"hintertreppe" (german for "backstairs"), jessner's first film (co-directed with paul leni), highlighted jessner's use of these heavily stylised staircases. these staircases would become regular fixtures in later german films, nicknamed "jessnertreppe" in jessner's honor, and would be used to full effect in the 1926 german expressionist film "faust", directed by f.w. murnau. jessner's direction is often considered heavy-handed and clumsy in regard to this picture, and critics accuse jessner of forcing inappropriate theatrical conventions into the cinema.