The Spiders, Part 2: The Diamond Ship (1920)

**For my essay on The Spiders, Part 1, click:

http://silent-volume.blogspot.com/2009/05/spiders-part-1-golden-sea-1919.html



When last we saw Kay Hoog (millionaire adventurer, courageous hunk), he’d been beset with tragedy. Having escaped an ancient Incan city by the skin of his gleaming teeth, Hoog looked forward to a few years of settled life with his (amicably) captured Incan lovely, Naela. But the past struck quickly. Hoog’s arch-nemesis, the homicidal femme Lio Sha, murdered Naela on the very grounds of Hoog’s estate, prompting him to swear revenge upon her and her criminal organization, the Spiders. Now he must find them, as the Spiders continue their global quest for the Buddha-head Diamond. The head, it’s said, has the power to restore Asia to world dominance.






Not a pleasant thought for a handsome colonial like Kay Hoog. He gets right to work, revealing to his servant that he has, in fact, located the Spiders’ North American hideout. He plans his attack, described by the following intertitle as ‘A Modern Raid.’ And modern it is—Hoog leaps (not parachutes) from the rear cockpit of a biplane, landing on the roof of the Spiders’ building.

There must be easier (and safer) ways to scale a building, especially one surrounded by other buildings, but we’ll leave that criticism to the bean counters with no bravado. Hoog is a man of action. Leading a small army of agents, he storms the headquarters and does battle with Chinese [sic] swordsmen against a background of Oriental [sic] screens and riveted steel walls. Lio Sha and her associates flee via hidden elevator, and the pursuing Hoog is nearly sandwiched in a booby-trapped room. Though he hasn’t exactly exacted his vengeance yet, he does find a small piece of ivory, inscribed with mysterious script, that might bring clues to the Spiders’ next move. So Hoog brings this item to ‘an old bookworm’ who specializes in ancient languages.























































It is an item of interest, alright. The bookworm explains:

“This is proof of my suspicions. Under the Chinese quarter exists a secret Chinese city. This piece of ivory is the entrance key...

...but beware. The Police will give you no protection in the Chinese quarter, let alone in the subterranean city. Remember—they deny it even exits!”

Indeed. If we’ve learned one thing from The Spiders thus far, it’s that everything mundane has something fantastic within, behind or beneath it. Lio Sha, we know, hides nothing in plain sight, preferring to conceal her valuables in motorized, sliding drawers. So it’s only appropriate that a whole community may be bustling beneath the feet of everyday San Franciscans. Hoog easily finds the entry point to the secret city (it’s a trapdoor), passes through a tunnel guarded by traditional-looking robed fellows with heavy blades—and tigers—and begins to search the city. This subterranean civilization doesn’t look much different from a Chinatown market, actually—assuming you could locate one in a cave. Hoog eventually takes a breather in an opium den, though he doesn’t inhale.

Gunfights ensue. Hoog is captured, nearly drowns, then completely escapes. Lio Sha, meanwhile, sets sail aboard the good ship Storm Bird headed in the general direction of the diamond. Hoog is stows away on the same vessel, having smuggled himself inside a large crate equipped with bookshelf, reading lamp and a hook to hang his gun.



The Storm Bird soon turns around. Another contingent of Spiders, led by a spindly figure called All-Hab-Mah, or The Master (Friedrich Kühne), has discovered that the diamond’s whereabouts are, in fact, known only to the descendant of the pirate who stole it. That descendant still makes his living appraising jewels. He is a Londoner, John Terry (Rudolph Lettinger). Terry lives with his only daughter, Ellen (Thea Zander). Ellen is destined to be Hoog’s next true love, since she possesses the two traits he values most in a girl: beauty and obliviousness.



Lio Sha and her minions invade Terry’s home, and even crack his safe, but find no jewel. They take Ellen instead. It turns out Terry has never heard of the Buddha-head Diamond at all, though when he enlists the help of Kay Hoog, the facts quickly fall into place. Terry maintains a painting of his imposing pirate ancestor over the fireplace. Within the painting is a map of the Falkland Islands. This map, combined with the pirate’s log book, states quite clearly where the diamond must have been stashed. However, the book is coy about why, after hiding the diamond, the pirate was the only one to escape the site alive.

A lesser man would stop to ponder this. Not Kay Hoog. He sets off for the Falklands. Unfortunately for him, Terry’s butler, a spy, manages to inform Lio Sha—via carrier pigeon—to follow him. Lio Sha and her men capture Hoog again, this time amidst the pirate’s loot, deep underground. “Hunger and thirst will make you talk,” promises Lio Sha.



