The year is 2026, a futuristic Dickensian "best of times, worst of times" in
the city of Metropolis. The wealthy ruling class live in towering luxury
skyscrapers, while the working class labor mechanically and anonymously far
below ground level in industrial hell. Our story begins when the working shifts
are changing in the vast factory pulsating under the city. At the same moment,
high up above in a privileged garden setting, our hero Freder (Gustav Frolich),
the pampered, adult son of powerful industrialist John Fredersen (Alfred Abel),
is frolicking.
Freder's pursuit of a scantly clad damsel is interrupted when he notices
Maria (Brigette Helm) escorting a group of the workers children into the garden.
When Maria and the children are ordered out of the place of privilege, a smitten
Freder follows this strange but compelling beauty deep into the heart of the
underground city. For the first time, this spoiled son of wealth becomes aware
of the torturous plight of the workers. Freder, appalled by the laborers working
conditions, appeals to his father who ignores his plea. The young man then
decides to go to the underground city on his own. While there, Freder assists a
worker and learns of a labor meeting. At the meeting, he finds Maria preaching
to the workers and trying to improve their lot.
Meanwhile, maniacal inventor Rottwang (Rudolph Klein-Rogge) demonstrates to
Fredersen a robot that can replace the workers. From a secret passage, the two
men see and hear Maria encouraging the workers by telling them a leader will
"arrive." Fearing a workers revolt, Fredersen instructs Rottwang to make a
special robot in the trustworthy image of Maria. She is to be programmed as a
false prophet to lead the workers astray and crush their attempt at organizing.
The following day when Rottwang spies Maria and Freder embracing, he waits for
her to be alone. When the moment comes, he abducts her and spirits her away to
his laboratory. His genius as an inventor prevails, and the personality transfer
from a living being to a cold machine is a success, or is
it...?
Master director Fritz Lang conceived the idea of Metropolis upon
experiencing the hugeness of the New York City skyline in 1924. Lang, and
producer Erich Pommer, were visiting from Germany and Lang recalled: " ... [I]
saw a street lit as if in full daylight by neon lights and topping them
oversized luminous advertisements moving, turning, flashing on and off,
spiraling.... I knew I had to make a film about all those sensations."
On his return to Germany, Lang immediately began collaborating with his new
wife and primary film scenarist, Thea von Harbou. She created a screenplay set
in the future that focused on labor vs. capital. The plot fired the imagination
of production designer Eugene Shuftan, whose methodical technical process
combined miniatures with live actors. The results were nothing short of
fantastic and his process was eagerly adopted throughout the film industry. It
wasn't only movie technicians who were impressed with the final results. When
the film premiered in the the next year in the U.S., the admiration of the
critics for the look of the film was unprecedented:
The Variety film review, of February 23, 1927, was impressed
but critical: "The long-awaited film for which UFA has been beating the gong for
the last year. It is said to have cost 7,000,000 marks (about $1,680,000) and
the picture looks it. Nothing of the sort has ever been filmed before; its
effect is positively overwhelming. From a photographic and directorial
standpoint, it is something entirely original.... The weakness is the scenario
by Thea von Harbou. It gives effective chances for scenes, but it actually gets
nowhere.... To bad that so much really artistic work was wasted on the
manufactured story."
The New York Times, on March 7, 1927, commented, "Nothing
like Metropolis, the ambitious UFA production that has created wide
international comment, has been seen on the screen."
Harrison's Reports, of March 26, 1927, pronounced, "It is
doubtful whether this picture would be a box office attraction anywhere but in
very large cities where the more intelligent pictures are favorably received, as
it is only a fantastic tale of a dreamer taking too long to tell."
National Board of Review, in April 1927, stated soberly,
"Metropolis deals with a problem implicit in our whole modern
civilization, the question whether our enormous advance in the field of
mechanics and science has not so far outstripped our emotional and ethical
development that this side of our nature is being atrophied so that we are
gradually becoming spiritually impoverished the more the progress in the
conveniences of civilization is accelerated."
