Lang, Fritz

1890 - He was born on the 5th day of December this year in Vienna, in the former Austria-Hungary.

1910 - He left Vienna to see the world, traveling throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific area.

1913 - He studied painting in Paris, France. The next year, he returned home to Vienna at the outbreak of the First World War.

1914 - He was drafted into service in the Austrian army. He fought in Russia and Romania during World War I, where he was wounded three times.
 

1916 - He wrote some scenarios and ideas for films.

1918 - He was discharged from the army with the rank of lieutenant.

1920 - He met his future wife, the writer, and actress Thea Von Harbou.

1922 - He and his wife co-wrote the scripts for  Dr. Mabuse der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse the Gambler), which ran four hours in two parts in the original version and was the first in the Dr. Mabuse trilogy, 1924's Die Nibelungen, the famed 1927 masterpiece Metropolis, and the 1931 Peter Lorre classic, M, his first "talking" picture.

1934 - He leaves Germany. Then he moved to Paris, where he filmed a version of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom, starring Charles Boyer.

1931 – He directed what many film scholars consider his masterpiece: M, a disturbing story of a child murderer (Peter Lorre in his first starring role) who is hunted down and brought to trial by Berlin's criminal underworld

1939 - He became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

1956 - His worldview became increasingly pessimistic, culminating in the cold, geometric style of his last American films, “While the City Sleeps”.

1957 – His last American film was “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.”

1950 - He found it harder to find congenial production conditions in Hollywood and his advancing age left him less inclined to grapple with American backers.

1964 - He was president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

1976 - He died on the 2nd day of August this year. He was interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.