Woman in the Moon (1929)

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

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Thea von Harbou (manuscript), Thea von Harbou (novel)

Stars:

Klaus Pohl, Willy Fritsch, Gustav von Wangenheim

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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, der sich Walter Turner nennt
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)

Storyline

Thirty years ago, at a scientific conference, Prof. Manfeldt presented his theory on the existence of gold on the Moon. It was greeted with laughter by the assembled academics. Today, Herr Helius has ambitious plans to build a spaceship... and take it to the Moon! Windegger, his chief engineer, will be going, and so will Prof. Manfeldt, now living in a cramped garret alone with his theory. But there are disagreements with the financiers who insist that their man Turner also accompany the flight... The unmanned Rocket H 32 brings back valuable information from the dark side of the Moon. Helius is upset by the news of Windegger's engagement to the pretty Friede. And the financiers have a secret agenda: to control the world's gold supply... Finally, the Spaceship "Friede" is ready as it rolls out on its gantry for takeoff. The staged rocket works as planned, but the acceleration is fierce. As they approach the Moon, they discover a stowaway on board, Gustav, a little boy...

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Plot Keywords:

moon | rocket | gold | love triangle | boy | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

6 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

By Rocket to the Moon

Filming Locations:

Ufa-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA), Fritz Lang-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

156 min 200 min (2000 restoration) 162 min (DVD) 91 min (1970) (edited) 190 min (Cinemateca Portuguesa)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

German rocket scientist Hermann Oberth 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.

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Goofs

The rocket launch is boldly set for 2130 (9:30 PM) as announced by the smoke-writing plane. But the launch also coincides with the rising of a full moon. The full moon would rise much earlier, approximately 1800 (6:00 PM) local time.

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Quotes

Wolf Helius: If you should fall down those stairs again, I will not be there to catch you.

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Alternate Versions

The film was given a release from Kino Internation on DVD, running a length of 169 minutes. The 2000 restoration runs 200 minutes. The original showing in the United States ran 156 minutes and was later cut to 95 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in Special Effects: Anything Can Happen (1996)

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Soundtracks

Heimlich singt für uns die Liebe
Music by Willy Schmidt-Gentner
Lyrics by Fritz Rotter & Andre Mauprey
Sung by Gerda Maurus and Willy Fritsch

User Reviews

There's a nice little film wandering around…somewhere

It's about 40 years since the last manned flight left the moon, and 40 years before that "Woman in the Moon" hit the silver screen. So we can admire the prescience of Willy and Werner in their multi-stage rocket and their depiction of zero gravity. But I struggled with the most non-ergometric controls ever engineered, the atmosphere of the moon, the presence of bubbling springs of water, and a divining rod(!?) used to find gold. The film also gets into trouble with its many and varied subplots—the two-men-in-love-with-the-same-woman subplot, the speculators-cornering-the-gold-market subplot, the evil-spy-network subplot, the cute-kid-stowaway subplot… It makes for a long film (my DVD comes in at 149 minutes) and a not very interesting one. The expressionist acting style wears after a while, and the slow-moving plot doesn't help matters. I loved the rocket launch (done by Oskar Fischenger, whose short animation films you should check out), and am able to put up with a fair amount of hokum in the name of entertainment. But this isn't one of Lang's best efforts.