Poor Lio Sha. She doesn’t know about the poisonous crater nearby. The one that spews deadly fumes which overcome anyone foolish enough to follow the pirates. Hell, it probably killed the pirates, first. The Spiders' film-stock tints delightfully red as the criminals gasp their last breaths and Hoog, once again, survives. Lio Sha does not. She’s the one we’ll miss most, we sigh.











The Spiders now careens toward its ending. The Master, it’s discovered, has returned to England with Ellen in tow. He is desperate. His hypnotic analysis of Ellen has revealed that she knows absolutely nothing. He fears that the Spiders’ Asian Committee will think him a double agent, since he still has produced no jewel. The Master plans to solve this by getting a fake jewel cut in Amsterdam, but he never gets the chance to try. He is instead assassinated by Sikh operatives (part of the Asian Committee apparently); the Sikhs, in turn, are finished off by Hoog.

Well, what about Ellen Terry? She’ll be alright, a doctor tells us. In fact, she’ll soon awaken with no memory of the ordeal whatsoever. And so Hoog finishes the film with vengeance met, the Buddha-head Diamond in his pocket, the gratitude of several millionaires, and the love of a vacuous babe with no emotional baggage. Not a bad for a few weeks’ work.

***

Hey, The Spiders is fun. Here you’ve got action-adventure done in a silent, somewhat serious format, very different from the more famous (but not always better) work done by Douglas Fairbanks around the same time. If you’re feeling analytical, you can pick up on themes typical of director Fritz Lang’s later work: science fiction, hypnosis, disguise, the occult, exotic underworlds, cities within cities, cultural decay and persecution. And if you just want to sit with your popcorn tub and forgo deep thought, The Spiders still delivers.

I miss Lio Sha.

Where to find The Spiders:
Parts One and Two of The Spiders were released at different times; in fact, director Fritz Lang planned four movies in the series, but only the first two could be made. Both halves of the film are available on a single disc, distributed by Image Entertainment. The release has no extras and unfortunately, the restoration of the print is not the best. However, any chance to see a silent Indiana Jones is a chance worth taking:

http://www.image-entertainment.com/dvd/detail.cfm?productID=12697

The Spiders, Part 1: The Golden Sea (1919)

While Modern Men sleep soundly in their beds, ancient civilizations plot to invade.

While Today’s Women keep their houses pristine, secret societies send hooded hoodlums skulking through the closets and corridors.

Who can peer to the depths of this shadowy world?!

Only a most intrepid gentleman—a courageous fellow who loves culture but shuns convenience. Kay Hoog is the man we need.

Kay Hoog. Millionaire, treasure hunter, athlete, adventurer. Dashing bachelor; a man who, in the words of his greatest nemesis (and would-be lover), ‘lives only for sport.’ But Hoog (Carl de Vogt) finds ribbons and cups mere distractions—his first love is adrenaline, and the more dangerous and exotic its pursuit, the better. His mansion is filled with the spoils of missions-past: Indian statues; African masks; golden Buddhas—trophies he would not have sought if they were easy to find.

When Hoog arrivess at the Standard Club of San Francisco, he is again a man on a quest. He doffs his cloak and brandishes a soiled cloth before his crowd of grey-headed, tuxedoed admirers. It is a note, found by Hoog in a floating bottle that very morning. Its message enthrals them all:

To whomever finds this:

Please notify Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts, immediately that I was taken prisoner here near the 75th longitude by descendants of the Incas, who by tradition still faithfully offer human sacrifice to the sun.

Unbelievable treasures lie buried below the ruins of their temples, which are probably inherited from their old King. Beneath the so-called “Holy Sea” extends a gold mine, which appears to be inexhaustible.

Today I escaped my torturers and made it to the coast. In the name of God, help me. May 5, 1918.

Fred Johnson

Hoog will find that gold. The grey heads applaud his manly courage and raise their glasses. But one of the listeners, a young woman, sits quietly. She is Lio Sha (Ressel Orla), and she seems more interested in the note than the man holding it; her toast smashes Hoog’s glass. Hoog considers that a sign of luck.

Lio Sha has dangerous associates. She works with The Spiders, an underground organization of well-heeled conspirators. She does not meet with them directly; her connection is the weird Dr. Telphas (Georg John). However, nothing escapes her attention; as Dr. Telphas plots with the Spiders in their hideout (a mausoleum of riveted iron with sliding doors and secret exits), Lio Sha watches the proceedings from a magic mirror.

