The Strange Case of Captain Ramper

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Strange Case of Captain Ramper, also known as Ramper, der Tiermensch, is a 1927 German silent film directed by Max Reichmann and starring Paul Wegener and Mary Johnson. It was produced in Berlin by Deutsche Film-Union AG, with an American production unit linked to First National Pictures; First National bought the rights for distribution in 1928.

Plot
Captain Ramper and his loyal mechanic Charles Ipling set out on a flight toward the North Pole. Their plane vanishes after a crash in the frozen north. The two men survive the wreck, but Ipling dies and Ramper becomes a wild, animal-like figure living among polar bears. Years pass, and a whaling ship discovers a strange man-beast; they bring him to Europe and display him in a fairground as a sideshow. Only Zizi, the booth owner’s gentle sister, can approach him without fear. Chocolat, Zizi’s lover, grows uneasy about their bond. A psychiatrist, Dr. Barbazin, recognizes Ramper and tries to restore his humanity. Ramper’s mind is healed, but he feels alienated from modern life and its machines and noise. He cannot love Zizi, whose heart belongs to Chocolat. When a charity fund is raised to aid his rehabilitation, Ramper instead gives his money to Zizi and Chocolat to support their future. He chooses to return to the Arctic, where he signs on as a sailor on a whaling ship—the same vessel that once brought him out of the wilderness. The ship sails back into the polar ice and Ramper returns to his true home among the ice and bears.

Cast and production
- Paul Wegener as Ramper
- Mary Johnson as Zizi
- Camillo Kossuth as Charles Ipling
- Raimondo van Riel as The Captain
- Kurt Gerron as Chocolat
- Hermann Vallentin as Dr. Barbazin
- Hugo Döblin as Doktor
The film’s sets were designed by art director Leopold Blonder.

Release and reception
The film premiered in Berlin on October 31, 1927 and was released in the United States in 1928 by First National after additional prologues about a dirigible disaster were added. For a long time the film was considered lost, but the full 50-minute version has since appeared online and is in the public domain due to its age. Contemporary reviews were mixed: Variety called it somewhat better than other German pictures of the period but noted it was draggy and only fair to middling; Photoplay described it as a German picture with an original plot but a bit heavy.