German-Hollywood Connection > FRITZ LANG > METROPOLIS > FILMS
The Films of Fritz Lang
Although Fritz Lang is best known for the films he made in Germany before Hitler came to power, many of his Hollywood films were also worthy achievements.
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Fritz Lang’s star at 1600 Vine Street in Hollywood. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo |
Fritz Lang made his first Hollywood film in 1936, only three years after leaving Nazi Germany. Fury became a critical and box-office success that established Lang as a Hollywood director. But for a long time Lang had found it difficult to get an American studio to give him a film assignment. His one-year contract with MGM began in 1934, but the scripts or treatments he presented (at first in German translated into English) met with little enthusiasm.
In addition, Lang’s reputation had preceded him. Many of the people he had once worked with in Germany were now also in Hollywood and few were eager to work with the Austrian director again. (And many resented his fame.) He also faced the challenge of the language difference. He had a bilingual secretary to help with his work, but he needed time to absorb the American language and way of doing things. (He read a lot of newspapers and comic strips.)
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Restored Authorized Edition DVD - The newly restored METROPOLIS of Fritz Lang. ORDER this DVD |
Accounts vary as to who found and adapted the story of lynch mob that became the script for Fury, but the project arose just as Lang’s contract at MGM was running out. Studio writer Norman Krasna had proposed the story of an innocent man cornered by an enraged mob, based on an actual 1933 mob incident in San Jose, California that had been reported in newspapers. Joseph L. Mankiewiecz liked the idea and developed Krasna’s treatment into something he could direct. However, Louis B. Mayer wanted Mankiewiecz as an MGM producer instead, and Lang was given the job of directing Fury. It was also Mankiewiecz who put Spencer Tracy in the lead role of Joe. Bartlett Cormack, who had just joined MGM, was given the job of producing a final script. Despite friction on the set (cast and crew upset with Lang), the director produced a good picture. It became a high standard to which Lang was compared for his future films, even when he later moved to Paramount and other Hollywood studios.
See the selected filmography for Fritz Lang below.
BACK > Fritz Lang Biography
BACK > Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
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Fritz Lang Filmography
Fritz Lang showed his mastery in both the silent and sound era. M, one of the first “talkies” ever produced, displayed Lang’s talent for using sound effectively. In his silent classic, Metropolis, he was a visual virtuoso. In Hollywood, he became a master of film noir.
Selected Films (Germany)
Die Spinnen 1 | The Spiders 1 (1919)
Die Spinnen 2 | The Spiders 2 (1920)
A two-part epic starring Lil Dagover and Carl de Vogt. The secret organization known as “Die Spinnen” is after Inca gold (The Golden Lake, Part1) and a huge diamond (The Diamond Ship, Part 2).
DVD > Buy Die Spinnen (Parts 1 & 2)
Der müde Tod | Destiny (1921)
“Weary Death” (literal translation) was released in the US as Destiny, Between Two Worlds and Beyond the Wall.
DVD > Buy Der müde Tod
Dr. Mabuse der Spieler | Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)
Stars Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Dr. Mabuse.
DVD > Buy Dr. Mabuse der Spieler
Die Nibelungen | The Nibelungen (1924)
A two-part epic (Siegfried and Kriemhild) based on Germanic mythology. DVD > Buy Die Nibelungen
Metropolis (1926)
This Criterion restored version of Lang’s sci-fi flick includes the original music score. DVD > Buy Metropolis (restored version)
Spione | Spies (1928)
Agent No. 326 is ordered to stop a spy-ring, but he falls in love with one of the spies, Sonya, and tries to find the head of that organization. Stars Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Gerda Maurus. DVD > Buy Spies
Die Frau im Mond | The Woman on the Moon (1929)
Lang invented the launch countdown for this film. Variously titled "By Rocket to the Moon," "The Girl in the Moon," and "The Woman on the Moon" in the US. Gold is discovered on the moon, and that’s when the trouble begins.
DVD > Buy Die Nibelungen
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Peter Lorre starred in Fritz Lang’s first sound film: M. BUY the DVD |
Lang’s first sound film is a groundbreaking drama about a child molester and murderer (Peter Lorre).
DVD > Buy M - 2-Disc Set - Criterion Collection
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse | The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Lang’s sequel to his flamboyant 1922 Dr. Mabuse film, this time adding subtle use of sound to the creepy effects developed for the silent version. Stars Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke and Gustav Diessl.
DVD > Buy The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - 2-Disc Set - Criterion Collection
Der Tiger von Eschnapur | Das indische Grabmal
The Tiger of Eschnapur | The Indian Tomb (1959)
Lang’s two “Indian Epic” films were made in West Berlin and India after he quit Hollywood. In color. With Debra Paget and Paul Hubschmid.
DVD > Buy Fritz Lang’s Indian Epic (DVD set with English and German versions)
Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse | The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960)
Lang’s very last film (made in Germany) is a spy thriller that combines elements of film noir, horror, and science fiction. Stars Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, and Gert Fröbe (Goldfinger) as police commissioner Kras, trying to uncover the sinister secret of the mysterious Hotel Luxor.
DVD > Buy The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Selected Hollywood Films
Fury (1936)
Lang’s first US movie. The story of an innocent man (Spencer Tracy) who escapes a lynch mob and then orchestrates his apparent murder at their hands. Stars Tracy and Sylvia Sidney. Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay (but not for the director).
DVD > Buy Fury
You Only Live Once (1937)
An above-average Depression-era gangster pic with Henry Fonda, Sylvia Sidney and Ward Bond.
DVD > Buy You Only Live Once
Western Union (1941)
A Technicolor Western with Robert Young and Randolph Scott.
Hangmen Also Die (1943)
About Hitler’s henchmen.
The Woman in the Window (1944)
The first in a series of Lang film noir movies.
Ministry of Fear (1944)
A good film noir with Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds. Stephen Neale (Milland) is released into WWII England after two years in an asylum, but it doesn’t seem so sane outside either.
VHS > Buy Ministry of Fear
Scarlet Street (1945)
A film noir starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. A box-office hit in its day (despite being banned in three states), Scarlet Street is perhaps Lang’s finest American film. Now restored by Kino to its former glory.
DVD > Buy Scarlet Street (Remastered edition)
Rancho Notorious (1952)
A Western with Marlene Dietrich and Arthur Kennedy.
The Big Heat (1953)
A respected film noir with Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame. The story revolves around the suicide of a crooked cop, and the subsequent struggle of an honest detective, Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), to navigate between a corrupt city government and a ruthless mobster to uncover the truth.
DVD > Buy The Big Heat
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
A good Lang film noir with Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Raymond Burr, Ann Sothern and Nat 'King' Cole. Inspired by the notorious Black Dahlia murder case.
DVD > Buy The Blue Gardenia
Moonfleet (1955)
A swashbuckler with Stewart Granger and George Sanders.
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
Lang’s last US picture, and not one of his best, stars Dana Andrews.
BACK > Fritz Lang Biography
BACK > Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
Lang On the Web
- Fritz Lang (IMDb)
- Fritz Lang - Wikipedia (English)
- Fritz Lang - Wikipedia (German)
Related German Way Pages
- Famous German Movies - Films from Germany have made their mark on world cinema—and influenced Hollywood
- Germans (and Others) in Hollywood - About the three main waves of Germanic immigration to Hollywood
- Berlin City Guide - Sights, history
- German Cinema - From the German Way book
- Famous Germans, Austrians and Swiss
- Famous Graves - The graves and cemeteries of the famous
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