Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Backstairs (1921)

Henny Porten stars in her own production as a tenement maid who carries on a love affair with a simple workman (William Dieterle), unaware that she is loved from a distance by the shy neighborhood postman (Fritz Kortner) who delivers the mail on the backstairs of the building.

Despondent over her lovers’ absence from their nightly meetings, she lights up when she receives a letter from him professing his love and longing to hold her again. But, she soons discovers that the letter is a forgery by the postman. She eventually comes to realize that the postman has tried what he can to mitigate her pain, and shows signs of affection for him. All is well . . . until the return of the workman.

The film, previously inhabited mainly by the three actors, then comes filled with people as it eerily slithers toward its conclusion. The direction by Leopold Jessner and Paul Leni compactly yet compellingly tells its tale within the cramped sets designed by Leni that are bleak, coarsely textured and wonderfully expressionistic.

— Carl Bennett

This DVD edition, replicated on a standard DVD disc (not DVD-R), has been mastered from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print that is persistently jittery. As is to be expected, the whitest highlights are blasted out (with a couple of featureless faces) and shadows are plugged-up, but the middle greytones are reasonably well reproduced. Some dust, speckling, and emulsion damage is present, and there is some moderate exposure fluctuations, but the overall viewing experience is good. The strength of the story overcomes the shortcomings of the source print.

The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score in clear stereo sound that is likely compiled from preexisting music library recordings. The quality of the score is sonically better than is usually found on Grapevine’s video releases and conveys the film’s mood well.

For our notes on the accompanying feature, see our Sappho on home video page.

For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.

This review was updated in 2025.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

Note that this company apparently has a history of pirating other home video editions or pirating television network recordings to produce their products. Be aware that purchasing pirated home video editions does not benefit the original edition producers nor the composers whose music is often pirated as well.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .