Alraune You don't have a license because your name is Alraune.
- And my name is here. I'm a woman.
This 1952 film seems to me a utterly useless, dim shadow of a 1928 painting. Although, the creators tried to make the story more modern. Unlike its expressionist forefather, this film turned out to be more academic, but also Gothic. We are faced with such an already familiar cinematic meme - the grim castle of an obsessed scientist. And here we get an amazing anticipation of “Eye without a face” Franju.
Erich von Strogheim plays a passionate inventor who is rejected by his colleagues and enjoys his own success in the face of the beautiful Alraune. Hildegard Knef is very charming in her own way. Her facial features are manly, which only complements the unhappy image of Alrauna. In any case, for Germany, Hildegard was a real beauty from Ulm.
So, the bet of the creators was simple: a linear plot, a bright beauty and a charismatic von Stroheim. Of course, in any comparison with the same "Alrauna" film could not go. In fact, in comparison, it seems even worse than it is. The boring exploitation of the cult theme is faced here with memories of past art, the rough appearance of Hildegard with the plasticity of Briggita Helm, using the familiar clichés of von Stroheim with the genius Bregener. It was because of the comparison that I couldn't put the score higher -
3 out of 10