Die Gespensterstunde (1917)

Count de la Porte resides at Medan Castle. His second-born son, Johann, is married to Luise-Marie. They have an infant only a few months old and a four-year-old son who is physically deformed and described by the family doctor as mentally deficient. Under these circumstances, Luise-Marie’s ever-present mother, Countess Herm, worries that her daughter will soon be cut out of the inheritance, especially since Johann’s older brother August, as the firstborn, has the right of primogeniture. When August appears at the castle one day after a long absence, his father greets him very coldly. Countess Herm wants to get her daughter’s bearded brother-in-law out of the way as quickly as possible and devises a plan. Meanwhile, the two brothers, long estranged, grow close again during a hunt together. In the meantime, Johann’s mother-in-law plants the idea in his mind that his brother August is flirting far too passionately with Luise-Marie. He can hardly believe it and reacts angrily. In the drawing room, the manipulative Luise-Marie throws herself into August’s arms, knowing full well that Johann could walk in at any moment. He is still carrying his hunting rifle and sees Luise-Marie supposedly wrench herself free from August’s grasp in disgust. In a fit of anger, she accuses August of making an improper advance. The two men start wrestling; a shot goes off, and Johann falls to the floor, mortally wounded. August protests his innocence. When Countess Herm comes in, she tells August, “You have only one way out: disappear forever!” This clears the way for one of Johann’s two children. Before fleeing, August hides the documents that secure his right as firstborn to the family estate in the knights’ hall of the unoccupied wing of the castle. Since no one is willing to accept a de la Porte heir despised as a “cripple” as lord of the majorat, it is decided that little Gert, Johann’s younger son, will one day inherit. The four-year-old is to be well cared for, but kept hidden from the public. The old Count entrusts his care to the servant Tobias. One day, the family goes on an outing to a small lake. While the nurse and the servants take two of the three children away, Countess Herm pushes the pram into the lake and cries for help, saying that a child has drowned. Two men rush to help and fish the pram out of the water. The child is nowhere to be found. Now the deformed firstborn can officially be declared dead, clearing the way for little, healthy Gert. Years have passed since the events at Medan Castle. August de la Porte is living in Chicago under the American name Howdon and is now mortally ill. He has a daughter named Agga, who knows nothing of his dark past in Germany. On his deathbed, he reveals his true identity to her and makes it clear that she is entitled to the de la Porte estate and the castle. Then he reads aloud from a letter from the now-deceased Luise-Marie, in which she confesses that she played a part in the plot against him. In his final letter, August informs the treacherous Countess Herm at the castle that an Agga Howdon will be arriving, and that the old woman is to take her in as repayment for his disappearance all those years ago. Agga learns from her dying father that the documents proving her claim to the estate are in a secret compartment in the old knights’ hall. In one last burst of strength, August warns his daughter about Countess Herm’s intrigues. Then Agga’s father dies. Gert de la Porte has meanwhile grown into a young adult. His circle of acquaintances includes Magnus Berten, the son of the neighboring landowner, and Magnus’s sister Margit, who is considered Gert’s future bride. With great dismay and a grim premonition, Countess Herm reads August’s final letter announcing Agga’s arrival. Agga is welcomed at the castle, while Countess Herm prepares to ensure there are no nasty surprises. The old woman therefore tells Gert that, for the time being, he should give up Margit and turn his attention to Agga instead, knowing full well that Agga may claim the de la Porte family estate. While Gert makes advances to Agga at his grandmother’s behest, Agga tries to gain access to the rear, unoccupied part of the castle so she can search for the secret compartment in the knights’ hall. But Countess Herm categorically refuses to let Agga enter that part of the building. The Countess claims that it is haunted, too. In passing, Agga meets Magnus Berten. They have something in common: he, too, spent some time in Chicago while studying there. The young people become friends, and Agga tries to enlist him as an ally. The Countess’s attempts to pair her grandson Gert with Agga, on the other hand, fail before they even get started. As her final trump card, the old woman plans to set her deformed eldest grandchild on Agga. He is kept chained like a wild animal in a tower room and moves only on all fours. The Countess hopes that this shock will take the American a long time to recover from. Agga is now determined to act. Although Countess Herm has told her that the Brown Room is haunted, Agga insists on spending the following night there. She hopes that from there she will finally be able to reach the secluded knights’ hall. Countess Herm agrees, since this is where she will be best placed to set the deformed eldest grandson on Agga. Meanwhile, the servant Tobias warns Agga about what might happen that night. Deep in the night, Countess Herm brings her hunchbacked grandson down from his attic room into the castle and takes him to the Brown Room. At midnight, the witching hour, Agga also sets out to keep the promise she made to her father on his deathbed and goes in search of the legal documents. Her deformed cousin follows her on all fours like an invisible shadow. When the creature reaches for Agga, she is nearly scared to death and flees in panic from the “monster.” But he seizes the moment, revels in his freedom, and disappears somewhere on the castle grounds. The next morning, servant Tobias comes to the Countess and reports that the hunchbacked prisoner has not returned to his hiding place. The old woman now grows worried, because she considers the tormented, oppressed creature dangerous. Agga arrives at the breakfast table utterly exhausted; the previous night’s excitement has taken too much out of her. Confiding in Magnus Berten, she tells him of her intention to search for the documents and asks him to accompany her the following night. Meanwhile, the hunchback wanders around the castle grounds. As midnight approaches again, Gert refuses to let Magnus go, because he is afraid of his own brother. In the meantime, Agga waits for Magnus. But it is not her beloved who suddenly appears: it is the hunchbacked madman, who now attacks Agga outright, leering at her lasciviously. Desperate, Agga tries with all her strength to fend off the crawling creature in the Brown Room. Then she flees. Countess Herm now enters Agga’s bedroom. The mentally deficient grandson attacks his grandmother as well. The “cripple” then flees to the battlements of the castle tower, pursued by Tobias and two other men. Finally, the poor creature falls backward into the depths and to his death. Meanwhile, Magnus and Agga are searching for the secret compartment in the knights’ hall. They find August’s papers, which confirm Agga’s right to inherit. Then the remaining inhabitants of the castle rush in and announce that the Countess has been found dead. In front of Agga and Magnus, Tobias accuses Gert of having set his brother on Agga. The villain is then banished from the castle. “Magnus and I will drive the forces of darkness from Medan forever,” are Agga’s final words.