Schatten der Nacht / William Voss. Der Millionendieb

At the age of just 20 and with only his fifth film, Harry Piel made film history: with the character Detective Brown, he created the first serial detective in German cinema. The surviving film footage shows what is probably the oldest chase scene involving a train in a German sensationalist film – shot by Willy Hameister, who later became the cinematographer for CALIGARI. In WILLIAM VOSS. DER MILLIONENDIEB, none other than Sherlock Holmes goes on a manhunt and has to put a stop to an insurance fraudster who is illegally obtaining money by means of artificial prosthetic limbs. A film that proved particularly topical in 1916, ‘in the age of artificial limb replacement’ (Lichtbild-Bühne).
(Hemma Marlene Prainsack)

Live musical accompaniment by Gerhard Gruber