Fritz Lang

Vienna, Austria - 02.08.1976, Los Angeles, USA

 

Director
Fritz Lang (December 5th ,1890, Vienna, Austria – August 2nd , 1976,
Los Angeles, USA), was a director and a screenwriter of Austrian-Jewish origin.
He studied architecture and painting at the Visokoj tehničkoj školi in
Vienna. He fought in the WW I and was wounded four times. From 1917 he wrote
short stories and afterwards screenplays. In 1919 he directed his first film
Halbblut, based on his own screenplay. He met his future wife, Thea von
Harbou, in 1920. They were married from 1922 until 1933, and Thea von Harbou
wrote screenplays for almost all of his most important films. In 1934 he signed
a contract with the American company MGM and moved to the US. He made
more than 40 films. Lang’s place, and importance in the history of film is huge
and has greatly influenced many directors.

Filmography

- Die Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse (1960)
- Journey to the Lost City (1959)
- Das Indische Grabmal (1959)
- Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959)
- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
- While the City Sleeps (1956)
- Moonfleet (1955)
- Human Desire (1954)
- The Big Heat (1953)
- The Blue Gardenia (1953)
- Clash by Night (1952)
- Rancho Notorious (1952)
- An American Guerilla in the Philippines (1950)
- House by the River (1950)
- Secret Beyond the Door
- Cloak and Dagger (1946)
- Scarlet Street (1945)
- The Woman in the Window (1944)
- Ministry of Fear (1944)
- Hangmen Also Die (1943)
- Man Hunt (1941)
- Western Union (1941)
- The Return of Frank James (1940)
- You and Me (1938)
- You Only Live Once (1937)
- Fury (1936)
- Liliom (1934)
- Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933)
- M (1931)
- Frau im Mond (1929)
- Spione (1928)
- Metropolis (1927)
- Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache (1924)
- Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)
- Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922)
- Vier um die Frau (1921)
- Der Müde Tod (1921)- Das Wandernde Bild (1920)
- Die Spinnen, 2. Teil: Das Brillantenschiff (1920)
- Der Herr der Liebe (1919)
- Die Pest in Florenz (1919)
- Harakiri (1919)
- Die Spinnen, 1. Teil: Der Goldene See (1919)
- Halbblut (1919)


Related texts

Prophetic content and form

Lang - A Tangle of Binary Oppositions

Films by this director

Die Spinnen - Die Goldene See (part 1)

(Die Spinnen - Die Goldene See, 1919)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
Synopsis:

Synopsis (first and second parts):These are the first two parts of a never-finished series of four films inspired by Louis Feuillade’s films, one of the pioneers of criminal film in France. In the first part we encounter the hero, Kay Hoog, who found a note indicating that the Inka are still alive. But a secret criminal organization, Spiders, wants the Inka’s gold… In the second part, Kay Hoog tries to prevent the criminals from finding the diamond that will change the order in Asia.

black and white, 130 min

Die Spinnen - Die Brillantenschiff (part 2)

(Die Spinnen - Die Brillantenschiff, 1920)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
Synopsis:

Synopsis (first and second parts):These are the first two parts of a never-finished series of four films inspired by Louis Feuillade’s films, one of the pioneers of criminal film in France. In the first part we encounter the hero, Kay Hoog, who found a note indicating that the Inka are still alive. But a secret criminal organization, Spiders, wants the Inka’s gold… In the second part, Kay Hoog tries to prevent the criminals from finding the diamond that will change the order in Asia.

black and white, 70 min

Destiny

(Der müde Todd, Germany, 1921)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Bruno Mondi, Erich Nitzschmann, Herrmann Saalfrank, Bruno Timm, Fritz Arno Wagner
Synopsis:

A young couple spends a night in a village inn. During the night, the young man is abducted by Death, which hides behind the glass wall without doors. Through three similar stories we learn that the man has never been saved. The girl realizes the meaning of the stories and does the only thing that will enable her to reunite with her boyfriend.

b/w, 114'

Metropolis

(Germany, 1927)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Karl Freund, Günther Rittau, Walter Ruttmann
Synopsis:

In the future, people are divided into two groups: thinkers and workers. One of the thinkers visits the workers in the underground, and falls in love with the worker Maria. It seems that the deranged genius Rotwang is the only one who knows the secret of the underground.

b/w, 153'

Spione

(Germany, 1928)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Fritz Arno Wagner
Synopsis:

Agent no 326 has to destroy a spy network, but he is stopped by an unpredicted obstacle; he falls in love with the spy Sonia. The agent tries to find the organization’s leader, and in the meantime Sonia makes a bet with the leader that the agent will soon recognize him. She is also in love with agent 326…

b/w, 150'

