Wolves of the Underworld

The designer of this poster seems to have tried to disguise the German nature and original title of this UFA production. The German title is Das Panzergewölbe, which translates to ‘the armoured vault’. Australia appears to be the only country that used this variant on the title.

The unusual translation continues with the lead actor’s name. ‘Henry George’ is in fact Heinrich George, who also appeared in Metropolis, and this anglicisation of his name is an anomaly. This is also inconsistent with the other Cinema Art posters in the NFSA collection from the same period where credits were not anglicised.

If the bold title didn’t grab your attention sufficiently, the smaller text makes the film’s genre more explicit (including not one but three exclamation marks). The main image is, by contrast, strangely pedestrian. It seems to be a quaint evening snow scene outside a rural café. It’s hard to determine whether the red trail in the snow is blood or simply tyre marks. Either way, it can hardly be considered dramatic.