History Trivia / TheCabinetofDrCaligari

* ImageSource: MadnessMontage
* QuoteSource:
** ArrangedMarriage
* ViralMarketing: One of the earliest examples, with posters reading "Du mußt Caligari werden!" ("[[ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim You must be Caligari!]]"), with no explanation of who Caligari was or why the reader must become him, plastered all over [[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} German]] cities in the lead-up to the film's release.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Creator/FritzLang himself), and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things -- a [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII foreboding]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]].
** Fritz Lang claimed credit for the Framing Story, and was originally supposed to direct the film. From his perspective, the ending was merely an attempt to ground the nightmarish setting in some believable reality and the ending wasn't dictated by censorship or meddling. The interpretation that the end foreshadows later events or subservience to authority comes from sociologist Siegried Kracauer who Lang, himself an anti-Nazi exile, mocked for his one-note misreading of Weimar-era films.
** The tonal shift is stark, however, turning the TwistEnding into what can seem like an AssPull.

** Fritz Lang claimed credit for the Framing Story, and was originally supposed to direct the film. From his perspective, the ending was merely an attempt to ground the nightmarish setting in some believable reality and the ending wasn't dictated by censorship or meddling. The interpreation that the end foreshadows later events or subservience to authority comes from sociologist Siegried Kracauer who Lang, himself an anti-Nazi exile, mocked for his one-note misreading of Weimar-era films.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Creator/FritzLang himself,) and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things -- a [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII foreboding]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]].

** Fritz Lang, who claimed credit for the Framing Story, and was originally supposed to direct the film. From his perspective, the ending was merely an attempt to ground the nightmarish setting in some believable reality and the ending wasn't dictated by censorship or meddling. The interpreation that the end foreshadows later events or subservience to authority comes from sociologist Siegried Kracauer who Lang, himself an anti-Nazi exile, mocked for his one-note misreading of Weimar-era films.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Creator/FritzLang himself,) and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things -- a [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII foreboding]] [[ThoseWackyNazis portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]].

* ViralMarketing: One of the earliest examples, with posters reading "Du mußt Caligari werden!" ([[ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim "You must be Caligari!"]]), with no explanation of who Caligari was or why the reader must become him, plastered all over German cities in the lead-up to the film's release.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Fritz Lang himself), and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[WorldWarOne people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things - a [[WorldWarTwo foreboding]] [[ThoseWackyNazis portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]].
* ViralMarketing: One of the earliest examples, with posters reading "Du mußt Caligari werden!" ([[ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim "You must become Caligari!"]]), with no explanation of who Caligari was or why the reader must become him, plastered all over German cities in the lead-up to the film's release.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Fritz Lang himself), and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[WorldWarOne people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things - a [[WorldWarTwo foreboding]] [[ThoseWackyNazis portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]]. Instead, the twist makes the film about the realization of how little authority the individual has over their ''own'' actions and the dangers of blaming outsiders, which - although probably not what the studio intended, unless it really ''was'' Fritz Lang's idea (he would be all over this kind of message) - is also a pretty timely point to make in interwar Germany.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Fritz Lang himself), and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[WorldWarOne people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things - a [[WorldWarTwo foreboding]] [[ThoseWackyNazis portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: The TwistEnding was originally the idea of a studio exec (sometimes credited as Fritz Lang himself), and it arguably makes the movie much more uncomfortable. Supposedly after screenings, a man would come out and reassure the audience that everything was going to be alright. WordOfGod stated that the film was supposed to represent what [[WorldWarOne people in power could force others to do against their will]], [[ShellShockedVeteran leaving them unresponsive shells]] who were a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy slave to the whims of those in power]]. Many historians view the changed ending as a sign that the audiences of the time weren't comfortable with the idea of questioning authority, even if that authority was corrupt and instigated them to do horrible things - a [[WorldWarTwo foreboding]] [[ThoseWackyNazis portent of]] [[JustFollowingOrders things to come]]. Instead, the twist makes the film about the realization of how little authority the individual has over their ''own'' actions and the dangers of blaming outsiders, which - although probably not what the studio intended, unless it really ''was'' Fritz Lang's idea (he would be all over this kind of message) - is also a pretty timely point to make in interwar Germany.