A recovered classic

Seventy-nine years ago today—July 9, 1937—a freak accident destroyed hundreds of movies owned by the Fox Film Corporation. During a Southern California heat wave, a storage facility used by Fox (now 20th Century Fox) caught fire, as highly flammable nitrate film stock spontaneously combusted. One person died in the fire, two were injured, and every film in the building burned.

An estimated 75 percent of Fox movies made before 1932 were lost. Many people who had careers in silent era saw most—or even all—of their work destroyed. For example, Theda Bara, one of the most popular actresses of silent period, had only three extant films from a filmography of 40.

The deadly and destructive incident led to industry-wide reforms related to film storage. The fire also was largely responsible for the switch to more chemically stable (and longer-lasting) cellulose film.

Regrettably, the storage-and-preservation reforms of the late 1930s came too late not only for the hundreds of films that were lost, but also for many other early films. Existing prints of numerous silent films and early talkies have now degraded to almost unwatchable conditions. Furthermore, remaining prints often are missing entire sections, the result of ham-fisted edits aimed at reducing running times.

Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent science-fiction epic Metropolis is one such film subjected to neglect and abuse. For nearly 80 years, the German-made movie could be seen only in various butchered editions, ranging from a 70-minute cut (reduced from an original release more than twice that long), to an edit that featured the artistically questionable addition of songs by pop star Freddie Mercury. No copy of the original edit of the film survived. Or so it was thought.

In 2008, a near-complete copy, though in heavily degraded condition, was discovered in a museum in Argentina. Later, film restorers learned of a similar version in a New Zealand film archive. The two copies contained intact versions of almost every scene from the original film. Using these copies, Kino Video produced and released a 148-minute detailed restoration in 2010 called The Complete Metropolis.

That name is a slight misnomer. Despite being the most complete edition of the movie released since its 1927 premiere, there are two scenes that were unrecoverable. Still, the restoration of Metropolis is significant. Even in its various mutilated forms, Lang’s film became one of the most influential movies ever made. Its visual designs inspired the original Star Wars, Dr. Strangelove, and Blade Runner. Now, with the Kino restoration, the complex plot and themes of Metropolis are finally coherent.

The story takes place in the far-flung future of 2026. In the titular metropolis, a young man, Freder, discovers the existence of an underground city of workers who slave away to keep the utopia above them running. Social activist Maria also knows of this and, with help from Freder, she is determined to link the two disparate classes of people. Freder’s father, who is the master of the utopian city, complicates their plans, which are even further compromised by a scientist who creates a robot that looks like Maria to mislead the working classes.

As the first large-scale science-fiction film, the special effects in Metropolis were breathtaking for its time. Even today, they impress—though they consciously register as effects. In a way, this adds to their striking appeal. They look otherworldly, as director Lang creates one of the earliest fully realized “places” that exists only on film and not during any time.

Today, at long last, viewers can experience Metropolis in its intended form. The film now stands as Fritz Lang conceived it, with its plot intact, dramatic tension unimpaired, and inspired imagery that remains out of this world.

The Complete Metropolis is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and via streaming from Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.