Photoplay, in May 1927, loved the look, but rejected the
rest: "Marvelous settings, gorgeous camera work, awful German acting and
terrible English titles. It's an imaginative story of the City of the Future and
might, alas, have been one of the greatest pictures of the year."
Reviewer Carl Sandburg, for the July 18, 1927, Chicago Daily
News, appreciated the effort: "Anyone who had a good time at The
Lost World will have a better time at Metropolis, for it carries
the spectator into the world a thousand years [sic] hence."
In America, the plot line was not as well received by the critics, perhaps
due to the class struggle angle, but more likely suffered when it was re-edited
down from 17 to 10 reels for the American release. This made it impossible for
audiences to make any sense out of the already convoluted plot. However, the
look of Metropolis still impresses and inspires. It is one example of a
comparison between the style of American vs. European silent films: the American
films light the star, while European films light the
set.
Metropolis took almost two years to complete and its production
staggered the imagination. The film required over 37,000 extras and 750 bit
players. For instance, the Tower of Babel sequence called for six thousand men
with shaved heads. When the studio couldn't find enough actors who were willing
to shave their pates, they obtained nearly a thousand unemployed men who agreed
to be shorn. The studio hired a hundred barbers to cut their hair. (Not to be
wasteful, the shorn hair was sold to a mattress factory!) By the final tally,
Metropolis cost nearly 7 million marks - making it the most expensive
film produced in Germany up to that time. Not surprisingly, the mounting
expenses almost closed down production prematurely, and, in the end, the film
failed to make a profit.
Fortunately enough of the expressionist film masterpiece survives to allow us
to appreciate Lang's cinematic craftsmanship. To this day, Metropolis
finds itself on top ten film lists all over the world. The film continues to be
re-released with new scores such as the 1984 Giorgio Morodor version (edited to
87 minutes) that combined heavy metal music with an almost pristine print of the
film that was newly tinted and toned. The debate still rages between those who
prefer a more traditional orchestral accompaniment as opposed to a modern,
futuristic interpretation (after all, it is 100 years into the
future).
Brigitte Helm (1906-1996), born Gisele Eve Schittenhelm in
Berlin, Germany became world famous when she was selected to play the dual role
of working girl Maria and her evil robot double in Fritz Lang's
Metropolis (1926). She became one of Germany's top screen attractions,
extending her popularity to British and French productions. Supposedly she later
turned down the part of Lola-Lola in Von Sternberg's The Blue Angel
(Paramount Famous Lasky Corp., 1929), which went instead to Marlene
Dietrich. Helm retired from films upon her marriage in 1935. Critical of the
Nazi regime, she left Germany and spent the rest of her life living in
Switzerland and France. Of the many films that she appeared in only a few are
available: Metropolis, The Love of Jeanne Ney (UFA, 1927) and
Alraune (Ama, 1928).
Rudolf Klein-Rogge (1888-1955) born in Cologne, Germany, and
after a career as an operatic stage star, he began appearing in films in 1919.
His greatest roles were in the silent films of Fritz Lang, performing memorably
as the lead in Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (UFA, 1922), the despotic King
Etzel in Die Niebelungen, Part 1 (Decla-Bioskop/UFA, 1922) the
megalomaniac Rotwang in Metropolis and the criminal mastermind Haghi in
Spione (Spies) (UFA/M-G-M, 1927). In 1933, Klein-Rogge married
Lang's ex-wife, Thea von Harbou, converting her to Nazism. (Fritz Lang fled to
the United States when the Nazi's came into power that same year.) Klein-Rogge
and von Harbou remained in Germany and devoted their talents to the Nazi cause.
Thea von Harbou (1888-1954) born in
Tauperlitz bei Hof/Saale in the province of Bavaria, was the daughter of a
forester and gamekeeper. She entered films as a scenarist for producer Joe May
who commissioned her in 1917 to write her fist film script. During the silent
era, she emerged as one of the most accomplished scenarists in the German
cinema. As an employee of UFA, she collaborated with Fritz Lang on his 1921
production of Der müde Tod (Destiny), which was based on Thea's
book. She wrote screenplays for many of Germany's greatest directors including,
F. W. Murnau's, Burning Soil (Goron-Deulig Exklusiv Film, 1922) Joe
May's, The Indian Tomb (May Film, 1921), and many of Fritz Lang's
productions. Von Harbou married Fritz Lang in 1924, and they divorced in 1933.
