History Trivia / Metropolis

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Every version was different for ''decades''. And the only full version surviving was apparently acquired by a collector before the first cuts were made, then wound up in an archive. It was found in 2010, and nearly all of the damaged sections were restored to give the most complete version to date.
* MissingEpisode: Missing ''a third of the entire movie'' for many years. Even with the rediscovered version, there are still two missing scenes[[labelnote:†]] ("missing" in a technical sense; they ''were'' found with the rest of the excised shots, but were deemed too degraded to restore)[[/labelnote]], one of which is heavily plot-relevant. To make matters even worse, there have been rumors that there are even ''more'' missing scenes that were cut from the film before its German premiere to help shorten the time of the film. It's possible that Lang didn't destroy these scenes and there may be even more unseen footage for this film.

* RealitySubtext: Maybe. Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, was originally married to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, but she had an affair with Lang and ultimately divorced Rogge. In the movie and in the original book, the woman Hel was married to Rotwang (played by Rogge) but eventually had an affair and married Joh Fredersen. As Harbou wrote the original screenplay and story, it's possible she wrote it as a parallel to her own life situation, so [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a lot gets made of this coincidence]]. But on the other hand, Lang and Rogge remained good friends and worked together until Lang left Germany, while Rogge also continued to work with Harbou on several other movies.[[note]]Biographers agree that Lang and Harbou had an "open relationship" (as per the experimental climate of TheTwenties, cf ''Jules et Jim'' by Lang admirer Creator/FrancoisTruffaut) and Lang himself had a few girlfriends[[/note]]

* ViralMarketing: a very early example before television even existed. During March 1928, a pre-publicity stunt in Melbourne, Australia went as follows: Frederick Ward, the director of marketing for the film, placed a number of newspaper teaser advertisements in the form of editorials, asking questions of mothers, workers, clergy, business men and others about the dangers of technological advancement and becoming too dependent on machines, but without mentioning Fritz Lang's film. These editorials got people talking.

* BannedInChina: Soviet filmmakers and critics were very eager to see this film (Creator/SergeiEisenstein even visited Fritz Lang on the set), but it was not considered acceptable by the Soviet government. Ironically, the original camera negatives were stolen by the [[RedsWithRockets Red Army]] and later given back to East Germany to form the basis of the first effort to restore the film.

* CreatorBacklash: Creator/FritzLang in later interviews repeatedly stated that he did not consider this film to be one of his best works. His reasons stem from his dissatisfaction with the story, its weak ending, his bad memories from his failed marriage to Thea von Harbou (who was the main visionary of the film) and the fact that the Nazis liked it:

* BadExportForYou: Up until 2003, nearly every version of this movie released in America was based on the [[{{Macekre}} heavily edited]] Channing Pollock version. And then there was the version made in TheEighties, an… [[LoveItOrHateIt interesting]] experiment.

* TroubledProduction: Filming lasted over a year (considered a long production these days, but almost unthinkable back in the 1920s). Most of the actors had no prior film experience, not even lead actress Brigitte Helm. The film ran drastically over-budget, almost bankrupting UFA in the process. The demanding special effects required frustrated crew members to work around the clock. Reportedly over 30,000 extras were used, most of whom were difficult to keep track of. The worst part was Creator/FritzLang's insane antics: he forced actor Gustav Fröhlich to spend three full days doing retakes of a single scene that was nothing more than him falling to his knees. He also used real fire in the scene in which False Maria is burned. As chaotic as all this was, post-production was worse! The film had a large amount of footage cut without Lang's approval. After its failed Berlin premiere, the film was cut even more for its international release. A near-complete version of the film would not be discovered until 2008 (in Argentina, of all places). Regardless, the film is widely regarded as a masterpiece.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Every version was different for ''decades''. And the only full version surviving was apparently acquired by a collector before the first cuts were made, then wound up in an archive.

