Die Spinnen
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Die Spinnen
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| Episodes: | 2 |
| Year: | 1919 |
| Country: | Germany |
| Seasons: | 1 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | (1) 2 |
| Category: | Mad Scientists |
| Colour: | No |
| Format: | Cinema Serial |
| Company: | Decla-Film-Ges and Holz & Co. |
| Creator: | Fritz Lang |
| Run Time (mins): | 140 (all episodes) |
| Language: | German |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | |
Summary
he American adventurer Kay Hoog (de Vogt) engages in a global struggle against Lio‑Sha (Orla) and her criminal organisation, the Spiders, commanded by the enigmatic John. Although headquartered in Inca territory, the Spiders maintain an international network of influence. At the centre of their conflict lies a legendary diamond said to grant dominion over the world, prompting a succession of perilous encounters in which Hoog repeatedly rescues imperilled women.
Loosely inspired by the adventure fiction of Karl May, and perhaps influenced by the Feuillade serials, the film presents a succession of striking set‑pieces in exotic locales, most of them meticulously recreated in a Hamburg studio. Notable sequences include subterranean eruptions and waterfalls, narrow escapes aboard a makeshift ark, a hot‑air‑balloon rescue, criminal intrigues in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Inca temples, and a climactic confrontation in the Falklands involving a poisonous volcano.
The Spiders’ omnipresent threat is reinforced by their lairs: hidden caves and fortified cellars equipped with sliding armoured walls, a desk that sinks into the floor, and a circular mirror through which the villainess surveys her operations, an early precursor to the surveillance apparatus later associated with Mabuse’s “1,000 eyes”.
Cast
Kay Hoog CARL DE VOGT, Lio-Sha RESSEL ORLA, PAUL MORGAN, Sun Priestess Naela LIL DAGOVER, FRIEDRICH KUEHNE, Dr. Telphas GEORG JOHN, PAUL BIENSFELDT, John Terry RUDOLF LETTINGER, Fourfinger-John EDGAR PAULY, book worm MEINHARDTY MAUR
aka: Spiders, the
Sources: The Spiders (film) - Wikipedia