Karl W. Freund (1890-1969) born in
Koniginhof, Bohemia
(later Czechoslovakia), entered the film industry at 16 as an apprentice film
projectionist in Berlin. A year later he joined Pathe, and by the age of 18 he
was a newsreel cameraman. A gifted innovator, the young Freund experimented with
sound as early as 1908 and he designed his own movie camera to meet his high
standards. He gained international recognition with his daring use of lighting
effects, camera angles and camera movement, working with the foremost German
directors including: F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh; E.A. Dupont's Variety
(UFA, 1925); and Fritz Lang's Metropolis. In 1926 he also co-wrote and
co-produced Walter Ruttmann's memorable documentary Berlin--Die Symphonie
Einer Grosstadt (a.k.a. Berlin -- Symphony of a Great City). In
1929, Karl "Papa" Freund emigrated to the United States where he enjoyed a
successful career in American films. He was active through the 1950s where his
last successful stint was spent as chief cinematographer for Desilu Productions.
Fritz Lang (1890-1976) born Friedrich
Christian Anton Lang, in Vienna, Austria was expected to become an architect,
like his father. After attending a technical high school, he enrolled in
Vienna's Academy of Graphic Arts. Unhappy at the career his family had chosen
for him he ran away and studied art on his own terms in Munich and Paris. He
then began touring the world, including Africa, China, Russia, Japan and the
South Seas, supporting himself selling postal cards and paintings.
He returned to Paris in 1913. Upon the outbreak of the war the following
year, he caught the last train to Vienna and was drafted into the Austrian Army.
He was wounded four times, and, during his long convalescence, acted in Red
Cross stage shows. During this time, he began writing short stories and
screenplays. Upon his discharge, he joined the Decla company in Berlin as a
writer and soon became a staff screenwriter who played occasional bit roles. By
1919, Lang directed his first film and, as a result, scored his first commercial
success with The Spiders (Decla-Bioskop). He earned a well-deserved
(and life-long) reputation of being an autocrat on the set. Wearing his
"director's uniform," complete with riding crop, he demanded absolute discipline
and concentration from his cast and crew. In 1920, he began collaborating on
screenplays with writer Thea von Harbou who would become his wife in 1924.
Lang's silent films include: Der müde Tod, Dr. Mabuse, der
Spieler, Die Niebelungen, Part 1, Die Niebelungen, Part 2
(Decla-Bioskop/UFA, 1924), Spione (Spies) (UFA/M-G-M, 1927)
and Frau im Mond (Women in the Moon) (UFA, 1929). His first
talkie M (Nero-Film AG, 1931) is probably his most-revived film.
In 1933, after divorcing von Harbou (no children), Lang fled Nazi Germany and
emigrated to the U.S. There was a niche in Hollywood for Fritz Lang, and he
directed a number of classic films including: Fury (M-G-M, 1936),
The Return of Frank James (20th Century-Fox, 1940), The Ministry of
Fear (Paramount, 1944), Scarlet Street (Universal, 1945),
Rancho Notorious (RKO, 1952), Moonfleet (M-G-M, 1955) and
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (RKO, 1956). In the late 1950's, Lang
returned to Germany and directed, wrote and/or produced three more films. He
retired in 1963, spending his remaining years in the U.S.
Metropolis (UFA, 1926) - Cast: Alfred Abel, Gustav Frohlich,
Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Theodor Loos, Fritz Rasp, Hanns Leo Reich and
Olaf Storm. Directed by Fritz Lang. Scenario by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou
(novel). This is a film we would like to see officially released on
video.
Sources: Metropolis, by Thea von
Harbou: The Film
Encyclopedia, by Ephraim Katz: Fritz Lang; The Nature Of The
Beast, by Patrick McGilligan: Metropolis, by Thea von Harbou:
The Great German Films, by Frederick W. Ott; and Horror in Silent
Films: A Filmography, 1896-1929, by Roy Kinnard.