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THE WORLD WILL TREMBLE (1939, upgraded 3/29/23) Erich Von Stroheim, Claude Dauphin, Madeleine Sologne, Armand Bernard, Robert Le Vigan, Henri Guisol. In one of the best sc-fi films of the 1930s, Von Stroheim plays a wealthy financier who has funded the experiments of a scientist played by Dauphin, who has perfected a machine that can predict the exact date of your death. Needless to say, this invention turns the world upside down with the dire death predictions it makes—all of which prove to be accurate. Dauphin soon becomes intoxicated by his success and turns into an ego-maniac, lusting for power and money; while Von Stroheim, who controls the rights, wants to use the machine for life insurance scams. His girlfriend and best friend beg him to destroy the machine, but he spurns their pleas. Then, in a moment worthy of any Kenneth Strickfaden Frankenstein lab scene, a collage of camera shots shows the great power his mighty invention. Overcome by his own ego, he straps himself in to find out, like so many who have come before, the date and time of his own death. Before long the masses rise up in violent protest, driving the film to its thrilling conclusion. In French with English subtitles. 35mm.
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