle for a cinema to which he had invited us "The Unholy Three"…

At length we took the subway for Columbus Circle, met Leeds, & entered the Circle Theatre—20¢ seats in the 2nd balcony.

The film was good—an underworld study of unusual character, involving some decidedly weird & gruesome effects & I advise you to see it if it returns to Providence. It ran last week at the Victory.“