Frau im Mond

(Germany, 1929)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Curt Courant, Oskar Fischinger, Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, Otto Kanturek
Synopsis:

Scientists discover the existence of gold on the Moon. Afterwards, a group that will fly to the Moon is formed. Soon afterwards, however, there are different quarrels among the group members.

b/w, 169'

M

(M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder, Germany, 1931)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Fritz Arno Wagner
Synopsis:

The police are searching for a psychotic murderer of children. The intensive police action results in a total blockade of the criminal underground, so the criminals decide to help the police in their search for the killer.

b/w, 109'

The Woman in the Window

(1944)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Milton R. Krasner
Synopsis:

A married professor, Richard Wanley, is obsessed by a portrait of a beautiful woman named Alice Reed which hangs in a shop window next to a gentlemen’s club. Soon, he meets the beautiful woman from the portrait. While visiting her in her apartment, her lover attacks him, and the professor kills him in self defense. Afterwards he becomes a victim of blackmail and a suspect for the police…

35mm, b/w, 99 min

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler

(Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler I: Der grosse Spieler, ein Bild der Zeit, Germany, 1922)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Hoffmann
Synopsis:

Doktor Mabuse is a thief and a liar who uses his hypnotic skills to get what he wants. He is the head of a criminal organization in Berlin. Inspector von Wenck will not catch him easily…

b/w, 155'

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Inferno

(Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler II: Inferno, ein Spiel Menschen unserer Zeit, Germany, 1922)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Hoffmann
Synopsis:

This is the sequel to the first film about Dr Mabuse, in which he and inspector Wenck finally confront each other. The two films about Dr Mabuse are a masterpieces of the criminal and adventure film genre.

b/w, 115'

Die Nibelungen - part I

(Die Nibelungen: Siegfried, Germany, 1924)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau, Walter Ruttmann
Synopsis:

Siegfried, son of the king Sigmund, hears gossip about the beautiful princess Kriemhild, king of Worms Gunther’s sister, and decides to meet her. On the way, Sigmund kills a dragon and finds treasure. Soon, Gunther promises Siegfried Kriemhild’s hand if he helps him seduce queen of Iceland Brunhild. They manage to accomplish this but only thanks to a trick that leads to tragic events.

b/w, silent, 150'

Die Nibelungen - part II

(Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache, Germany, 1924)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau
Synopsis:

After Siegfried’s death, Kriemhild swears to avenge him. From her brother, king Gunthera, she asks for Hagen Tronje’s head, who has murdered her husband. However, Gunther refuses her. Soon, with the aid of an intermediary, Attila, king of the Huns starts to court her. After he promises her to honor her forever and defend her honor, she agrees to marry him, leaves her home country and gives birth to their son. Soon she asks Attila to invite her brothers to visit. Then she asks for Hagen Tronje’s...

b/w, silent, 131'

Dr. Mabuses Testament

(Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Germany, France, 1933)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Karl Vash, Fritz Arno Wagner
Synopsis:

This is Lang’s second sound film and the second part of the two-part film Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1921). Dr. Mabuse is in a mental hospital treated by the professor Baum. Soon a detective arrives to the hospital who went crazy after he uncovered a criminal conspiracy. Unfortunately, he did not have time to let inspector Lohmann know the name of the man is behind the conspiracy.

b/w, 122'

Fury

(1936)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Joseph Ruttenberg
Synopsis:

Fritz Lang’s first Hollywood film deals with mob mentality and violence that the mob is capable of committing. On his way to visit his fiancée Katherine, Joe Wilson passes through a small town where he is, based on very dubious evidence, accused of kidnapping a child. The word of his arrest spreads through the town and a mob gathers in font of the prison demanding the prisoner. When the sheriff refuses them, the enraged mob sets the prison on fire…

35mm, b/w, 90 min

Western union

(1941)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Edward Cronjager, Allen M. Davey
Synopsis:

Vance Shaw is a former outlaw trying to become a decent citizen. He works for Western Union and together with an engineer from Harvard, Richard Blake, works on setting up a telephone connection between Omaha and Salt Lake City. His former criminal friends try to stop him. In addition, Vance and Shaw compete for Sue Creighton, their bosses’ sister.

digital, color, 95 min

Man hunt

(1941)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
PHOTOGRAPHY: Arthur C. Miller
Synopsis:

British professional hunter spends his vacation in Bavaria near Hitler’s house. Accidentally he manages to aim Hitler himself with his rifle. He puts a bullet in the rifle and is about to shoot but is caught by SS officers. They beat him up and take to the security chief. He claims that he was just practicing shooting and refuses to sign a confession on attempted assassination. By coincidence, he manages to escape from Hitler’s estate and secretly boards a ship to England. German secret service...

35mm, b/w, 105 min
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