Films with: Harbou, Thea von

Destiny Der müde Tod /

In a middle-European village a century ago, Death takes a young man just before he is to be married. His lover seeks out the Death figure and pleads with him for her fiance's life. Filled with pity for her, he promises to return her fiance if she can save even one of three lives about to flicker out.

DVD 8160

Dr. Mabuse, the gambler

Sinister Dr. Mabuse maintains his wealth through counterfeiting, manipulating the stock exchange and bending weaker minds to his will. In part 1, Mabuse builds his empire and casually ruins Count Told while entrancing the thrill-seeking Countess. In part 2, Mabuse turns from criminal to villain, murdering the Count and kidnapping the Countess.

DVD 4586

Frau im Mond Woman in the moon /

Two years after revolutionizing the science fiction film with his epic Metropolis, director Fritz Long revisited the genre with an ambitious spectacle that dramatizes the first lunar expedition. Rather than a flight of pure fantasy, Lang, screenwriter Thea von Harbou and a group of technical consultants conceived a modernized "Trip to the Moon" grounded in state-of-the-art astrophysics. Spiced with romance and espionage (including a network of diabolical super-spies straight out of Lang's Mabuse films), Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond) was one of the most influential science fiction films of its era.

DVD 12580

M

A psychopathic murderer of young girls terrorizes a German city causing public hysteria and intense police investigations, which in turn disrupts organized crime. The contrasting worlds of the police and the underworld are juxtaposed as they both resolve to hunt, capture, and try the murderer.

DVD 996

Metropolis

The story of a 21st century city run by a "super trustee" and his collaborators who live in a paradise-like garden. Workers are totally enslaved by machines and condemned to live underground. In the midst of this misery, a young woman, Maria, arises and attempts to inspire the workers to throw off their oppressors.

DVD 3752

Metropolis

"The future. Metropolis is a wonderful city, high above the ground its towers stand. The people prosper, the economy is flourishing, the suspended streets are busy. But Metropolis also has a great secret, so hidden that not even Freder Fredersen, son of founder Joh Fredersen knows about it. He is spending his free time in the Eternal Gardens, when suddenly a woman shows up, with what looks like a class of children. They're from the City of Workers, in the depth, Freder learns. "These are your brothers," she tells the children, before she is forced to leave. Freder is so intrigued he follows them into the depth and doesn't like what he sees. The workers are exploited, they must do labor like robots. Freder tries to convince his father to change, while the woman tries to keep workers' morale high by predicting a man will stand up that will mediate. Someone that will use both hands and head, someone that will be the heart." -- www.imdb.com This newly restored version of the film is the closest yet to the version Fritz Lang debuted to theatrical audiences in 1927 Berlin. In 2008, a duplicate negative created from an original 1927 Argentinian theatrical print was discovered in Buenos Aires' Museo del Cine. Extensive preservation work on that and other footage, in addition to a newly acquired copy of Gottfried Huppertz' original performance score, and intertitles translated into English from German censorship records, has led to a newly edited story line, with rearranged shots and scenes.

DVD 9536

Nibelungen

In part one, Siegfried wins the hand of Kriemhilde by slaying the dragon and defeating Brunhilde. When Brunhilde learns that magic has been used to conquer her, she has Siegfried murdered. In part two, Kriemhilde seeks revenge for Siegfried's death and marries Attila, king of the Huns, in order to further her purpose.

DVD 4959

Spione

Having defined the espionage genre with Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, Fritz Lang returned to the genre with this surprisingly fast-paced and remarkably grim thriller. Rudolf Klein-Rogge starts as Haghi, the head of an elaborate criminal empire, and Willy Fritsch is the undercover agent assigned to topple the diabolical king from his throne. Filled with the sexual intrigue and high-tech gadgetry that continue to define the genre, SPIES (Spione) remains remarkably contemporary, more than 85 years after its original release.

DVD 12280

Testament des Dr. Mabuse Testament of Dr. Mabuse /

Locked away in an asylum for a decade and teetering between life and death, the criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse has scribbled his last will and testament: a manifesto establishing a future empire of crime. When the document's nefarious writings start leading to terrifying parallels in reality, it's up to Berlin's star detective, Inspector Lohmann, to connect the most fragmented, maddening clues in a case unlike any other.

DVD 3376