Die Augen der Mumie Ma (1918) watch online HD

Here are Lubitsch, Pola Negri and Emil Jannings back in the year 1918 at the start and before they achieved their huge fame. Of course, this is a low budget movie. The Egyptian desert scenes were filmed in a Berlin quarry and the Egyptian tomb is of absurdly cheap quality. However we can see the evident skill of Lubitsch when working with his lead actors. The fascinating personality of Pola Negri shines . I certainly wish that we had more such real women in today,s modern movies. So please enjoy this nostalgic movie. Consider that if it was remade today with millions of dollars, special effects and huge publicity ,that it might be a box-office bonanza

... but a tragedy... of sorts. The "Eyes Of The Mummy" refer to the eye-holes in a doorway with a face on it that Pola Negri looks out of to scare people out of the temple of Queen Ma. There is no mummy, there is no monster, there really is no horror. This is not a complaint, but this movie is often grouped in with monster movies merely because of it's title.

It's easy to laugh at a film almost 85 years old, your grand kids and great grand kids will laugh at what you currently enjoy as well. The dance that Pola does may look strange to our eyes, but the desired effect was to be exotic. The acting is typically broad and melodramatic, appropriate to it's time. With the deterioration of many silent movies, we can sometimes be thankful that the actors seemed to be overacting, we can still see their expressions even when their films are fading away.

Not Pola Negri's best work, or her worst. There must be a few different cuts of this film circulating. The one I saw was about an hour and ten minutes long, not the half-hour reported here or the forty-five minutes reported on the main page for this movie. I rather enjoyed the version I saw, maybe the shorter cuts leave too much out to fill the story out.

Recommended if you enjoy the genre and it's stars. If you are looking for Halloween fare, stick with Universal's later horror classics, including..yes, the "real" mummy movies.

The title refers to Pola Negri's eyes. Captured by the evil Arab, Radu, (well played by Emil Jannings) Negri, as 'Queen Ma,' is forced to be his slave and trick tourists in an Egyptian pyramid by hiding within a sarcophagus with her live eyes showing through its eyeholes. A visiting painter, Albert Wendland, (Harry Liedke) supposedly the hero, falls in love with her and takes her back to Europe.

The film works as a kind of proto- 'Hammer Films' melodramatic thriller, as Radu follows her to Europe tracking her down and stalking her to seek his revenge on her having left him. Jannings is darkly made up, but we still get to see his menacing eyes and gestures that made him such a super star in the next decade after the film was made. (For some reason, it wasn't released in the United States until 1922.)

Pola Negri does a good job showing her gratitude, devotion and love to Wendland, as well as her alienation from her new European environment and hesitation to participate in it. It's only when she performs a 'native' dance at her coming out party that she relaxes and begins to mix and fit into her new culture (as a popular exotic dancer). Woo! But her dancing! You haven't seen anything this funny since the Babylonian dancers in 'Intolerance' (1916)! All jerky hootchie kootchie motions which briefly profile the curves of her cello shaped body (actually this type of female body was popular in films and soft core during the teens and twenties).

The action really picks up as all the coincidences have Radu closing in on Ma. The whole movie is pretty well edited, but the last fifteen minutes are especially well done. While the hero tries to rush to Ma's rescue, Radu exerts his hypnotic Svengali power over her, kills her, and then, after kissing her, out of remorse, kills himself. The hero rushes in, but...too late! This is the kind of tight little thriller / tragedy that Hammer would do so well in the sixties.

The Alpha Video DVD I have features a continuous piano soundtrack by Rachel Guches that has some interesting dissonances, but also the pop tune 'My Reverie' (?).

Even though the silent miming is a little too much, the film tells an interesting story, moves along at a good clip, and features good acting by Pola Negri and Emil Jannings. I give it a five.

As a piece of movie entertainment, Eyes of the Mummy is dated and unremarkable seen through current standards. There are a few nicely nightmarish moments (especially a scene when Ma sees Radu in the mirror while nobody else seems to notice) but overall, this is no Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

On the other hand, fans of cartoonist/writer Edward Gorey will be richly rewarded by a film that appears to have been designed and directed by the illustrator of "The Gilded Bat" and "The Blue Aspic." The effect is uncanny and curiously involving. It's not just the melodramatic subject matter...every detail has the Gorey touch. One almost imagines the hand-drawn texture lines. Any Gorey fan will find Eyes of the Mummy to be well worth the time spent.