Lio Sha knows more about the ancient Incan city than Hoog does. She knows that the piles of gold in its underground caverns are worthless compared to its real treasure, the Diamond Ship. Lio Sha will do anything—to anyone—to possess it.

An added challenge? So much the better for Hoog. However, he must first find a way to the Incan city, which is buried deep within overgrown jungle. The fastest (and of course, most dangerous) way to reach it is by air. Hoog finds an old friend who pilots a weather balloon; will he fly him over the city? Hoog is happy to parachute from the basket once they’re overhead. The friend agrees, but warns Hoog that the balloon must leave the ground at 6 o’clock sharp; if Hoog is late, tough luck.

Indeed, Hoog nearly misses his flight, and it’s all Lio Sha’s fault. He spots her recruiting locals at a nearby bar, promising riches to all who agree to be the muscle for her mission. Lio Sha’s no shrinking violet herself—she stands on a chair in high boots, shirt and tie, giving muscular handshakes to every volunteer.

Hoog bursts into the room and grabs Lio Sha’s book of plans, holds off the crowd with two revolvers and escapes on horseback. The thugs chase him at full gallop, opening fire. Hoog presses his horse for all it’s worth and reaches the balloon just as it’s leaving the ground. He leaps from his saddle, catches the tow-rope and follows the airship skyward.

Hoog’s flight, and subsequent jump, are successful. Now surveying the jungle surrounding the ruined city, he spies Naela, Priestess of the Sun (Lil Dagover), bathing alone in the Holy Sea. Unfortunately for her (but perhaps not for Hoog), she is unaware of the anaconda slipping down the temple steps toward her. Hoog shoots and kills the beast. Naela faints.

When Naela comes to, she is frightened—not about snakes so much, but for her new hero’s well-being. “No white man has ever left this valley alive,” she warns him, though white women must feel more at home, since she’s clearly white herself. She runs off.

Naela is pretty conflicted. As Priestess, it’s up to her to oversee the blood sacrifice her superiors believe necessary to restore the Incan Empire. She prefers offering flowers to the Sun God, but has been overruled by her superiors. And it turns out that the chosen sacrifice is yet another white person: Lio Sha, who has been captured by the Incans.

The multi-armed Sun God awaits tribute. The Incans bind Lio Sha by her hands and feet and lay her before the idol on a bed of feathers. Despite her pants, tie and manly bearing, she’s quite the eroticized damsel now. And again Hoog appears for the saving, all pistols firing and hands untying. He throws her a gun of her own and the two shoot their way out of the crowd, backed up by Lio Sha’s underlings, who finally arrive to rescue her.

The interlopers escape beneath the city. Hoog and Naela move ahead, toward a small escape boat he’s fashioned for them. But Lio Sha’s forces halt before the mountains of golden treasure. They brawl over the booty, setting off a booby trap that floods the caverns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgbROv8ZQio

Hoog and Naela are washed out to sea, where a romantic tall ship appears rescues them. Lio Sha finds her own exit just in time. The rest perish.

Weeks later—back in San Francisco:

We return to Hoog’s mansion, where our hero is in good spirits. After all, he may have missed out on the gold, but he’s got a better trophy idling upstairs. Now his servant alerts him to a visitor. It is Lio Sha, looking dramatic. She declares that she loves him for saving her life.

Actually, they seem like a pretty good match. But Hoog likes his femmes more feminine; Naela descends the staircase at just that moment. Lio Sha does not take the rejection well.

Given all that he’s been through in the last few weeks, you’d expect Hoog to take Lio Sha’s threat seriously. Instead, he takes a day trip, alone. When he returns, he finds Naela lying dead in the garden. Upon her breast is a dead tarantula.

Oh, this isn’t over. The final intertitle says it plain:

For the further adventures of Kay Hoog and his revenge on Lio Sha... See Part Two—

THE DIAMOND SHIP!

Where to find The Spiders:
Parts One and Two of The Spiders were released at different times; in fact, director Fritz Lang planned four movies in the series, but only the first two could be made. Both halves of the film are available on a single disc, distributed by Image Entertainment. The release has no extras and unfortunately, the restoration of the print is not the best. However, any chance to see a silent Indiana Jones is a chance worth taking:

http://www.image-entertainment.com/dvd/detail.cfm?productID=12697