Original subtitles

Pandora's Box premiered in Berlin on February 9, 1929.

It was not a success at the time and only earned acclaim in the 1950s

with the reemergence of actor Louise Brooks, whose films were

championed by ardent admirers such as Henri Langlois

of the Cinémathèque française and James Card of the George Eastman Museum.

No original negative nor original print of the film is known to exist.

What survives today is the result of inferior duplication completed in the

fifties and sixties, struck from severely damaged material full of technical

imperfections that seemed to be photographically inscribed forever.

The only way to even attempt to restore the original beauty

of director G.W.Pabst's images was to apply digital tools.

The three versions known to exist - a 1952 duplication from the collections of the

Cinémathèque française in Paris, a 1970 duplication from Gosfilmofond in Russia,

and a 1964 duplication made by the Národní filmový archiv in Prague - have been made

available thanks to the cooperation of these archives and the Cineteca di Bologna.

Through a combination of these three elements, it has been possible to restore

the continuity of Pabst's famously fluid editing

by filling in the gaps where frames or scenes were missing.

Compositing tools were used to match grading, image position, and photographic

characteristics among the different versions to the best ability

of modern technology. Still, some damage and traces of time remain.

New 35 mm preservation negatives and prints,

as well as digital presentation materials,

have been created from the restored version.

The editing of the restoration very closely follows

the work print already established in the

1980s by Enno Patalas at the Munich Filmmuseum.

The text of the intertitles was taken from a list in German

found in the archives of the Swedish Office

of Film Censorship at Riksarkivet in Stockholm.

Restoration of Pandora's Box funded by Hugh M.Hefner

PANDORA'S BOX - Variations on the theme of Frank Wedekind's LULU

A Nero-Film Production

Screenplay... Ladislaus Vajda Production Manager... George C. Horsetzky

Director… G. W. Pabst

Director of Photography… Günther Krampf Art Direction... Andrejew & Hesch

Director's Assistant… Mark Sorkin Producer… Heinz Landsmann

Graphics... Marcel Tuszkay

Cast:

Act One.

Schigolch has arrived!

"You've done well for yourself!"

"We haven't seen each other in such a long time…!"

"Are you still dancing?"

"You've forgotten everything - you should have stayed with me..."

"…in that old attic? I'd have run away for sure..."

"This newspaper editor Dr. Schön looks after you nicely... but…

One friend isn't enough to guarantee our future."

"We must put you on the stage for all the world to see!

And I've brought just the man to do that."

"His name is Rodrigo Quast. He wants to stage a big variety act with you."

"Dr. Schön is coming!"

"I'm getting married!"

"You won't kiss me just because you're getting married?"

"The whole city is talking about our affair.

I'm jeopardizing my career!"

"Don't you understand that this has to end?"

"You'll have to kill me to get rid of me."

"He was my first... patron!"

"One did what one could..."

End of Act One.

Act Two.

His Excellency the Minister of the Interior, Dr. von Zarnikow,

wishes to formally announce the forthcoming marriage

of his daughter, Charlotte Marie Adelaide, to Dr. Ludwig Schön, Editor in Chief.

"Once again I warn you, my child!

Dr. Schön's behavior makes this marriage impossible!"

"Don't worry, Father. I don't care about gossip!"

"Here are the costume designs for your revue, Alwa!"

"How's Lulu?"

"Father must give her up - his marriage can't be postponed any longer."

"Rodrigo... the famous Rodrigo Quest... wants to do a big variety act with me!

We're already rehearsing!"

"Alwa is my best friend - he's the only one who never wants anything from me..."

"...or is it because you don't love me that you want nothing from me?"

"My dear Geschwitz, you must design a costume like that for me too!"

"Is she really so beautiful?"

"I have forbidden you to come here!"

"I didn't come to see you!"

"Please hand me the encyclopedia - volume K."

"Then it's settled - you'll come to see me tomorrow."

"Father, why don't you marry Lulu?"

"One doesn't marry such women! It would be suicide!"

"What did she want here?"

"I believe she wants to break into show business.

Someone wants to stage a trapeze act with her."

"Not the trapeze! She will appear in your revue.

She knows how to prance around -

My newspaper and I will guarantee her success."

"Just one thing, my boy: beware of that woman!"

End of Act Two.

Act Three.

"Dreadful! You should have done the trapeze act with me!"

"I'm not going on!"

"Now you must talk some sense into her!"

"Maybe we'll do that variety act after all!"

"I'll dance for the whole world, but not for that woman!"

"Go ahead, begin the number!"

"Where's Lulu?"

"Forbidden to smoke here!"

"Satisfied, Alwa? Now I'll marry Lulu. It will be my EXECUTION!"

End of Act Three.

Act Four.

"I'd be a real scoundrel if I didn't lay 8 rose

on the bridal bed of my little Lulu!"

"Father... I'm going away tonight... for a long trip..."

"He's my father!"

"If you only would be willing to come with me...!"

"I can't live without you any longer!"

"You... you Will... miss your train…!"

"Take it!"

"Kill yourself!"

"Kill yourself... to save me from also becoming a murderer!"

End of Act Four.

Act Five.

"Your Honor! In a rapid series of pictures,

I've painted a bleak picture of a tragic life..."

"Gentlemen of the Jury! Look upon this woman…"

"Have I not shown you that this woman committed no murder...

that her husband was the victim of a disastrous chain of circumstances...?"

"Has the son of the deceased not spoken in her defense?"

"No, this unfortunate woman is no murderess.

You must acquit her, for she is innocent!"

"Your Honor! Gentlemen of the Jury!

The Greek gods created a woman: Pandora.

She was beautiful... enticing... versed in the art of flattery..."

"…but the gods also gave her a box containing all the evils of the world.

The heedless woman opened it and disaster overcame us!"

"Counsel, you portray the accused as a persecuted innocent...

I call her Pandora, for it is through her that all evil was brought upon Dr. Schön!"

"The arguments of the Defense do not sway me in the least.

I demand the death penalty!"

"Mr. Prosecutor! Do you know what would have become of your wife

if she had had to spend the nights of her childhood in cafés and cabarets?"

"…is sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter,

minus four and a half months for time already served..."

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

End of Act Five.

Act Six.

"How dare you come here!"

"Where else should I go but home?"

"If you feel at home where my father's blood was spilled...

it is I who must go!"

"Is this the courthouse?"

"Please connect me with State Prosecutor von Bodungen!"

"This is Alwa Schön...

Have you any news yet... about the fugitive...?"

"We'll go away together...

Countess Geschwitz will lend me her passport…"

"I have the lady's baggage."

5000 MARK REWARD!

"The Marquis Casti Piani."

"May I prove my friendship by offering some good advice?"

"Don't go to Paris. It has too many prying eyes.

Come with me instead. I know a place that is hospitable... and discreet..."

End of Act Six.

Act Seven.

"And Lulu's stayed here the whole three months..."

"It's a fine hotel... hospitable and discreet!"

"What can I say? It's our livelihood."

"I've just become engaged.

I'm going to do a fantastic variety act with my fiancée."

"We just need 20,000 francs for sets and costumes."

"You must get me that money!"

"Ask Alwa... maybe he won today."

"If I could just go on playing, I'd win it all back."

"That lucky devil gets everything!"

"A wise man gambles only when he's sure to win."

"How much?"

"300 pounds!"

"The German police would give me 250 any day."

"300 it is, then. Now I'll book a cabin."

"He's acting like he wants to buy me."

"I need money badly, and you have none to give me.

The Egyptian will give me 50 pounds more than the German police.

You're in luck!"

"I'm looking out for your future.

No police will look for you at his place in Cairo."

"Hurry and get dressed. You leave in an hour."

"I won't be sold - it's worse than prison."

"I need the money...

If you are not ready in an hour, I'm calling the police!"

"Alwa! You must win... you must... or else I'm done for..."

"I'm warning you:

If I don't have those 20,000 francs by tonight, I'm turning you in!"

"Money... they all… all want money!"

"Go ahead and cry, my child."

"Rodrigo is going to turn me in... Help me!"

"I'll take care of him."

"I know a way to get us all out of this mess!"

"Countess Geschwitz is sweet on you, and she has money..."

"Be nice to her and she will certainly produce the cash."

"You're the only one who can save me!"

"Rodrigo loves you... madly!"

"Throw yourself at him—- he'll do anything for you.

Otherwise he'll turn me in!"

"Cairn down, my dear. You'll soon have your money!"

"Police!"

"Let's get out of here! I'll get a boat!"

"Police! Police!"

"We must try to find a ship for London!"

End of Act Seven.

Act Eight.

"We only take in order to give...

Brother, how can I help you?"

"No one can help me!"

"It's strange how you can get booze on credit… but not bread."

"Why all the paint? We like you just the way you are."

"A pity...

I'd have liked to taste a Christmas pudding once more

before I die..."

Attention! Women of London!

For some time now, a man has been luring women into dark places

in order to murder them.

Unfortunately, on various occasions, he has succeeded.

Therefore, all young girls and women are warned

not to go out at night without protection.

"I have no money!"

"Come along anyway... I like you!"

"You're under the mistletoe... Now you must let yourself be kissed..."

The End.