In the late 1910s, while Hollywood was focusing mostly on serious contemporary drama, their soon-to-be significant rivals in Berlin were turning more towards adventuresome flights of fancy. Myth, fantasy, exotic lands and a touch of horror were the hallmarks of German cinema. Although better known for his unique comedies, director Ernst Lubitsch was nevertheless a capable and versatile craftsman, and at this stage was at the forefront of the Germanic style.

The approach to these pictures was all about space, and for Lubitsch the most important aspect of space appears to be depth. A lot of the movement in Die Augen der Mumie Ma is towards or away from the camera. Of course, Griffith and many others in the US had been doing this for years, but Lubitsch actually shuns horizontal movement, and his pictures seem designed to accommodate movement in depth. Often there is a large empty space behind the actors, or a doorway at the back of the set leading to another room. The bric-a-brac of Kurt Richter's elaborate set design tends to be concentrated at the sides of the frame, creating a kind of tunnel effect in some scenes.

What is the point of all this? Well, I think first and foremost it was probably just a style that appealed aesthetically to Lubitsch and Richter, and there is no shame in that. Nevertheless it is one that they could use to great effect. Emil Jannings often appears to be advancing eerily upon us, while good guys Harry Liedtke and Pola Negri disappear worryingly away from us. In the few shots where the actors are backed up against a wall with no space behind them, for example in the flashback where Jannings first brings Negri to the tomb, the sudden change is palpable, in a nastily claustrophobic way. And depth plays a part in all the most chilling moments, such as Jannings appearing in a mirror at the far end of the room. We simultaneously see him in the distance yet are aware he is actually behind the camera, and thus behind "us". These are all moves towards a more interactive cinema, in which the audience are not merely external observers, but feel they are enveloped in the film's world.

Die Augen der Mumie Ma is also notable for early performances by two giant figures of German cinema, the aforementioned Emil Jannings and Pola Negri. Like Lubitsch, Jannings's area of expertise was comedy, and his Radu is a hammy caricature. But Jannings's hamming was of a good sort, and just as his excessive mannerisms could make us laugh in pictures like The Merry Jail or Faust, here they come across as grimly macabre. Negri too is a little hysterical at times, but in fact far less so than many leading ladies of German cinema, and most of her performance is refreshingly restrained, comprised of slow, delicate movements.

If there is anything significantly wrong with this picture, it is its naïve silliness. For example, Jannings is taken to Europe to become Hohenfels's manservant, and yet still potters about the prince's palace in his native garb, clutching his dagger and muttering about getting revenge on the woman who wronged him, whereupon the prince pats him amiably on the shoulder as if to say "There, there old chap". Mind you, it would probably have looked equally ridiculous had the murderous Radu been given a haircut and shoehorned into a butler's uniform. Such moments are an unintentional source of humour for me, so I don't regard them as so much of a bad thing. It goes without saying that screenwriter Hans Kraly was another collaborator on this picture whose main field was comedy, and he was most adept at creating romantic fables for fast-paced farces, a genre that doesn't exactly demand logic and cohesion. And yet, in the hands of Lubitsch, Jannings and Negri, Die Augen der Mumie Ma becomes an atmospheric and reasonably entertaining short horror adventure.

As others who've seen this film have mentioned, "The Eyes of the Mummy" is not a horror film involving any mummies; rather, it's an insipid melodramatic tragedy. It was the first of director Ernst Lubitsch's dramatic films, after having started as a comedic filmmaker. The movie involves exotic places (this time, Egypt), which are poorly exploited here compared to other such pictures. Pola Negri, in her first appearance as Lubitsch's star, performs some exotic dancing, too.

"The Eyes of the Mummy" is a generally uninteresting relic. The acting, especially by stars Negri and Emil Jannings, is overdone. Lubitsch employs slight dolly movements to nice effect in the finale, but otherwise the direction is prosaic and theatrical. From the sampling of Lubitsch's German films that I've seen, his dramatic pictures are generally less remarkable than his comedies. With these dramas, however, he received attention in the US--leading to his emigration to Hollywood.

