Fritz Lang

 In an interview, Fritz Lang reported that the film "Metropolis" (1927) "was born from my first sight of the skyscrapers in New York in October 1924." He had visited New York for the first time and remarked "I looked into the streets, the glaring lights and the tall buildings, and there I conceived 'Metropolis.'" Describing his first impressions of the city, Lang said that "the buildings seemed to be a vertical sail, scintillating and very light, a luxurious backdrop, suspended in the dark sky to dazzle, distract and hypnotize". He added "The sight of Neuyork [sic] alone should be enough to turn this beacon of beauty into the centre of a film."

The establishing shots of the city, with cars, planes and elevated trains moving about, were shot using stop-motion photography. The cars were modeled on the newest taxicabs driving the streets of Berlin. It took months to build the city model and several days to film the few short sequences. Then the lab ruined the first shots. The backgrounds in the shot had been dimly lit to create a greater sense of depth, but the head of the lab, who developed the film himself, decided that was a mistake and lightened the backgrounds, thereby destroying the sense of forced perspective.

Brigitte Helm said in a contemporary interview that the amount of pressure that Lang put upon them was immense. Shooting took well over a year, and some of the demands they faced from their director put strain on their physical health. During the scene in which the false Maria is burned at the stake, Lang instructed the actor playing Grot to grab and drag Brigitte Helm by the hair (which he is shown to do). According to many sources, Helm's dress caught alight during this same scene, as Lang frequently demanded numerous retakes.

The connection of this film to the Nazi regime is quite remarkable. Thea von Harbou, who was Fritz Lang's wife, was an ardent and early supporter of the party. Not only Adolf Hitler, but all the inner circle were entranced by the film and considered it as a sort of social blueprint. Lang, of course, was Jewish but the Fuehrer offered him a pass for his ingenuity and vision, very rare in Nazi Germany. He fled to Paris, then eventually America.

Happy Birthday, Fritz Lang!