I created this LRF file originally for myself, as I've been archiving my own material (don't ask!)... so I thought I'd make it available for the Reader here. (Let me know if any other formats would be appreciated.)

Metropolis is the novel written by Thea von Harbou for her husband, moviemaker Fritz Lang... and is therefore the text from which the groundbreaking 1926 movie is based. Although the movie does not survive intact, the book provides an excellent source of original material, and shows the incredible depth of the original story.

The story depicts the inevitable clash between the elite, living in their ivory towers, and the slavish workers who run the machines of the city. It is also a power struggle between the Master of the city, Joh Frederson, his idealistic son, Freder, and the genius scientist Rotwang who lost his love to Joh Frederson. Caught in the middle is Maria, the girl who captures Freder's interest in the workers' plight, and who unwittingly starts a revolution that may destroy the great Metropolis!

vonderful, vonderful, vonderful

Excellent - thanks, Steve. I must admit that I didn't even know that there was a book! Look forward to reading this one very much.

What do you mean the "movie doesn't survive intact?" I've seen it in a theater and it's for sale all over the place. what's not intact about it?

What do you mean the "movie doesn't survive intact?" I've seen it in a theater and it's for sale all over the place. what's not intact about it?
What you see today is a patch-up of many distribution copies of the film. Think of them as you would Plato's shadow world. The original master print was lost many years ago. When single frames are missing they will often print a new frame to go between the surviving ones that carries the images of both the before and after frame. Some modern restoration methods have been employed on some films to recreate the missing frames.

Yes, it is a great film as it survives today. What we don't know is how many scenes are completely missing as many distributors of that period would re-edit a film and remove parts they did not like or that they thought might offend local, regional, or national authorities.

Ah, now I understand -- but while there may be scenes missing, the story comes through loud and clear.

Thanks for the clarification.

And thanks to Steve Jordan for making the book available!

No prob!

For those who are interested, Kino video carries the latest restoration (http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=519) of the film, which includes (for the first time) the original score, discovered and re-orchestrated for the film! The DVD also has some great extras, including a few photos from scenes that have never been recovered (a great deal of the film is presumed absolutely lost, not just single frames, but entire scenes and major story and character detail), and details about the computer-assisted restoration process. I'd recommend it to every film buff, sci-fi fan or not.

Due to popular demand, I'm attaching the cover to this thread.

Due to popular demand, I'm attaching the cover to this thread.
Why not redo the book and make that the cover if it's not already?

Why not redo the book and make that the cover if it's not already?
The cover was already there, just not in color.

...And considering the cover design, if you don't have it in color, you're not missing much!

One more addition: For those interested in a bit more of the backstory of the movie Metropolis, I have updated my site with a page (http://www.stevejordanbooks.com/metropolis.htm) devoted to the film and its tumultuous history (mobile-friendly version is here (http://www.stevejordanbooks.com/hand/metropolis.htm)).

Not a definitive text, to be sure, but a good primer for anyone looking for more about the film.