Metropolis (1927)

Country of Origin: Germany
Year of Production: 1926
Running Times: 80m (Giorgio Moroder version)/93m (video and reissue version)/115m (restored East German version)/150m (version restored by Filmmuseum Munich)/153m (original release)/210m (original director's cut at premiere)
Length:
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: black and white/colourised version also available
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Sound: silent/Dolby Digital (1995 restored version)

DIRECTION

Director: Fritz Lang

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Ufa
Producer: Erich Pommer; Giorgio Moroder (1984 restoration)

SCRIPT
Screenplay: Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou
Idea: Thea von Harbou

PHOTOGARPHY
Director of Photography: Karl Freund, Gunther Rittau
Stills: Horst von Harbou (uncredited)

MUSIC
Music: Gottfried Huppertz (original accompanying score - uncredited)
Music (2nd cutting): Konrad Elfers
Electronic Score for BBC Transmission: William Fitzwater
Music (New Score): Alloy Orchestra (Terry Donahue, Neil Leonard, Caleb Sampson, Ken Winokur), Club Foot Orchestra (Richard Marriott)
Music Performed By: Club Foot Orchestra (Myles Boisen (double neck bass and guitar), Sheldon Brown (saxophone, clarinet, flute and harmonica), Matt Brubeck (cello), Catherine Clune (violin), Beth Custer (clarinets), Chris Grady (trumpet), Kenny Wollesen (drums), Steve Kirk (guitar), Richard Marriott (trombone, trumpet, flute and keyboards), Nik Phelps (woodwinds and brass))
Music (1984 Restoration): Giorgio Moroder
Songs (1984 Restoration): Freddie Mercury, Giorgio Moroder (Love Kills); Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte (Here's My Heart; Cage of Freedom; Blood from a Stone; Here She Comes; Destruction; What's Going On); Giorgio Moroder (The Legend of Babel; Machines); Giorgio Moroder, Billy Squire (On Your Own)
Songs Performed By (1984 Restoration): Freddie Mercury (Love Kills); Pat Benatar (Here's My Heart); Jon Anderson (Cage of Freedom); Cycle V (Blood from a Stone); Giorgio Moroder (The Legend of Babel; Machines); Bonnie Tyler (Here She Comes); Loverboy (Destruction); Billy Squire (On Your Own); Adam Ant (What's Going On)
Music (1998 Restoration): Peter Osborne

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Costume Designer: Anne Willkomm

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Schufftan Process Photography: Helmar Lerski
Model Photography: Konstantin Irmen-Tschet

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht
Poster Design: Boris Bilinsky (uncredited)
Sculptures: Walter Schultze-Mittendorf

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special Thanks To (1984 Restoration): Rusty Lemorande

LOCATIONS
Locations: Berlin, Germany; Ufa-Ateliers Studio, Germany

CAST

Alfred Abel (John Fredersen)
Gustav Frohlich (Freder Fredersen)
Brigitte Helm (Maria / The Robot (aka Futura))
Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Rotwang)
Fritz Rasp (Grot)
Theodor Loos (Josaphat)
Heinrich George (Groth, machine foreman)
Fritz Alberti (robot)
Erwin Biswanger (Georg (No. 11811))
Grete Berger, Olly Boeheim, Ellen Frey, Lisa Gray, Rose Lichtenstein, Helene Weigel (working women)
Max Dietze, Georg John, Walter Kuehle, Arthur Reinhard, Erwin Vater (working men)
Beatrice Garga, Anny Hintze, Hilde Woitscheff, Helen von Munchhofen (women in Eternal Garden)
Heinrich Gotho (master of ceremonies)
Margarete Lanner (woman in car/woman in Eternal Garden)
Hanns Leo Reich (Marinus)
Olaf Storm (Jan)

In the year 2026, the population of the city of Metropolis is divided between the wealthy elite and the repressed workers. A popular uprising is forming, lead by the courageous Maria and the Master of Metropolis, Joh Fredesen is getting worried. He calls on the services of the brilliant but deranged scientist Rotwang who has designed a beautiful robot in female form that can assume the appearance of anyone he chooses - someone like Maria...

