Variety (Varieté) (1925) (DVD)

A rediscovered masterpiece of the German silent cinema, Ewald Andre Dupont's Variete is a visually dazzling tale of love and betrayal, foreshadowing such great works as F.W. Murnau's Sunrise and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel. Emil Jannings (The Last Laugh) stars as a carnival spieler who becomes entranced by a waifish dancer (Lya de Putti), and gradually betrays his wife, his honor, and his self-respect in an effort to be the sole possessor of her love. The dynamic camerawork by Karl Freund influenced an entire generation of filmmakers, and can at last be fully appreciated in this exquisite restoration by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.