Fritz Lang - An Artist of European Cinema.
by alexanderdavies-99382 | created - 19 Feb 2019 | updated - 5 months ago | PublicIn my opinion, Fritz Lang is one of the top five European film directors of all time. His movies are ones of vision and imagination. He made his name whilst making films in Germany, including masterpieces "Dr. Mabuse the Gambler," "Metropolis," "Spiones," and "M." Following the rise of the Third Reich, Lang immediately fled the country and settled in America. Here, the director would produce further classic movies, which were enhanced by his distinctive European style of filmmaking. Like a number of others in his field, Fritz Lang had a reputation for being a rather difficult man to work for.
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1. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922)
Not Rated | 242 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Arch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Aud Egede-Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Alfred Abel
Votes: 9,174
One of the finest movies in the history of German cinema.
2. The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960)
103 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
In 1960s Germany, criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse uses hypnotized victims and the surveillance equipment of a Nazi-era bugged hotel to steal nuclear technology from a visiting American industrialist.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss
Votes: 3,808
Much better than I expected.
3. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Not Rated | 122 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Thomy Bourdelle, Gustav Diessl
Votes: 13,600
4. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,497 | Gross: $0.03M
A masterpiece of filmmaking.
5. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,572 | Gross: $1.24M
Still a highly influential movie.
6. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)
Not Rated | 100 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Siegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, sets off on a treacherous journey to the Kingdom of Burgundy to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Princess Kriemhild.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Paul Richter, Margarete Schön, Theodor Loos, Gertrud Arnold
Votes: 6,559
7. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924)
Not Rated | 129 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Princess Kriemhild vows to avenge her husband's murder but must overcome her brothers who swore allegiance to Hagen. She marries Etzel, King of the Huns, and persuades his army to attack Hagen, but she loses more than she bargained for.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Margarete Schön, Gertrud Arnold, Theodor Loos, Hans Carl Mueller
Votes: 5,000
8. Spies (1928)
Not Rated | 90 min | Romance, Thriller
The mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government's secret service.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Willy Fritsch, Lien Deyers
Votes: 3,948
9. Woman in the Moon (1929)
Not Rated | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A tenacious scientist blasts off for the moon in hopes of riches that may be found there.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Willy Fritsch, Gerda Maurus, Klaus Pohl, Fritz Rasp
Votes: 3,860
10. The Spiders - Episode 1: The Golden Sea (1919)
Not Rated | 130 min | Adventure, Western
Kay Hoog finds a message that indicates that some Incas are still alive, but the secret organisation "Die Spinnen" wants the Incas' gold....
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Carl de Vogt, Lil Dagover, Ressel Orla, Georg John
Votes: 1,440
11. The Spiders - Episode 2: The Diamond Ship (1920)
104 min | Adventure
Kay Hoog wants to stop the organisation "Die Spinnen" to get a certain diamond, that will give the owning woman the crown of Asia, but the man, who should be the owner of that diamond, doesn't know of its existence....
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Carl de Vogt, Ressel Orla, Georg John, Rudolf Lettinger
Votes: 1,090
12. Harakiri (1919)
Not Rated | 80 min | Drama
The Buddhist priest wants the Daughter of the Daimyo to become a priestess at the Forbidden Garden. The Daimyo thinks if he were in Europe that his daughter should decide on her own, but he... See full summary »
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Paul Biensfeldt, Lil Dagover, Georg John, Meinhart Maur
Votes: 827
13. Fury (1936)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a wrongly-accused prisoner barely survives a lynch-mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 13,728
14. You Only Live Once (1937)
Passed | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon
Votes: 7,654
15. The Woman in the Window (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon
Votes: 17,785
Not the classic it is reputed to be.
