Stuart Webbs
Fictional character in German films of the silent era
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Stuart Webbs is a fictional detective who appeared in a series of German films and serials during the silent era. Webbs was one of a number of detectives with English-sounding names to appear in German cinema of the era. Like his contemporaries, such as Joe Deebs, he was modelled on Sherlock Holmes.[1] Webbs was the most popular of the group. His original film series ran from 1914 to 1926,[2] and he continued to appear in other later films such as The Green Monocle (1929).
Webbs was played by Ernst Reicher until 1926. A number of figures directed entries in the series including Joe May, Johannes Guter and Robert Wiene. The series was originally made by Continental-Kunstfilm, but following a dispute May and Reicher left to form their own production company, Stuart Webbs-Film.[3]
History
The role of Stuart Webbs was played by Ernst Reicher, and once each by Fritz Greiner, Ralph Clancy, and Karl Ludwig Diehl. Joe May directed the films, but directors Adolf Gärtner, Johannes Guter, Max Obal, Robert Wiene, Franz Seitz Sr., Lupu Pick, Rudolf Meinert, and Ernst Reicher himself also contributed. The directors of some films are unknown.
Stuart Webbs was a gentleman detective modelled after Sherlock Holmes, who solved even the most difficult cases with intelligence and elegance.[4] Throughout the First World War, this fictional character was popular with German cinema audiences. Webbs's adventures were filmed regularly until 1921; after that, the individual episodes of the series, now produced by Emelka, also based in Munich, were produced at irregular intervals. In 1926, a remake of The Armoured Vault (German: Das Panzergewölbe), again with Reicher in the title role, was produced; it was his last appearance as the suave detective. Two late additions to the series were the silent films The Green Monocle (German: Das grüne Monokel) with Ralph Clancy and Masks (German: Masken) with Karl Ludwig Diehl, both in 1929.
In 1935, film historian Oskar Kalbus described the origins of the series:
In 1913, director Joe May made a film featuring a number of up-and-coming actors. One of them was Ernst Reicher. Reicher, who had studied the Whitechapel crime district in England and met a detective there whose sharp intellect he constantly admired, suggested one day that an adventure of this private detective should be filmed. He named the film's hero Stuart Webbs, and thus the first detective film, The Mysterious Villa, was born. What no one expected was that this film was the biggest box office success imaginable. Everywhere it was released, at home and abroad, audiences lined up at the cinema box office. It wasn't long before the second Stuart Webbs film was made, then the third, the fourth, the twentieth. Ernst Reicher probably made 40–50 films in which he played "Stuart Webbs", that amiable, chivalrous, highly intellectual, athletic detective who saw his noblest duty as the tireless service of justice.[5]
List of episodes
Exact counts vary due to lost or incomplete records. Many entries are now considered lost.
| Year | Series number[a] | German title (English title) | Director | Leading actor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | I. | Die geheimnisvolle Villa (The Secret-Filled Villa) | Joe May | Ernst Reicher |
| 1914 | II. | Der Mann im Keller (The Man in the Cellar) | Joe May | Ernst Reicher |
| 1914 | III. | Der Spuk im Hause des Professors (The Haunting in the Professor's House) | Joe May | Ernst Reicher |
| 1914 | — | Das Panzergewölbe (The Armoured Vault) | Joe May | Ernst Reicher |
| 1915 | V. | Der gestreifte Domino (The Striped Domino ) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1915 | VI. | Die Toten erwachen (The Dead Awaken) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1915 | — | Eines Mannes Schatten (A Man's Shadow ) | Ernst Reicher | Ernst Reicher |
| 1915 | VII. | Das Mitternachtsschiff (The Midnight Ship ) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1916 | VIII. | Der Brieföffner (The Letter Opener) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1916 | IX. | Der Amateur (The Amateur) | Ernst Reicher | Ernst Reicher |
| 1916 | X./XI. | Der Hilferuf (The Cry for Help ) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XI. | Stuart Webbs: Die Reise ins Jenseits (Stuart Webbs: The Journey to the Afterlife ) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1916 | XIII. | Gräfin de Castro (Countess de Castro ) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1916 | XIII. | Die Peitsche (The Whip) | Adolf Gärtner | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XIV. | Die Senatorwahl (The Senate Election ) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XV. | Das Lichtsignal (The Light Signal) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XVI. | Die Pagode (The Pagoda) | Ernst Reicher | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XVII. | Das treibende Floß (The Floating Raft) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XVIII. | Der Todesstern (The Death Star) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1917 | XIX. | Die Diamantenstiftung (The Diamond Foundation) | Johannes Guter | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | XX. | Der rätselhafte Blick (The Enigmatic Gaze) | Johannes Guter | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | XXI. | Die Geisterjagd (The Ghost Hunt) | Johannes Guter | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | XXII. | Der Eisenbahnmarder (The Railway Marten ) | Johannes Guter | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | XXV./XXIII. | Der Teufelswalzer (The Devil's Waltz) | Johannes Guter | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | XXIV. | Der Stier von Saldanha (The Bull of Saldanha ) | Johannes Guter | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | XXV. | Der Stellvertreter] (The Deputy ) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | — | Die geheimnisvollen Briefe (The Mysterious Letters ) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1918 | — | Das gestohlene Modell (The Stolen Model) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1919 | XXVI. | Die Launen des Glücks (The Whims of Luck ) | Ernst Reicher | Ernst Reicher |
| 1919 | — | Die Brüder von Sankt Parasitus (The Brothers of Saint Parasitus ) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1919 | — | Das Schloß am Abhang (The Castle on the Hillside ) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1920 | — | Die graue Elster (The Gray Magpie) | unbekannt | Ernst Reicher |
| 1920 | — | Der Schrecken im Hause Ardon (Panic in the House of Ardon) | Robert Wiene | Fritz Greiner |
| 1920 | — | Der Sprung ins Dunkle (The Leap in the Dark) | Ernst Reicher | Ernst Reicher |
| 1920 | — | George Bully und Stuart Webbs (George Bully and Stuart Webbs) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1921 | — | Das Rattenloch (The Rat Hole) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1921 | — | Camera Obscura | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1921 | — | Erlebnisse Stuart Webbs: Der Meisterdetektiv in seinen Abenteuern (The Adventures of Stuart Webb: The Master Detective ) | — | Ernst Reicher |
| 1923 | — | Im letzten Augenblick (At the Last Moment) | Ernst Reicher | Ernst Reicher |
| 1924 | — | Die Perlen des Dr. Talmadge (The Pearls of Doctor Talmadge) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1924 | — | Die malayische Dschonke (The Malay Junk) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1925 | — | Das Geheimnis auf Schloß Elmshöh (The Secret at Elmshöh Castle ) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1925 | — | Das Parfüm der Mrs. Worrington (Mrs Worrington's Perfume) | Franz Seitz sr. | Ernst Reicher |
| 1925 | — | Der Schuß im Pavillon (The Shot in the Pavilion) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1925 | — | Das Geheimnis einer Stunde (The Secret of an Hour ) | Max Obal | Ernst Reicher |
| 1926 | — | Das Panzergewölbe (The Armoured Vault) | Lupu Pick | Ernst Reicher |
| 1929 | — | Das grüne Monokel (The Green Monocle) | Rudolf Meinert | Ralph Clancy |
| 1930 | — | Masken (Masks) | Rudolf Meinert | Karl Ludwig Diehl |
Gallery of film posters
Panic in the House of Ardon (1920)
The Rat Hole (1921)
The Pagoda (1923)
The Green Monocle (1929)
Masks (1929)
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Notes
- The series numbers are taken from the source. The numbering is unclear.