von Harbou, Thea: Metropolis. v1. Jun 07

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

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!

This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.

To report a copyright violation you can contact us here.

[UncleDuke]

vonderful, vonderful, vonderful

[HarryT]

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.

[dhbailey]

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?

[RWood]

Originally Posted by dhbailey

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.

[dhbailey]

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!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

No prob!

For those who are interested, Kino video carries the latest restoration 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.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

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

This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.

To report a copyright violation you can contact us here.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

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?

[RWood]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why not redo the book and make that the cover if it's not already?

The cover was already there, just not in color.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

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

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

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 devoted to the film and its tumultuous history.

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

[CaptainIncognito]

I think I love you... many thanks for this upload!

Just for film buffs, I believe that they recently discovered the mising 25% of the footage and are restoring as we speak.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by HarryT

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.

(Harry, please disregard my taking of your quote. I made mistake.)
_______________

There's also the one I assembled, but Steve was the first to make this available.
I made this available sometime around when I first joined MobileRead. Here's the link:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ebo...k&ltr=V&page=7


Don

[Greg Anos]

Thea Von Harbou also wrote "A Rocket to the Moon (1930)". Done as a UFA movie, also directed by Fritz Lang. I can't produce a e-book copy due to US copyright restrictions...(Although I have it in my library.)