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Fritz Lang
- SilentCinemaSchool
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
You know that feeling you get when you thought you did something....but it turns out, you haven't? Like, you can almost RECALL the act, in haunting clarity - only to find out it never happened?? Well, that feeling is what prompted me to frantically shake off the cobwebs and delve into today's topic. Because even though I could swear on a stack of ancient wisdom (yep, Reader's Digest) that I did it....I realized I did not.
What can be said about today's filmmaker? Well, in a word: "Metropolis". Yes, Fritz Lang is the mastermind behind the masterpiece I covered previously! But Fritz accomplished so much more in his career, both in Germany and the U.S. - it was absolutely essential that we talk more about him. Technically, we should have talked more about him long ago....
1890 - 1976
Long before he was known as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time (yes, seriously), Friedrich Christian Anton Lang was born in Vienna, Austria. He had one older brother. Fritz's mother was Jewish, but converted to Catholicism, likely because her husband was Catholic and antisemitism would have been a growing problem for her. Interestingly enough, Fritz gravitated towards athiesm later in life, although acknowledging that he felt religion was important in order to teach morals.
A young man named Fritz. Seems to have always looked like this... He probably looked like this even as a child, just saying.
After young Fritz finished schooling, he spent several years traveling throughout Europe, North Africa, the South Seas and Asia. He eventually joined the Austrian Army and fought in Romania and Russia during World War 1. Unfortunately, Fritz was wounded in combat and lost sight in his right eye. While convalescing, he got interested in film and began writing scenarios and plays. Imagine, this man (with only one working eyeball) managed to be more productive than me (with two working eyeballs).
Making music with actress Brigitte Helm (other woman unknown)
When the war ended, Fritz worked (albeit briefly) as a theatrical actor before becoming a screenwriter at a film company in Germany. Not long after, Fritz married his first wife, a stage actress named Elisabeth Rosenthal. Unfortunately, a year and a half later (1920), Elisabeth committed suicide with Fritz's World War 1 revolver. Fritz and his future wife, Thea (then-girlfriend?? I don't know fam, it's sketchy) were initially charged with "failure to render aid" to Elisabeth, but the charges were eventually dropped. And that is all the tea I have to spill on that one, folks...
Fritz became a director at German studios and his (new!) wife Thea, a screenwriter whom he married in 1922, co-wrote every one of his scripts until 1933 - including the epic, aforementioned "Metropolis" (1927). During this time, he unknowingly began a genre that would later be known as "film noir". Fritz, although very talented, was reportedly difficult to work with...to put it delicately! It was said that he literally threw actor Peter Lorre down a flight of stairs to give him a more "battered" look for a scene in the hit talkie, "M" (1931). And people think today's directors are difficult...
In his element
At the end of 1932, Fritz began filming "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse", a sequel to his fascinating and very popular silent film "Dr. Mabuse the Gambler" (1922). But in 1930s Germany, a film that had the antagonist spouting Nazi phrases did NOT go well with the government. The film was banned, and the propaganda minister called Fritz in for a meeting. The proposal, according to Fritz, was simple. "We're banning your film - but you're SO gosh darned talented that we want YOU to be the head of OUR studio." Paraphrasing mine.
Fritz was no fool. A jerk on set, perhaps, but no fool. By the time the little confab was over, the banks were closed and Fritz needed money to get the heck out of Dodge. As someone hiding their Jewish lineage, he couldn't afford to remain any longer. Fritz later said in interviews that he sold Thea's jewelry (they'd recently divorced - neither one could be monogamous if you paid 'em) and took a quick train trip to Paris, leaving most of his possessions and money behind. Thea, already a member of the Nazi party, became one of the Third Reich's most accomplished writers and directors of propaganda films.
In Paris, Fritz managed to make one film after he relocated. Then it was off to the U.S., accepting an offer from David O. Selznick to make a film for MGM. But that was just the beginning! All in all, he made 22 (count 'em! Twenty-two) films for a number of studios in the U.S. He became naturalized in 1939. Many of Fritz's U.S. films were decidedly anti-Nazi and anti-racist - although the constrictions of the Motion Picture Production Code often meant "watering down" his messages.
Thought I was kidding when I said he always looked like this, hm?
In his later years, Fritz returned to Germany and worked alongside producer Artur Brauner to create yet another segment to the Dr. Mabuse franchise. The result was "The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse" (1960). This would be Fritz's final film, as his eyesight and health was rapidly deteriorating. That same year, Fritz was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in recognition of his many accomplishments.
In 1976, Fritz passed away from a stroke and was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery. He is still to this day credited with helping to launch the film noir genre in Hollywood, as well as being lauded by current film critics and historians. The next time you sit down and watch (I mean REALLY watch, put the phone away) a black and white, shadowy, classic, suspense-filled film noir....be sure to remember whom we have to thank for it!
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