Frau im Mond (1929)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Fritz Lang (writer)
Hermann Oberth (technical material)
(more)

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
Mahmud Terja Bey	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Hermann Vallentin	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Borwin Walth	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Max Zilzer	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julius E. Herrmann	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Lang

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Fritz Lang		writer
Hermann Oberth		technical material
Thea von Harbou		story

Produced by
Fritz Lang	....	producer

Original Music by
Jon Mirsalis
Willy Schmidt-Gentner

Cinematography by
Curt Courant
Oskar Fischinger
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet
Otto Kanturek

Art Direction by
Joseph Danilowitz
Emil Hasler
Otto Hunte
Karl Vollbrecht
Prof. Gustav Wolff

Special Effects by
Oskar Fischinger	....	special effects
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet	....	special effects (as Konstantin Tschetwerikoff)

Camera and Electrical Department
Horst von Harbou	....	still photographer

Music Department
André Mauprey	....	lyrics
Jon Mirsalis	....	musician: score (2003 re-release)
Fritz Rotter	....	lyrics

Other crew
Eduard Kubat	....	location manager
Robert E. Lee	....	intertitler: English (1977 version)
Willy Ley	....	technical advisor
Hermann Oberth	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Fritz Lang-Film
• Universum Film (UFA)

Distributors

• Universum Film (UFA) (1929) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Gaumont British Distributors (1930) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ufa Film Company (1931) (USA) (theatrical) (English intertitles)
• Divisa Ediciones
• Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (video)
• Kino Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• LS Video (video)
• Silver Screen (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Video Ten (video as "Women in the Moon")
• Video Yesteryear (1984) (USA) (video) (1977 intertitles and new music track)

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:

Factual errors: Dr. Manfeldt's newspaper clipping contains the date "Donnerstag (Thursday) August 17, 1896". That day was actually a Monday.

Quotes:

Wolf Helius: If you should fall down those stairs again, I will not be there to catch you.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Heimlich singt für uns die Liebe

A clever, imaginative and epic lunar journey; Lang's second science-fiction masterpiece

By the late 1920s, Fritz Lang was already one of Germany's most celebrated film directors. In 1927, after the success of his two-part 'Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler {Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler},' Lang released the lavish futuristic silent epic, 'Metropolis,' at the time the most expensive film ever made. A disappointing flop upon release, time has nonetheless granted 'Metropolis' the status of a classic, and it is often cited as one of the finest science-fiction films of all time. Two years later, Lang once again tried his hands at the genre, producing the equally-expensive 'Frau im Mond {Woman in the Moon},' based on the novel of the same name by his then-wife Thea von Harbou. Despite the film's very innovative special effects, this film was also a resounding box-office disappointment, perhaps because, by 1929, audiences were beginning to consider silent films a thing of the past. Unlike 'Metropolis,' the march of time has caused 'Woman in the Moon' to sink almost into obscurity, which is a shame for one of the silent era's most ambitious cinematic projects.

The first half of Fritz Lang's 156-minute science-fiction epic does not contain very much science at all. Much like his 'Dr. Mabuse' films, the storyline is steeped in crime, corruption and espionage. For much of his life, despite intense ridicule by his contemporaries, Professor Georg Manfeldt (Klaus Pohl) has staunchly maintained the existence of gold on the far side of the Moon. Only one intrepid entrepreneur, Wolf Helius (Willy Fritsch) has trust in Manfeldt's research, and, together with his good friend Ingenieur {engineer} Hans Windegger (Gustav von Wangenheim) and Windegger's beautiful fiancé Friede Velten (Gerda Maurus), Helius has plans to build a rocket and launch for the Moon. However, a small faction of greedy, elite businessmen hears of these plans and hires the slick, slimy-haired mercenary Mr. Turner (or, more accurately, Der Mann, der sich derzeit Walt Turner nennt {The man, who calls himself Walt Turner at present}, played by Fritz Rasp) to force Helius to submit to the control of the all-powerful party.

The second half of the film would probably appeal more to contemporary audiences, as the five members of the space expedition (and an additional child stowaway, Gustav (Gustl Gstettenbaur)) set out in their newly-built rocket for the dark side of Luna. With the entire world looking on, in one particularly suspenseful sequence, the rocket must reach the escape velocity of 11,200 metres per second to escape the Earth's gravity, whilst limiting the g-forces to non-fatal levels. Once the rocket has reached the Moon – after a brief period of weightlessness – the explorers disembark to find that the surface has a perfectly-breathable atmosphere. However, once a large vein of gold is discovered, the devious, scheming Mr. Turner is driven to betray his fellow travellers, attempting to leave them deserted on the arid sands.

With 'Woman in the Moon,' Fritz Lang had attempted to be as scientifically-accurate as possible. With the launch of the first rocket into space still decades away, it is truly remarkable how many of the film's predictions turned out to be quite correct. For example, the film's technical advisers correctly quoted the escape velocity on the Earth's surface to be 11.2 km/s (though, at an altitude of 9000 km, this is reduced to approximately 7.1 km/s). Though Georges Méliès' acclaimed 1902 film, the fantastical 'Le Voyage dans la lune {A Trip to the Moon}' is normally quoted as the first on screen portrayal of space travel, it is probably Lang's film that first "seriously" approached the subject matter, demonstrating a Moon-landing as a completely attainable goal. Some of the film's guesses, however, were not quite so sound. Such inaccuracies include the launching of the rocket from a pool of water (because the rocket itself, it is explained, is too light to sustain its own weight), the existence of a breathable atmosphere on the Moon, and the attempted use of a divining-rod to find water.

I presume that much of the film's hefty budget must have been dedicated to producing the visual effects, and the results are stunningly apparent. The launch of the rocket makes clever use of intricately-crafted model-work, and, though at times the effect is noticeable, the consequence is more endearing than distracting. For the era in which it was made – with perhaps the exception of Lang's own 'Metropolis,' – I've yet to see a more effective use of special effects. It would never have been technically or economically feasible for the entire space journey to take place in zero-gravity, so Lang limits this to a brief sequence mid-journey. With the other characters managing to keep themselves floor-bound in the weightless environment by looping their feet through leather straps spread across the floor, young Gustav discovers trouble when trying to ascend the ladder, suddenly finding himself floating rapidly towards the ceiling. This is an inspired piece of visual trickery, and, just after one viewing, I'm unable to speculate as to how it was achieved.

With the original cut approaching three hours in length, 'Woman in the Moon' might prove difficult to watch for many viewers. Indeed, most complaints seem to address the first hour of the film, in which no space travel of any kind actually takes place. I, myself, didn't have any problems with the first half, happening to enjoy the clever and suspenseful conspiracy plot, with the slimy-haired Mr. Turner proving to be quite a loathsome villain. My main problem is that, with the friction between Turner and Helius developed to such a great degree in the beginning, the climactic pay-off was perhaps not exploited to its full potential. Nonetheless, 'Woman in the Moon' is an extremely under-appreciated film, and a wonderfully ambitious, inventive, dramatic and suspenseful cinematic treat. Don't deny yourself this treasure from one of history's finest directors.