Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as Im weißen Rößl: Cult Guide

Dir: Karel Lamac

Painter Johnny Miller bets his friends he can find his house blindfolded. But he stumbles into a bandits' camp, and being mistaken for one of them, is sent to rob the villa of Frank Sellins, a banker, and his niece Lilly.

Dir: Louis J. Gasnier

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Kismet perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself.

Dir: Frank Urson

A wild jazz-loving and boozing wife Roxie Hart kills her boyfriend in cold blood after he leaves her.

Dir: Unknown Director

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Chicago perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Gus Van and Joe Schenck sing a few songs with piano accompaniment.

Dir: Karel Lamac

Svejk is a dog trader Prague. He is charged for lèse-majesté, "injured majesty" and is supposed to be jailed. But the court finds him to be dim-witted, and he is committed to a mental asylum. There, the doctors examine his physical and mental status. When one of the physicians accuses Svejk of being a simulator, Svejk assures him that he is an officially approved imbecile poking fun at the trappings of empire and the absurdity of war, as Svejk personifies the power of passive resistance.

Dir: Manuel Noriega

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Van and Schenck 'the Pennant Winning Battery of Songland' perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A woman who arrives Madrid fleeing from their abusive stepmother tries to help her cousin, who has an illegitimate child, pretending to be the real mother.

Dir: James A. FitzPatrick

An innkeeper's daughter loves a shepherd boy and will not listen to her father's plea that she marry a rich young Londoner. The Londoner pleads with the girl, but she will not hear him. He goes back to London and the girl is happy with her shepherd.

Dir: Hanns Schwarz

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Dobrý voják Svejk perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Karel Lamac

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Anton Gunnarsson

The story begins in a pawnshop owned by a middle-aged woman whose daughter is a cocaine addict. The woman is divorced and has just begun an affair with her sales assistant, a young man with extravagant habits. In the second act, we find the pawnbroker, her husband, daughter and sales assistant in one of the city's dance halls, the Eldorado. Suddenly, the police raid the place, and one of the cocaine addicts is so frightened that he pulls out a gun and shoots himself. In the third act, the whole group is in custody. However, it all ends happily when a decent police officer, who knows the pawnbroker from before, ensures that they are released.