Professor Jakob ten Brinken (Paul Wegener) is a scientist who specializes in genetics. He wants to know if traits from the parent can be passed to the child or if they are just random. To that end he decides to perform an experiment to test his theory. He instructs his nephew, Franz Braun (Ivan Petrovich) to go out and find a “woman of low status” to be part of the experiment. Franz comes home with a local prostitute (Mia Pankau). Brinken then impregnates the woman using the sperm of a hanged man and the root of a mandrake plant. The child that results from this unusual union is a girl. Brinken calls her Alraune (Brigitte Helm). The child grows at an accelerated rate. Brinken enrolls her in a convent school.
Alraune is a beautiful woman but soulless. She runs away from the monastery with her boyfriend. On the train she begins flirting with other passengers. On board the train is a circus magician (Louis Ralph) who also flirts with her. The boyfriend gets jealous and picks a fight with the magician. Alraune and the boyfriend join the circus and Alraune begins to attract the attention of other men associated with the circus.
In the meantime, Professor Brinken tracks Alraune down and makes her return home with him. Alraune settles down for a while. Then she meets a Viscount (John Loder). Alraune decides to run away with the Viscount until she reads Professor Brinken’s diary. In the diary she learns of her origins and that Brinken is not her father. After learning that she is not a real human she decides to end her relationship with the Viscount and stay with Brinken. Devastated that she is not a real woman, Alraune begins to resent Brinken. Eventually she confronts him and tells him that she knows he is not her father. By now, Brinken is obsessed with Alraune. This is where she lays her groundwork for getting revenge on Brinken.
“Alraune” AKA “A Daughter of Destiny” was released in 1928 and was directed by Henrik Galeen. It is a German silent science fiction horror film. The movie was based on the 1911 novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers. Some sound effects and music were added during the restoration of the film. There are several versions of the film in existence but, as far as I know, no complete version of the German release is known to have survived.
There have been several versions of the story done. The first was a silent version done in 1918 that is believed to be lost. The movie was remade in 1930 with Helm reprising her role as Alraune. The 1930 version is a sound film. Another remake was done in 1952 but was titled “Unnatural” in the U.S. release.
The story of Alraune is often compared to Frankenstein. Unfortunately the movie doesn’t have all those wonderful wiz-bangs that were used for the original Frankenstein film. A woman born without a soul sounds interesting but in its application ended up being a little flat. The movie concentrates more on character development than on the science fiction aspects of the story. It is a melodrama more than a horror tale. It is possible that the missing footage of the film is where all the science fiction stuff happened, but I don't have any proof to substantiate that thought.
A mandrake is a toxic, perennial plant in the nightshade family. The root has a thick forked taproot that resembles the human body. The Mandrake is popular in German folklore and was used in ancient medicine. Alraune is the German word for Mandrake.