** Fritz Rasp, who portrays the Thin Man, also plays a cathedral monk in a still-missing scene.

* CreatorBacklash: Fritz Lang in later interviews repeatedly stated that he did not consider this film to be one of his best works. His reasons stem from his dissatisfaction with the story, its weak ending, his bad memories from his failed marriage to Thea von Harbou (who was the main visionary of the film) and the fact that the Nazis liked it:

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Rudolf Klein-Rogge appeared in many of Fritz Lang's German films, frequently as the big bad (Dr. Mabuse, Rotwang, Haghi in ''Spione'') or at least in a scary role (the recurring killer in ''Der müde Tod'', Etzel in ''Die Nibelungen'').
** Fritz Rasp went on to play "Walter Turner" in ''Film/FrauImMond'', Peachum in Pabst's 1931 ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'', Smerdiakoff in ''Der Mörder Dimitri Karamasoff'' and Herr Grundeis in the 1931 film ''[[Literature/EmilAndTheDetectives Emil und die Detektive]]''. He also appeared in several Film/EdgarWallaceFilms.
** Heinrich George went on to have a highly successful career during the Nazi era before ultimately dying in a Soviet prison in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. His son Götz George is a beloved German actor best known for his role in {{Series/Tatort}}

!!Trivia for Creator/FritzLang's ''Film/{{Metropolis}}

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Moroder made the rock opera version after outbidding Music/DavidBowie, among others, for the rights. God knows what he— scratch that, probably even ''God'' doesn't know what Bowie would have done with ''Metropolis''.

** Heinrich George went on to have a highly successful career during the Nazi era before ultimately dying in a Soviet prison in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. His son Götz George is a beloved German actor best known for his role in {{Franchise/Tatort}}

** Fritz Rasp went on to play "Walter Turner" in ''Film/FrauImMond'' and Herr Grundeis in the 1931 film ''[[Literature/EmilAndTheDetectives Emil und die Detektive]]''. He also appeared in several Film/EdgarWallaceFilms.

* RealitySubtext: Maybe. Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, was originally married to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, but she had an affair with Lang and ultimately divorced Rogge. In the movie and in the original book, the woman Hel was married to Rotwang (played by Rogge) but eventually had an affair and married Joh Fredersen. As Harbou wrote the original screenplay and story, it's possible she wrote it as a parallel to her own life situation, so [[RealLifeWritesThePlot a lot gets made of this coincidence]]. But on the other hand, Lang and Rogge remained good friends and worked together until Lang left Germany, while Rogge also continued to work with Harbou on several other movies.

* BadExportForYou: Up until 2003, nearly every version of this movie released in America was based on the [[{{Macekre}} heavily edited]] Channing Pollock version. And then there was the version made in TheEighties... an... [[LoveItOrHateIt interesting]] experiment.

* MissingEpisode: Missing ''a third of the entire movie'' for many years. Even with the rediscovered version, there are still two missing scenes; one of which is heavily plot-relevant. To make matters even worse, there have been rumors that there are even ''more'' missing scenes that were cut from the film before its German premiere to help shorten the time of the film. It's possible that Lang didn't destroy these scenes and there may be even more unseen footage for this film.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Moroder made the rock opera version after outbidding Music/DavidBowie, among others, for the rights. God knows what he... scratch that, probably even ''God'' doesn't know what Bowie would have done with ''Metropolis''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Moroder made the rock opera version after outbidding Music/DavidBowie, among others, for the rights. God knows what he... scratch that, probably even ''God'' doesn't know what Bowie would have done with ''Metropolis''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Moroder made the rock opera version after outbidding DavidBowie, among others, for the rights. God knows what he... scratch that, probably even ''God'' doesn't know what Bowie would have done with ''Metropolis''.

* BadExportForYou: Up until 2003, nearly every version of this movie released in America was based on the [[{{Macekre}} heavily edited]] Channing Pollock version. And then there was the version made in TheEighties... an... [[LoveItOrHateIt interesting]] experiment.