Biography
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang (December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-German film director, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. Andrew Sarris in his influential book of film criticism The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 included him in the "pantheon" of the 14 greatest film directors who had worked in the United States. Lang's most famous films are the groundbreaking science-fiction film Metropolis (1927) - the world's most expensive silent film at the time of its release - and the influential thriller film M (1931), made before he moved to the United States. Lang's work had a significant influence on the film noir genre and in Hollywood, he made some classics himself, such as Scarlet Street (1945) and The Big Heat (1953).
Awards & recognition
- The Life Career Award · 1976
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- German Film Award
- Karl Troop Cross
- Officer of Arts and Letters
Show all 6 awards →
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Filmography36 titles
M
Metropolis
The Big Heat
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler
Scarlet Street
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Fury
Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge
The Woman in the Window
Destiny
Spies
Woman in the Moon
You Only Live Once
Contempt
While the City Sleeps
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Ministry of Fear
Hangmen Also Die!
Man Hunt
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
Human Desire
House by the River
Clash by Night
You and Me
The Blue Gardenia
Rancho Notorious
Secret Beyond the Door...
The Tiger of Eschnapur
The Black Vampire
The Return of Frank James
M the Damned
The Indian Tomb
Western Union
The Spiders: Part 1 - The Golden Sea
American Guerrilla in the Philippines