The silent film Nosferatu was released in 1922. Directed by F. W. Murnau, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is a German Expressionist film and an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Because the filmmakers did not secure permission, they changed the names and details: Count Dracula became Count Orlok, Jonathan Harker became Thomas Hutter, and Mina Harker became Ellen Hutter.
The film premiered in Berlin on March 4, 1922, at the Marmorsaal of the Berlin Zoological Garden, followed by its German cinema release on March 15. It had actually opened earlier in the Netherlands on February 16. Max Schreck’s unnerving performance as the rat-like Orlok helped establish the film as one of cinema’s most influential portrayals of the vampire.
Prana Film attempted to avoid copyright infringement by altering the story, but Stoker’s widow, Florence Balcombe, successfully sued the production company. A court ordered existing prints destroyed, although surviving copies allowed the film to endure. Nosferatu is also notable for popularizing the idea that sunlight can destroy a vampire.