Fritz Lang 125 -- December 4, 2015

www.listal.com

Happy birthday to director Fritz Lang, who was born 125 years ago tomorrow, on 05-December-1890.  He was born in Vienna and served in the army of Austria-Hungary during World War One.  After the war, he acted in Viennese theater, then went to Germany to write for the Decla Company.  Then he became a director.  He met Thea von Harbou, whom he later married.  She wrote all of his movies until the early 1930s.  Thea von Harbou joined the Nazi Party and Lang, who had a Jewish grandparent, left for France soon after.  He made one movie in France, and then went to the United States.  In the late 1950s and early 1960s he returned to Germany to make his last movies before he went blind.  During his long career in Germany, France, the United State, and then Germany again, he made some of my favorite movies.

www.listal.com

 Lang made Dr Mabuse, der Spieler in 1922.  He made other movies about the criminal mastermind in Das Testament des Dr Mabuse in 1933 and Die 1000 Augen des Dr Mabuse in 1960.

www.listal.com

My favorite American movie by Fritz Lang is The Big Heat.  If you haven't seen it, see it.  Don't drink coffee.

I haven't mentioned Metropolis, Spione, M, Fury, You Only Live Once, The Return of Frank James, Hangmen Also Die and many others.  Lang had a very high batting average.