Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang)
The most seductive robot wink
in cinema history, out of control,
leading troglodyte saps in ridiculous sabots
to near destruction, inciting dinner-suits
to fisticuffs, murder, suicide,
laughing as the flames of the witch-pyre
lick her to base metal.
-Love Letter to Brigitte Helm, Peter Howard
Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang)
“This film marks the beginning of an intensive interplay between cinema and architecture. In its most grandiose moments the two fuse to become cinematic architecture, an independent art form.”
-Wolfgang Jacobsen, Metropolis: A Cinematic Laboratory for Modern Architecture
Art director Erich Kettelhut & crew create the futuristic city set of Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang) (via)
Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang)
On the creation of Robot Maria:
“The concentric rings of light that surround her and move from top to bottom were in fact a little ball of silver rapidly swung in a circle and filmed on a background of black velvet. We superimposed those shots, in the lab, over the shot of the robot in a sitting position that we had filmed previously.”
-Fritz Lang
Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) kidnaps Maria (Brigitte Helm) in Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)
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Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang) (via)
Brigitte Helm & Rudolf Klein-Rogge in Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang) (photo by Horst von Harbou)
Gustav Fröhlich in Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang) (via)
Photo by Horst von Harbou.
The Schüfftan Process, as used to film the stadium scenes in Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang)
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Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang) Photo by Horst von Harbou. (via)
Filmed using the Schüfftan Process, a precursor of the bluescreen. The technique used mirrors to create the illusion of live actors in huge sets (which in actuality were miniatures of scenery composed of painted or modeled backgrounds).
Rudolf Klein-Rogge in production still from Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang) Photo by Horst von Harbou.
(via)
Poster art: Universum Film AG edition
Film posters from UFA, the great German movie studio that was home to directors like Fritz Lang, F.W. Murnau, G.W. Pabst, & Ernst Lubitsch during the Weimar era (click on individual posters for hi-res/film & artist info).
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