One of the jewels in the crown of silent cinema, this masterpiece is as evocative and thrilling now as it was in 1926. Passionately committed, beautifully shot and featuring images that are still influencing SF cinema even now, it's a one of a kind film that amply rewards repeated viewings.

AVAILABILITY

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures (re-releases)
Video Distributor: Killiam Collection; LS Video; Stokey Video

Germany
Rating: 16

Sweden
Rating: 15; 11 (re-release)

1925
May
22: Production begins

1926
October
30: Production ends

1927
January
10: Germany - theatrical release

March
13: USA - theatrical release
22: Finland - theatrical release

April
4: Sweden - theatrical release

1985
September
6: Sweden - theatrical release (1984 version)

There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator...

SEE ALSO
Antz (1998)
Army of Darkness (1993)
The Arrival (1996)
Cabiria (1914)
Coneheads (1993)
Dark City (1998)
Drug-Taking and the Arts (1994)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Hackers (1995)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Invasion for Flesh and Blood (1996)
Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)
The Runestone (1990)
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Total Recall (1990)
Toy Story 2 (1999)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Android (1982)
A Century of Cinema (1994)
Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (1996)
Heartstoppers: Horror at the Movies (1992)
Latex (1995)
My Science Fiction Life (2006)
Sergei Eisenstein Autobiografiya (1996)
Special Effects: Anything Can Happen (1996)
Universal Horror (1998)

PERIODICALS

American Cinematographer vol.80 no.3 (March 1999) p.106 (USA)
illustrated article (Metropolis: Karl Freund, ASC and Gunther Rittau)

Australian Journal of Screen Theory no.1 (January 1976) pp.3-50 (Australia)
article (Genetic structuralism and the cinema: A look at Fritz Lang's Metropolis by John Tulloch)

Cineaction! no.66 (2005) pp.12-23 (Canada)
illustrated article (Metropolis: Restoration, Reevaluation by Susan Smith)

Cinematographie Francaise no.2135 (6 November 1965) p.21 (France)
review

Classic Images no.356 (February 2005) pp.34-35 (USA)
DVD review

Empire August 1999 p.146 (UK)
review (by David Parkinson)

Empire no.188 (February 2005) p.150 (UK)
illustrated DVD review

Film-Echo/Filmwoche no.7 (17 February 1995) p.11 (Germany)
illustrated short article (Metropolis mit Jazz by anonymous)

Film-Echo/Filmwoche no.13 (31 March 1995) p.20 (Germany)
note (Vielbewubderte Metropolis by anonymous)

Film Heritage vol.3 no.2 (Winter 1967 - 1968) pp.22-28 (USA)
illustrated article

Film History vol.7 no.3 (Autumn 1995) pp.277-290 (Australia)
illustrated article (Restoration, Genealogy and Palimpsests: On some historiographical questions by Giorgio Bertellini)

Film Quarterly vol.27 no.4 (Summer 1974) pp.17-24 (USA)
illustrated article (Structures and narrativity in Fritz Lang's Metropolis by Alan Williams)

Film Review Special no.53: Alien v Predator pp.48-63 (UK)
illustrated article (Top 10 sci-fi babes by Tom Fox)

Image et Son no.214 (1968) pp.101-112 (France)
illustrated article

Showreel no.7 (Spring 2005) pp.44-47 (UK)
illustrated article (The Nightmare Factory by Paul Murphy)

Sight and Sound vol.15 no.3 (March 2005) p.84 (UK)
DVD review

Velvet Light Trap no.4 Spring 1972 pp.18-22 (USA)
illustrated article (THX 1138 vs. Metropolis by Nancy Schwartz)

BOOKS

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.299
credits

the future, cities, scientists, robots, revolutions

Elliot Humberto Kavee; Kevin Lyons

Last Updated: 23 January, 2010