Praise for Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast

Named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times

and one of the year's Best Nonfiction Books by Publishers Weekly

"As definitive a Lang as we are likely to get: entertaining, appalling, persuasive."

— Steven Bach, L. A. Weekly Literary Supplement

"A beast Lang certainly was. . . McGilligan, with ferocious research and a
touch of wonder—throughout, he seems to be shaking his head in fascination-
spreads Fritz Lang's elements before us: the quasi-diabolist artist, the sadistic
perfectionist with his actors, the fervent devotee of truth, the twister of facts, the
elegant immoralist, the indefatigable amorist, the disturbing seer into the giant
maladies of his epoch. McGilligan's passion and thoroughness make his Lang
biography a permanent resource."
— Stanley Kauffmann, New York Times Book Review

"Stunning. McGilligan's research is exhaustive, his knowledge of the cinema

encyclopedic, and his narration lively. This book may well be not only the
definitive biography of Lang . . . but a longstanding model for film biographies
in general."
—Publishers Weekly

"A brilliant biography . . . McGilligan's book will stand as the definite biography
of Fritz Lang for a long time. He has given us the man, his films, and the turbu-
lent cultures and times he lived in. ... By the end, McGilligan has helped us
to understand the nature of the man and, despite his faults, which are as epic as
his early films, we come to like and admire him."
— Mamoun Hassan, The Times Higher Education Supplement

"Adroit and revealing . . . McGilligan does an extraordinarily thorough job of

separating Lang fact from Lang fable. McGilligan . . . has a great story to tell,
and he tells it with verve, originality, and insight."
—Kirkus Reviews

"McGilligan emphasizes Lang's work, illuminating his struggle to produce art

under the demands of commerce but scrutinizing the many self-aggrandizing
myths Lang nurtured. McGilligan's forthright treatment may not have pleased
his subject, who loved publicity only as long as he could control it, but its
appeal to the many cineasts who idolize Lang is certain."
— Booklist

"No detail of Lang's life has been omitted. McGilligan has returned with
another exceptional work . . . highly recommended."
—Library Journal
"By making the great artist and the impossible man seem like the same person
and not irresolvable halves, McGilligan's thoroughly researched, sharply
written book does his subject justice."
-The A. V. Club

"Well-researched and energetic."

—The Spectator

"An exemplary researcher, McGilligan has checked and cross-checked his

details, scouring archives in America and Europe. He manages to maintain
an admirable detachment—cool, sympathetic, understanding though not
indulgent, often tolerantly amused. Above all, he consistently recognizes
that what now matters most about the man is his art and that some of Lang's
seemingly destructive qualities may have come from his single-minded, even
fanatical, dedication to the pursuit of elusive perfection."
—Los Angeles Times
FRITZ LANG
FRITZ LANG

The Nature of the Beast

Patrick McGilligan

University of Minnesota Press

Minneapolis
London
Originally published by St. Martin's Griffin Press, New York, in 1997.

First University of Minnesota Press edition, 2013

Copyright 1997 by Patrick McGilligan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.

Published by the University of Minnesota Press

111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McGilligan, Patrick.
Fritz Lang : the nature of the beast / Patrick McGilligan. — First University of
Minnesota Press edition.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmography.
ISBN 978-0-8166-7655-2 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Lang, Fritz, 1890-1976. 2. Motion picture producers and directors-
United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN1998.3.L36M382013
791.43'0233092-dc23
[B]
2013026027

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.

20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
My private life has nothing to do with my films.
— FRITZ LANG
This page intentionally left blank
 C O N T E N T S

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi

PROLOGUE 1
1976

VIENNA
Chapter 1: 1890-1911 5
Chapter 2: 1911-1918 27

BERLIN
Chapter 3: 1918-1921 51
Chapter 4: 1921-1922 70
Chapter 5: 1923-1924 89
Chapter 6: 1925-1927 108
Chapter 7: 1928-1929 134
Chapter 8: 1930-1931 147
Chapter 9: 1932-1933 165

PARIS
Chapter 10: 1933-1934 189

HOLLYWOOD
Chapter 11: 1934-1936 207
Chapter 12: 1936-1938 240
Chapter 13: 1939-1941 260
Chapter 14: 1941-1945 287
Chapter 15: 1945-1946 315
Chapter 16: 1946-1947 343
Chapter 17: 1948-1952 365
Chapter 18: 1952-1953 380
Chapter 19: 1953-1956 401
Chapter 20: 1957-1964 428
Chapter 21: 1965-1976 455

FILMOGRAPHY 483
NOTES AND SOURCES 505
INDEX 537