Want to know where Hitchcock learnt the art of suspense? Where Ridley Scott got his ideas for the set design of Blade Runner? Where Marlene Dietrich first broke mens' hearts?

This Pocket Essential introduces you to one of the most influential film movements of the twentieth century. We travel back to Germany in the swinging Twenties. The First World War has just ended, Nazis and Communists are fighting on the streets of Berlin, but in the nation's film studios some of the most creative film-makers the world has ever seen are at work, setting the standard for generations to come.

After giving you an introduction to the context and main themes of Expressionism, the guide takes you on journey from the disturbing landscapes of Wegener's The Golem and Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr Caligari to the erotic world of Papst's Pandora's Box and von Sternberg's The Blue Angel. Finally we end up in America where we find German exiles such as Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang transforming the Hollywood of the 1940s and 1950s. Packed full of facts and analysis, the Pocket Essential to German Expressionist Film is the best starting point for anyone interested in this period of film history.