The Spiders (Fritz Lang, 1919): Germany

Reviewed by Byron Potau.  Viewed on DVD.

In one of Fritz Lang’s earliest surviving directorial efforts, The Spiders, he explores characters he would revisit time and again in the years to come.  Intended as a four part series, Lang only completed the first two.  Still, this film seems to serve as an interesting warm up for more successful films to follow.

In part one titled “The Golden Sea,” millionaire adventurer, Kay Hoog, finds a message in a bottle while aboard his yacht and it begins a journey and rivalry with the criminal organization, The Spiders, as they both head to Peru in search of a lost Incan city rich in gold.  In part two titled “The Diamond Ship,” Kay Hoog follows The Spiders and thief Four Finger John as they search for a lost diamond in, among other places, a hidden subterranean Chinese city and the Falkland Islands.  Kay Hoog attempts to thwart their plans and retrieve the kidnapped daughter of a diamond magnate, as well as retrieve the lost diamond.
 
Though an interesting adventure film, Lang’s filmmaking is not yet matured and the action has plenty of holes in addition to some underdeveloped characters.  Our hero, Kay Hoog, is not much different from his rivals, The Spiders, and at times not too bright and a bit too smug to be likable. 

The other major character we get to see is Lio Sha, who has great potential as a villain, but whose scenes really do not reveal much about her.  More significant is her name, which Steven Spielberg and George Lucas used for a character, Lao Sha, in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. 

Lucas seems to be no stranger to this film as there are a couple of scenes which recall his films, including a scene where Kay Hoog narrowly escapes the Spiders to a weather balloon which recalls Indiana Jones’ escape from the Huvitos tribe at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a scene where the walls of an elevator are closing in on Kay Hoog, threatening to crush him, which recalls the trash compactor scene in Star Wars. 

Lang has plenty of good ideas and gives a hint of the genius that would soon follow, but in this film he is not quite there yet.  However, there is still plenty here to interest the silent film fan and as well as fans of Lang.