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Auction History Result 8h639 METROPOLIS 8x10 still R40s wonderful image of Helm's transformation into the android! Date Sold 6/3/2014 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Undated (probably 1940s) Re-release Vintage Theatrical 8" x 10" [20 x 25 cm] Movie Still (Learn More) Metropolis, the classic 1927 Fritz Lang German silent anti-fascism science fiction (sci-fi) robot fantasy dystopian future thriller ("The screen sensation of the age!"; "The wonder city of the future"; "Adapted by Channing Pollock"; based on the novel by Thea von Harbou; set designs by Edgar Ulmer; about an ultra-depressing world of the future where the rich people live in cities in the clouds, and the poor people toil away endlessly underground; a female populous leader arises and a mad scientist makes an android robot duplicate of her to ruin her work; a brilliant movie, light years ahead of its time, and movie makers are still stealing from it!) starring Brigitte Helm (in a dual role as Maria, the female leader of the workers, and as the android [gynoid] "Maschinenmensch"), Gustav Frohlich (as Freder), Alfred Abel (as Joh Frederson), Rudolf Klein-Rogge (as Rotwang the Inventor), Theodor Loos (as Josaphat), Fritz Rasp (as the Thin Man), Heinrich George, and Margarete Lanner. Note that there is a fascinating story behind this movie being imported to the U.S. in 1927, that we did not learn until 2023, when we noticed the "Adapted by Channing Pollock" on the first U.S. herald we auctioned, and Internet research (NOT on the IMDb) revealed this: Fritz Lang's version of this movie at the premiere was 153 minutes, and Paramount was unwilling to release such a long movie in the U.S. So they hired playwright Channing Pollock to shorten the movie to a more "reasonable" length, around 2 hours. What Pollock did was to essentially drastically change the entire movie, by shortening it to 115 minutes, and changing all of the inter-titles to ones he wrote! Among the changes he made was that the man who made the robot (Rotwang) had made it in the image of the love of his life, named "Hel", who had run off with another man. Pollock did not want to use the name "Hel", because of its similarity to "Hell", but instead of just changing it, he eliminated all references to the robot having a name, or to the reason why Rotwang built it! He made a number of other major changes to the movie. When Fritz Lang heard what had been done, he said "I love films, so I shall never go to America"! The movie was somewhat restored to its original version in 1984, when the Giorgio Moroder score was added, and has since been completely restored to its original version! NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. Important Added Info: Note that this wonderful still is not dated, and it is clearly vintage, but there is no way of knowing exactly when it is from. It seems to be a U.S. still, and it was consigned to us together with a large collection of mostly 1940s and 1950s stills, but we can't say for certain. Please do not bid on this still unless you can accept the uncertainty of exactly when it is from (but it is absolutely vintage and in no way any sort of modern still, and it has the look of a still from the 1940s or earlier). If anyone knows more about this still, please e-mail us and we will post it here. Condition: good to very good. There is a piece of tape with pen writing in the right end of the bottom border, and some faint scuffing and a few tiny creases scattered around the edges, but they are mostly only noticeable when the still is tilted to the light, and the still is otherwise in pretty good condition! Learn More about condition grades 
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