“Popular Mechanics,” March, 1930. Illustration by M. Gundlach of the rocket in Fritz Lang’s sci-fi film, “The Woman in the Moon” (1929).
Less ambitious and mystical than Lang’s previous sci-fi film “Metropolis,” “Woman in the Moon” combines an imaginative adventure yarn, a triangular love story and a conspiracy thriller. Helius, a German entrepreneur, plans a journey to the moon to fulfil the dreams of the elderly, demented scientist Professor Manfeldt, but he’s blackmailed by Turner, a ruthless American conman, into collaborating with a cabal of rich businessmen bent on controlling the gold that Manfeldt believes is to be found on the moon. He’s also compelled to take on to the spacecraft his close associate, Windegger, and Friede, the modern liberated woman both men love. Like “Metropolis” and most of Lang’s other pictures, “Woman in the Moon” was written by his wife Thea von Harbou.
[From a review by Philip French in “The Guardian,” November 22, 2014]
Movie trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDnqSc1T3k0
The launch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7XgP7rws5c
“Popular Mechanics,” March, 1930. Illustration by M. Gundlach of the rocket in Fritz Lang’s sci-fi film, “The Woman in the Moon” (1929).
Less ambitious and mystical than Lang’s previous sci-fi film “Metropolis,” “Woman in the Moon” combines an imaginative adventure yarn, a triangular love story and a conspiracy thriller. Helius, a German entrepreneur, plans a journey to the moon to fulfil the dreams of the elderly, demented scientist Professor Manfeldt, but he’s blackmailed by Turner, a ruthless American conman, into collaborating with a cabal of rich businessmen bent on controlling the gold that Manfeldt believes is to be found on the moon. He’s also compelled to take on to the spacecraft his close associate, Windegger, and Friede, the modern liberated woman both men love. Like “Metropolis” and most of Lang’s other pictures, “Woman in the Moon” was written by his wife Thea von Harbou.
[From a review by Philip French in “The Guardian,” November 22, 2014]
Movie trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDnqSc1T3k0
The launch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7XgP7rws5c