Travis Simpkins

House by the River (1950): Fritz Lang

Directed by Fritz Lang, House by the River (1950) was panned by critics upon it's initial release, but has seen a resurgence of admiration in recent years. The story concerns an author who strangles his pretty young maid after she turns down his advance, and then attempts to hide the body by dumping it in the river. Full of Victorian period detail, the the cinematography is stark, dramatic and brilliant. The cast is great, including Lois Hayward, Lee Bowman and Jane Wyatt.

House by the River. 1950. Fritz Lang

Metropolis (1927): Fritz Lang

Technically innovative and stylistically unique, German director Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) is an undeniable masterpiece, and one of the most important films of the Silent Era. Pioneering in it's approach to Science Fiction and in it's portrayal of a "dystopia", Metropolis still holds eerily relevance when compared in relation to the class divisions fought by the present day "99%" and "Occupy" movements. An expensive film for it's day, Lang employed hoards of extras, costly sets and intricate miniature models to get the proper futuristic look. The film certainly pushed the envelope. European standards were less prudish than American policies, otherwise Brigitte Helm's nearly-nude dancing scene (in which she is only wearing pasties), would never have passed. Full of interesting camera tricks, double-exposures and negative manipulation, Metropolis is an astounding achievement and a marvel to watch, even 85 years later.

A futuristic city is divided between the upper class people who live above ground and enjoy the comforts and benefits of the metropolis...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

and the workers, who live in squalor and slave below ground, maintaining the machines that keep the city running above...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

The city master's son falls in love with Maria (Brigitte Helm), a beautiful civil liberties fighter living below. Maria is respected amongst the disgruntled laborers. Fearful of an uprising, the master gets the idea to have a crazy inventor use his skills to make a robot double of Maria to go down below, and corrupt the worker's morale...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

But the inventor has ulterior motives and wants to see the master destroyed. The robot double is sent, and she does a sexy, provocative dance (nearly nude) to distract and control the workers...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

and the ideas she plants with the workers...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

creates chaos...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

and a violent revolt...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

Can these two different groups within the society learn to get along...

Metropolis. 1927. Fritz Lang

M (1931): Fritz Lang and Peter Lorre

Written by Fritz Lang and his wife, the child murderer in M (1931) was supposedly a composite of several different serial killers that had terrorized Germany in the early 20th Century. Although Lang was already a veteran director, with a dozen Silent Films to his credit, M was his first talkie and the technical experimentation needed for the new medium required much improvisation on his part. The chilling, atmospheric quality of the film's cinematography is unparalleled. Peter Lorre is absolutely riveting as the killer, and the tense anxiety felt throughout is gloriously disturbing. M is a cinematic masterpiece, and even Lang himself considered it to be his finest film.

Citizens in Germany are on edge, mindful of their children's whereabouts, after a string of child abductions and murders committed by a deranged man (Peter Lorre)...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang: Peter Lorre

The killer lures the children with candy and presents, then kills them in a gruesome fashion...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang: Peter Lorre

The whole City is alert, especially the Police, who have greatly increased their presence in the streets. The larger quantity of Police around has put a damper on the business dealings of the Criminal Underworld element in the City. Their business is being hurt, and their actions examined and hindered. They will not stand for it...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang

It is decided amongst the criminal group, that they must catch and dispose of the child murderer themselves, delivering their own brand of justice, so that they might return to business as usual...