What an egregious waste of talent!! It's poorly acted, indifferently directed, and badly written; too bad THIS film survived when so many other more worthy silents didn't! It's hard to believe this was made in 1918--technically and artistically, it's more like 1909. This is the sort of film you should definitely NOT show to someone unfamiliar with silent film, as it confirms every awful stereotype about them--clownish makeup, hammy gestures, and cheesy plot--and, it's boring to boot. The great Emil Jannings looks more like Othello in search of Desdemona instead of an Egyptian in search of his captive, and this time his habitual overacting is annoying rather than bravura. And, you have to be a pretty maladroit filmaker to take Pola Negri, with her angular Gypsy beauty, and make her up to look like a pint-sized Little Egypt. Take it from a die-hard silents fan who will watch ANY silent film, simply because they are silent: skip this one.

I'm surprised that I'd never heard of THE EYES OF THE MUMMY before I sat down to watch it as it turns out to be a superior and decent little chiller. It must be one of the earliest 'mummy' films out there even though the villain of the piece isn't a bandage-wrapped fiend but rather a sinister Arab character whose love for the film's heroine sees him pursuing her across continents.

For a film made in 1918, THE EYES OF THE MUMMY feels surprisingly fresh and relevant. The lack of any real budget is quite obvious in the depictions of Egypt and the like, but the story packs plenty of incident into the running time and the characters are well drawn. Pola Negri is a good choice for female protagonist and convinces in her sympathetic part. Emil Jannings goes down the all-out pantomime route as the villain of the piece and is such a delight to watch. The climax goes down a surprisingly tragic route that more modern horror films would undoubtedly baulk at.

I never expected to see a horror film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and, while this has been touted as such and is even listed in genre-related books, it's nothing of the kind…and that makes it doubly disappointing for an all-round film-fan like myself! Actually, I've seen little of the director's work made in Germany (which includes only one major title, MADAME DUBARRY [1919], also starring Pola Negri and Emil Jannings) and none of his American Silents – which means that, to me, Lubitsch has always been a master of the Talkie medium, so, bear than in mind…

Anyway, the title is indeed incidental to the main plot which, once again, concerns the vicissitudes of a romantic triangle (Jannings, Negri and Harry Liedtke) which can only end in tragedy. Jannings and Negri are Egyptians involved in a scam milking tourists out of their money, by having the girl lend her eyes to the "mummy" from inside an empty sarcophagus! When a British lord and adventurer comes to visit, she falls in love and leaves with him to England. Needless to say, Jannings – who, naturally, has feelings for Negri himself – follows them (conveniently in the employ of another English aristocrat and friend to Liedtke) in order to exact his revenge. While the plot offers no surprises (except, maybe, the fact that Jannings has a Svengali-like hold on Negri), it's also rather ordinarily handled; indeed, here one finds scarcely any evidence of the much-renowned "Lubitsch" touch!

To be fair to the film, the famed Curse of King Tut's Tomb hadn't yet taken place (that was in 1921) – so, in all probability, the film was never intended as a horror film at all. Anyway, Jannings – who's always worth watching in a larger-than-life manner – is the best thing about the entire film…but the melodramatic acting of Negri, a great star of the period, has dated badly and, indeed, she seems to do little throughout but faint!! As a matter of fact, as a means of amusing myself to counter the tedium of the film itself, as I was watching I imagined the actress discussing the shooting schedule with her director:

Negri: "What's on the schedule for today, Ernst?" Lubitsch: "You faint!"

The next day.

Negri: "What's on the schedule for today, Ernst?" Lubitsch: "You faint!" Negri: "Oh…"

The next day.

Negri: "Er--Ernst, do I get to faint today as well, by any chance?" Lubitsch: "Er…I'm afraid so!"

This 1918 film directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch is alleged to be the first mummy horror film although there is a claim of a lost 1905 film. The only problem is that except for the title there is no mummy! The plot, well here goes. An art student in Egypt goes to an Egyptian tomb to find Ma who may possibly be Pola Negri. I say possibly because the player of the lead character is NOT identified in the credits. Ma is being held as a slave by an Arab (beautifully over acted by Emil Jannings) who is beaten up by the student who then liberates Ma and takes her back to Germany. The Arab nearly dies in the desert but is rescued by a German prince to whom he swears to serve for life. He, the Arab, is then also taken to Germany. Ma in the meantime wows them with a hootchie kootchie dance at a party and gets a theatrical contract to perform on stage. The exotic dance is a hoot. Meanwhile Ma's former Arab master comes across her and in a fit of revenge kills her. The end and all in 30 minutes and no mummy. The overacting in terms of gestures common to silent films of the period is quite present. Jannings, in semi black face, is quite effective as the villain. His repertoire of sinister facial expressions is quite large. All in all the film is an historical curiosity that I am sure Lubitsch and Negri tried to forget when they became more well known.

