The Student of Prague

Prague, 1820. Balduin (Paul Wegener) is a student with no money and no prospects, until he pulls Countess Margit (Grete Berger) out of the water and falls for a woman far above his station. Stellan Rye directed this German silent from 1913, loosely drawn from Poe's "William Wilson" and the Faust legend. Balduin wants a place in a world that has no use for him, and the film treats that wanting as a debt that can be bought and paid for.