Robert Wiene

German expressionist director who began his career in the theater, entered films as a scenarist and is best known for the expressionist classic, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919). Wiene was the second choice to direct the film (producer Erich Pommer originally offered the job to Fritz Lang), which was scripted by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz; the mediocre quality of his subsequent work casts doubt on the extent of his contribution to the project. Wiene's later German films include "Raskolnikov" (1922) and the biblical spectacle, "INRI" (1923); he moved to France when the Nazis took power and his final film, "Ultimatum" (1938), was completed by Robert Siodmak. Brother Conrad Wiene was also a director, chiefly known for "The Power of Darkness" (1923), based on a Tolstoy tale and scripted by Robert.