Joe Deebs was a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

who appeared in a series of German

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

and serials during the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. Along with

Stuart Webbs Stuart Webbs is a fictional detective who appeared in a series of German films and serials during the silent era. Webbs was one of a number of detectives with English-sounding names to appear in German cinema of the era. Like his contemporaries, s ...

and a number of other fictional cinema detective characters with Anglo-Saxon names, he was modeled on

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

. In 2009, Ken Wlaschin wrote that "Joe Deebs was one of the most famous screen detectives of the German silent cinema, the suave crime-solving star of at least thirty films." Deebs was played by six different actors including

Max Landa Max Landa (; 24 April 1873 – 8 November 1933; born Max Landau) was a Russian-born Austrian silent film and stage actor. Career Landa attended the Handelsakademie (commercial academy) in Vienna and took classes with acting teacher in the same ...

Heinrich Schroth Heinrich August Franz Schroth (23 March 1871 – 14 January 1945) was a German stage and film actor. Career Schroth was born in Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He made his acting debut at the Sigmaringen Royal Theatre in 1890. In 189 ...

and

Harry Liedtke Harry Liedtke (12 October 1882 – 28 April 1945) was a German film actor. Early life Liedtke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia as the seventh out of 12 children of a merchant. After his father's death in 1896, he grew up in an orphanage and ...

. The films were produced by

Joe May Joe May (born Joseph Otto Mandl; 7 November 1880 – 29 April 1954) was an Austrian film director and film producer and one of the pioneers of Cinema of Germany, German cinema. Biography After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he b ...

(Julius Mandl), who also directed several of the films. Some of the films were produced at Weissensee Studios. Deebs' first appearance was in 1915 during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the character continued to be featured in films through the early 1920s during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. One example is ''Der Onyxknopf'', or '' The Onyx Head'', a 1917 silent film starring Max Landa,

Bruno Kastner Richard Otto Bruno Kastner (January 1890Different sources cite 1 January, 3 January, 20 January, and 30 January as Kastner's date of birth. – 30 June 1932) was a German people, German stage and film acting, actor, screenwriter, and film produce ...

and Leopoldine Konstantin.

References

Bibliography

* Abel, Richard. ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema''. Taylor & Francis, 2005. * Isenberg, Noah William. ''Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era''. Columbia University Press, 2013. * Prawer, S.S. ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933''. Berghahn Books, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Deebs, Joe Crime film characters Fictional German detectives Fictional characters based on Sherlock Holmes Male characters in literature Film characters introduced in 1915