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Auction History Result 4d0151 METROPOLIS 8x10.25 still 1927 c/u of Brigitte Helm during transformation scene, Fritz Lang! Date Sold 4/16/2023 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Theatrical 8" x 10 1/4" [20 x 26 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 we previously auctioned this wonderful still in 2017 for $1,300, and it has now been reconsigned to us, so it is still the only example of this exact still we have ever auctioned! Note that stills from the first U.S. release of this movie are not as rare as the original German lobby cards, but they are still rare. But most of the ones that have surfaced show far shots and group shots. This is the very first U.S. still we had ever auctioned (as noted above, it has been reconsigned to us) that shows Brigitte Helm close up, and it is a wonderful image from the transformation scene! Condition: very good. There are two pinholes in the top blank border. There is one in the bottom left corner of the image and one in the bottom center of the image. There are creases in the top right corner and a few around the edges. There are a few scuffs scattered in the image. In spite of the above relatively minor defects, this incredible still will display wonderfully on the new owner's wall! Learn More about condition grades 
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