By Rocket to the Moon (1929) Frau im Mond (original title)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Thea von Harbou (novel) and
Fritz Lang (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

6 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A tenacious scientist blasts off for the moon in hopes of riches that may be found there.

Plot Keywords:

Moon | Gold | Rocket | Dark Side Of The Moon | Moon Walk

Cast

Klaus Pohl	...	Professor Georg Manfeldt
Willy Fritsch	...	Wolf Helius
Gustav von Wangenheim	...	Ingenieur Hans Windegger (as Gustav v. Wangenheim)
Gerda Maurus	...	Stud. astr. Friede Velten
Gustl Gstettenbaur	...	Gustav (as Gustl Stark-Gstettenbaur)
Fritz Rasp	...	Der Mann
Tilla Durieux	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Hermann Vallentin	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Max Zilzer	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Mahmud Terja Bey	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Borwin Walth	...	Fünf Gehirne und Scheckbücher
Karl Platen	...	Der Mann am Mikrophon
Die Maus Josephine	...	Mouse
Margarete Kupfer	...	Frau Hippolt, Haushälterin bei Helius
Alexa von Porembsky	...	Eine Veilchenverkäuferin (as Alexa v. Porembska)
Gerhard Dammann	...	Der Werkmeister der Helius-Flugwerften (as Dammann)
Heinrich Gotho	...	Der Mieter vom II. Stock (as Gotho)
Alfred Loretto	...	Zwei eindeutige Existenzen (as Loretto)
Max Maximilian	...	Grotjan, Chauffeur bei Helius (as Maximilian)
Edgar Pauly	...	Zwei eindeutige Existenzen (as Pauly)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julius E. Herrmann	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Lang

Writing credits
Thea von Harbou		(novel "Frau im Mond")
Fritz Lang		screenplay
Hermann Oberth		scientific material (as Prof. Hermann Obert)
Thea von Harbou		manuscript (as Thea v. Harbou)

Produced by
Fritz Lang	....	producer

Original Music by
Jon Mirsalis
Willy Schmidt-Gentner

Cinematography by
Curt Courant
Oskar Fischinger
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet		(as Konstantin Tschetwerikoff)
Otto Kanturek

Art Direction by
Emil Hasler
Otto Hunte
Karl Vollbrecht

Production Management
Eduard Kubat	....	unit manager

Special Effects by
Oskar Fischinger	....	special effects
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet	....	special effects (as Konstantin Tschetwerikoff)

Camera and Electrical Department
Horst von Harbou	....	still photographer

Music Department
André Mauprey	....	lyrics
Jon Mirsalis	....	musician: score (2003 re-release)
Fritz Rotter	....	lyrics

Other crew
Joseph Danilowatz	....	artistical collaborator
Robert E. Lee	....	intertitler: English (1977 version)
Willy Ley	....	technical advisor
Gustav Wolff	....	artistical collaborator (as Prof. Dr. Gustav Wolff)

Production Companies

• Fritz Lang-Film
• Universum Film (UFA)

Distributors

• Universum Film (UFA) (1929) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Gaumont British Distributors (1930) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ufa Film Company (1931) (USA) (theatrical) (English intertitles)
• Eureka Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Divisa Ediciones
• Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (video)
• Kino Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• LS Video (video)
• Silver Screen (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Video Ten (video as "Women in the Moon")
• Video Yesteryear (1984) (USA) (video) (1977 intertitles and new music track)

Also Known As:

"Frau im Mond" - Germany (original title)
"Woman in the Moon" - USA

Runtime:

156 min | 200 min (2000 restoration) | Spain:104 min | Spain:162 min (DVD edition) | USA:95 min | West Germany:91 min (edited version) (1970) | Portugal:190 min (Cinemateca Portuguesa)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (1933-1945) | Spain:T | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Ufa-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Fritz Lang-Film

Trivia:

German rocket scientist 'Hermann Oberth (I)' was hired by the studio to create a flying model of the Friede (the rocket in the movie) to launch from northern Germany on the day of the release as a publicity stunt. However, Oberth pulled out of the deal because the rocket was not working, and undue pressure from the director was causing too many frayed nerves.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Dr. Manfeldt's newspaper clipping contains the date "Donnerstag (Thursday) August 17, 1896". That day was actually a Monday.

Quotes:

[Opening intertitle]
The Author:"Never" does not exist for the human mind... only "Not yet."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Der Fall Metropolis (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Heimlich singt für uns die Liebe

One of the most important films to the history of the Space Age

Frau im Mond may appear scientifically outlandish to the modern viewer, and the high-style expressionistic acting of its actors overdone, but nevertheless the film should be recognized as a landmark which impacted world history. The UFA studio commissioned a then small and marginal band of German amateur rocket aficionados centered around Hermann Oberth to work as technical consultants to the film's designers, and UFA even commissioned them to build a rocket to be fired at the film's premier in Berlin. The rocket wasn't completed in time, but the laboratory furnished by UFA, not to mention the heady excitement of a brush with the highest level of cinema, and the salutory infusion of unexpected cash, together set some of these young rocketeers on their life paths. These included Willy Ley, and a young Prussian aristocrat engineer named Wehrner von Braun.

When the Nazis came to power, Fritz Lang parted with his wife and partner Thea von Harbou and came to Hollywood. The production models of the liquid-fired rockets from Frau im Mond were so advanced that in 1936 the Gestapo seized them as state secrets. Werhner von Braun went on to develop the brilliant Nazi terror weapon known as the V-2. Post-war, the V-2 and its German designers begat both the American and Soviet space programs. All subsequent space history was profoundly influenced by these developments. Frau im Mond maintains its impact to the present day. For just one example-- purely as a dramatic device to build tension before the rocket's lift-off to the Moon, Fritz Lang introduced title cards counting down from ten to one. The "countdown",as it became known, was so successful that NASA and everybody else has been doing it ever since.