16. The Return of Frank James (1940)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, Western
Frank James continues to avoid arrest in order to take revenge on the Ford brothers for their murder of his brother Jesse.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Jackie Cooper, Henry Hull
Votes: 3,686
17. Rancho Notorious (1952)
Approved | 89 min | Western
After the murder of his fiancée, a Wyoming ranch hand sets out to find her killer.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, Gloria Henry
Votes: 5,529
18. Man Hunt (1941)
Passed | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine
Votes: 6,439
19. The Big Heat (1953)
Passed | 89 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby
Votes: 29,182
20. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself for the murder of a burlesque dancer as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz
Votes: 5,901
21. While the City Sleeps (1950)
102 min | Crime, Drama
Jompa is unemployed - and not keen on getting a job. He still lives with his parents who are tired of his attitude about employment and regular hours. Jompa and his friends spend their time... See full summary »
Director: Lars-Eric Kjellgren | Stars: Sven-Eric Gamble, Inga Landgré, Adolf Jahr, Elof Ahrle
Votes: 125
22. House by the River (1950)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A deranged writer murders a maid after she resists his advances. The writer engages his brother's help in hiding the body, causing unexpected problems for both of them.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman, Jane Wyatt, Dorothy Patrick
Votes: 4,169
23. Secret Beyond the Door... (1947)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
After a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Joan Bennett, Michael Redgrave, Anne Revere, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 5,715
24. Scarlet Street (1945)
Approved | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 19,200
25. Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Passed | 106 min | Adventure, Film-Noir, Romance
In WW2, the Allies race against time to persuade two nuclear scientists working for the Germans to switch sides.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Gary Cooper, Robert Alda, Lilli Palmer, Vladimir Sokoloff
Votes: 3,445
26. Moonfleet (1955)
Approved | 87 min | Adventure, Drama
A young orphan is sent to the village of Moonfleet in Dorset, England to stay with his mother's former lover, who has the facade of a gentleman but leads a gang of swashbuckling bootleggers; the duo go on a treasure hunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors
Votes: 3,979
27. Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
After the German administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 6,391
28. Human Desire (1954)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in an affair with a co-worker's wife following a murder on a train where they meet.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan
Votes: 6,348
29. Clash by Night (1952)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
Mae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas, Marilyn Monroe
Votes: 7,361
30. The Indian Tomb (1959)
102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's brother is scheming to usurp the throne.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer, Claus Holm
Votes: 2,941
31. The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959)
101 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In Eschnapur, a local Maharajah and a German architect fall in-love with the same temple dancer.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer, Claus Holm
Votes: 3,218
32. You and Me (1938)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Film-Noir
An altruistic department-store owner hires ex-convicts in order to give them a second chance at life. Unfortunately, one of the convicts he hires recruits two of his fellow ex-convicts in a plan to rob the store.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, George Raft, Barton MacLane, Harry Carey
Votes: 1,632
33. Western Union (1941)
Passed | 95 min | History, Western
When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Robert Young, Randolph Scott, Dean Jagger, Virginia Gilmore
Votes: 3,279
34. The Blue Gardenia (1953)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may be a murderess.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr
Votes: 6,198
35. The Wandering Image (1920)
Not Rated | 67 min | Romance
Mia May has surrendered herself to a disciple of free love, and, having given birth to a child, marries the twin brother and Doppelgänger of her chosen lover.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Mia May, Hans Marr, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Loni Nest
Votes: 584
36. Destiny (1921)
Not Rated | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Bernhard Goetzke, Lil Dagover, Walter Janssen, Hans Sternberg
Votes: 6,692 | Gross: $0.01M
37. American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, War
American soldiers stranded in the Philippines after the Japanese invasion form guerrilla bands to fight back.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Tyrone Power, Micheline Presle, Tom Ewell, Robert Patten
Votes: 1,334
38. Confirm or Deny (1941)
74 min | Drama, War
Newsman Mitch and teletype operator Jennifer, whose job is to see he doesn't send inappropriate stuff out of the country, dodge bombs during the blitz of London while falling in love.
Directors: Archie Mayo, Fritz Lang | Stars: Don Ameche, Joan Bennett, Roddy McDowall, John Loder
Votes: 311
39. Liliom (1934)
Unrated | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy
Two women love the same man in a world of few prospects. In Budapest, Liliom is a "public figure," a rascal who's a carousel barker, loved by the experienced merry-go-round owner and by a ... See full summary »
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Charles Boyer, Madeleine Ozeray, Robert Arnoux, Roland Toutain
Votes: 1,267
40. The Halfbreed (1919)
60 min | Fantasy
The story of a man destroyed by love.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Ressel Orla, Carl de Vogt, Gilda Langer, Paul Morgan
Votes: 85
41. Four Around the Woman (1921)
Not Rated | 52 min | Drama
Harry Yquem, a wealthy broker, remains obsessed with delusions of his devout wife's infidelity.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Hermann Böttcher, Carola Toelle, Lilli Lohrer, Ludwig Hartau
Votes: 590
42. Ministry of Fear (1944)
Passed | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Stephen Neale has just been released from an asylum during World War II in England when he accidentally stumbles onto a deadly Nazi spy plot and tries to stop it.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Hillary Brooke
Votes: 8,954
43. Der Herr der Liebe (1919)
60 min | Romance, Thriller
Residing in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains, Hungarian nobleman Vasile Disecu becomes infatuated with Suzette, the daughter of his neighbor. He mistakes Stefana, a maid who is secretly in love with him.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Carl de Vogt, Gilda Langer, Erika Unruh, Max Narlinski
Votes: 66
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