F. W. Murnau (1888–1931)

the German director who created the first Dracula on the big screen died in a traffic accident in the USA and was buried in his native Germany, 20 km from Berlin. As a homossexual, he was partial to gay actors. When he had to travel from L. Angeles to New York for the premiere of "Tabú," he was devoted to esotericism and a fortune teller had told him not to take a car because a catastrophe would happen to him. Murnau listened and decided to go by yacht to New York, what he could not avoid was going to the dock place by car. He was the co-pilot, with his young Filipino lover driving the car. Near Santa Monica, the car left the road and crashed into a tree. After the appropriate investigations, the cause of the accident became clear: traveling at 120 km/h, Murnau was performing oral sex on the driver, his lover, completely reckless at that speed. Murnau was decapitated by an iron from the car, leaving his head in the crotch of the young driver and he also died instantly. This head was stolen in Germany in 2015 after a desecration.… (mehr)

Director F.W. Murnau and scriptwriter Thea von Harbou both took a change of pace from their usual dramas with this satirical farce about Grand Duke Don Ramon XX (Harry Liedtke), whose idyllic country is threatened by revolution. The troublemakers are a trio of conspirators, working with a corrupt financier who intends to convert the landscape into a profitable sulfur mine. Don Ramon comes close to being hanged, but is rescued by Olga (Mady Christians), the Grand Duchess of Russia, who loves him and agrees to pay off all his debts. A compromising love letter from Olga falls into the conspirators’ hands, but she and Don Ramon, with the help of the adventurer Philip Collins (Alfred Abel) are able to set their affairs right. Note who plays one of the conspirators: Max Schreck, who starred as the hideous vampire in Murnau’s horror classic Nosferatu. (fonte: Imdb)… (mehr)