Frau im Mond (1929)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Fritz Lang (writer)
Hermann Oberth (technical material)

Release Date:

6 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A scientist discovers that there's gold on the moon, he builds a rocket to fly there, but there's too...

Plot Keywords:

Moon | Rocket | Gold | Dark Side Of The Moon | Count Down

Cast

Willy Fritsch	...	Wolf Helius
Gerda Maurus	...	Stud. astr. Friede Velten
Klaus Pohl	...	Professor Georg Manfeldt
Fritz Rasp	...	Der Mann, der sich derzeit Walt Turner nennt
Gustl Gstettenbaur	...	Gustav (as Gustl Stark-Gstettenbaur)
Gustav von Wangenheim	...	Ingenieur Hans Windegger
Tilla Durieux	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Margarete Kupfer	...	Frau Hippolt, Haushälterin bei Helius
Alexa von Porembsky	...	Eine Veilchenverkäuferin
Gerhard Dammann	...	Der Werkmeister der Helius-Flugwerften (as Dammann)
Heinrich Gotho	...	Der Mieter vom II. Stock (as Gotho)
Alfred Loretto	...	Zwei eindeutige Existenzen (as Loretto)
Max Maximilian	...	Grotjan, Chauffeur bei Helius (as Maximilian)
Edgar Pauly	...	Zwei eindeutige Existenzen (as Pauly)
Karl Platen	...	Der Mann am Mikrophon

Also Known As:

By Rocket to the Moon (USA)
Girl in the Moon (UK)
Woman in the Moon (USA)

Runtime:

156 min | 200 min (2000 restoration) | Spain:104 min | Spain:162 min (DVD edition) | USA:95 min | West Germany:91 min (edited version) (1970)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Spain:T | West Germany:6

Company:

Fritz Lang-Film

Trivia:

When the Nazis began working on war rockets, they decided the movie's rockets were too close to the truth. To preserve secrecy, they had the models destroyed and the film withdrawn from release.

Goofs:

Continuity: The inter-title dialog refers to rocket ship H23, yet the photo and subsequent references are to rocket ship H32

Quotes:

[Opening intertitle]
The Author: "Never" does not exist for the human mind... only "Not yet."

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Disneyland: Man in Space (#1.20)" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Heimlich singt für uns die Liebe

Truly the first serious space movie

As Martin Sheen said in the fine documentary "Space," this movie deals seriously with almost every aspect of a flight to the moon. It makes some dreadful errors that, even in 1929, could and should have been avoided (an atmosphere on the moon, for example). But, it nevertheless treats the subject and the viewer with respect. When I saw this movie at a New York revival house, a live pianist provided the silent film's accompaniment. I encourage you to see it this way, as that somehow made it even easier to put myself in the place of an early 20'th century filmgoer, and see this fine movie for what it was. The story is light, but the beckoning mystery of outer space is captured in a way that will make you feel you know something more than you used to about the people who made, and first saw, these images. And, when you do, remember that real space flight was 30 _years_ away. (Later, you might ponder that the first lunar landing is now _more_ than 30 years ago, but do that after you enjoy this sweet look at, as Fred Pohl put it in another, related, context, "the way the future was.")

One extra bit of advice: Keep your ears open at the moment of launch. All of the effects in this movie are, naturally, simple and gray-haired. Nevertheless, when the rocket actually took off, my audience gave an audible reaction because, I think, Lang decided to emphasize an aspect of what a rocket is, and what it can do, that virtually all later film-makers have decided to ignore. They should see this movie, and learn a little something.