"Die Augen der Mumie Ma" or "The Eyes of the Mummy" is a German movie that runs approximately for an hour. It was made in 1918, so not too long anymore until its 100th anniversary. looking at the year when this was made, it is obvious that this is a black-and-white silent film and it is an early career effort by Ernst Lubitsch, a long time before his breakthrough in Hollywood and Oscar nominations. The cast includes actually a couple famous names, especially Pola Negri and Emil Jannings, who were great stars back in the day. And the most interesting aspect is probably the film's multiculturalism as it play in Egypt (and England) for the most part, not a surprise either if you look at the title. There is a touch of horror in here, a genre in which Germany was very prolific and successful back in the day, but it is certainly not the only genre. Supernatural aspects made this probably something fairly interesting to audiences back in the day. Unfortunately, I cannot say the plot or acting kept me too interested here, so this one is really only worth watching if you are a much bigger silent film enthusiast than myself. Otherwise, you should skip it.

Considering that this film was directed by the famed German director, Ernst Lubitsch, starred the great Emil Jannings AND it's title talks about Mummies, I was certain that I would love this film--especially since I love silent films. However, in this dreary film, you see none of the famed "Lubitsch touch", Jannings is just okay, the film is NOT about mummies at all and the print from Alpha Video was so fuzzy that it was a chore to watch the thing! The film is set in Egypt, though you really don't see any mummies. Instead, it's an odd tale about a weirdo (Jannings) who has kidnapped a lady (Pola Negri) and has kept her locked inside a temple. When she's rescued by a Brit, he's smitten with her and takes her back to the UK to live with him. She is worried, though, that the crazed Jannings will follow her and exact revenge. No mummies, no curse and not a whole lot of action or excitement.

I wonder. With a different title and different people responsible for the film, I would have had lower expectations and therefore liked the movie more. But, as it was, it was a HUGE disappointment in practically every way.

PS--I've seen quite a few films from Alpha Video. While some of their offerings are rare and hard to find, their DVDs are rather consistently of dubious quality and are rarely, if ever, restored. They are inexpensive, but they're also no bargain thanks to fuzzy or scratchy prints. If you can find other brands, you may want to try them first.

The more silent Lubitsch I see the more I think he's was a lousy silent director who managed to succeed only because he found his niche in sound and comedy. His ANNA BOLEYN, SUMURUN and EYES OF THE MUMMY are just plain awful. This is a very poor film technically and even the great Jannings is wasted as the villain. Negri is effective but overacts badly. Her dance is just plain silly. Only for dyed in the wool fans of the director and the two stars.

I really had high hopes for this one. UFA produced this one, and most ufa films I've seem have been great. And with Emil Jannings I expected much more. But what I got was a bore. I did a crossword puzzle while I watched it. The acting was bad. The story was boring. And the whole movie was just blah. And where was the mummy? I can't believe this movie is considered horror.

If, as promised, this movie was restored then the results are simply horrible.

A company called National Film Museum gave this film to another company called Hypercube IIc, in New York to digitally restore the film.

But, instead of a intelligent restoration what this people did was to tint every scene to red, probably with Photoshop, with disastrous results.

Douglas M. Protsik music is as unremarkable as the bad restoration. His accompaniment does not enhance the images at all.

In all, the available print shown on TCM is unwatchable and I had to turn off the TV set.

I agree the film was not restored well at all. The music did not go along with the visual images. It seemed as though whoever wrote the score was just not paying attention to the movie. The music sounded rather chipper for scenes that seemed dark and a plot that is haunting. A new version is coming out March 28,2006 with a new music score. Hopefully that one will be much better. I heard that the new score is all piano and that the composer also did the score for The Mechanical Man. Which is a very rare old silent film that was found. Looking forward to seeing it. Hopefully the next version of Eyes of The Mummy will be much more better.