All language subtitles for Die Büchse der Pandora (1929).EN.04

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.

"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.