The 1929 film Pandora's Box was based on plays by which German playwright?

The 1929 film Pandora's Box was based on plays by the German playwright Frank Wedekind. G. W. Pabst drew primarily on Wedekind's Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora.

Both plays focus on Lulu, a provocative and socially disruptive figure whose relationships expose the power structures and sexual double standards of her society. Wedekind developed the character across the two dramas rather than presenting a simple mythological adaptation.

Pabst's film condenses and reshapes this material for silent cinema. It does not reproduce every event from the stage works, but it preserves their central character and atmosphere. Louise Brooks's performance as Lulu became closely linked with the role.

The title can cause confusion because it also refers to the Greek myth about Pandora's container. In the film's case, the title comes through Wedekind's play Die Büchse der Pandora, while the story itself belongs to modern European drama.