To anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Borgia dynasty this bizarre opus is a load of tosh but this would not have made the slightest difference to cinema-goers at the time and would certainly not have lessened its entertainment value as it is not so much historical drama as borderline Gothic horror. This is hardly surprising with a cast featuring Conrad Veidt and Paul Wegener!
As one would expect from Tempelhof Studios the sets are absolutely stupendous and the art direction by Botho Hoefer and Robert Neppach is superlative. Plenty of light and dark here of course courtesy of, amongst others, Karl Freund and Carl Drews. Most impressive are the scenes in the Papal court, the escape of Lucrezia from the monastery and the storming of the castle of Pesaro. The final duel between Cesare Borgia and Giovanni Sforza is pure fiction but extremely effective filmically.
Unsurprisingly the performances do seem rather 'arch' by today's standards but not in the context of the time. Director Richard Oswald has assembled an excellent group of players. As Cesare Borgia, Conrad Veidt could not be further removed from 'The Prince' of Machiavelli but is magnificently malignant. Heinrich George, who was to become one of Germany's greatest actors, is wrongly billed in the titles as Pope Alexander V1. He actually plays, along with Paul Wegener, one of Cesare's murderous henchmen. The Pope is played by Albert Bassermann but ironically George would have been more suitable physically, as the Borgia Pope was by all accounts so large that upon his death it proved almost impossible to squeeze him into the coffin!
William Dieterle, who was to adapt so well to the Hollywood system as a director, is here wearing his actor's hat as Sforza.
This is not classic Weimar cinema to be sure but must have packed quite a punch when first shown. It remains great fun despite its rather gruesome plot. Silent film they say, aspired to Opera. They certainly don't come any more operatic than this!
