Metropolis New Zealand print 1928

Metropolis New Zealand Print - 1928

Report by Michael Organ, 6 May 2005, to The New Zealand Film Archive

on the nitrate holdings of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (Updated 2011)

Executive Summary

The print of Fritz Lang's Metropolis held in the New Zealand Film Archive (NZFA), Wellington, is an original, first generation tinted (sepia) and untinted nitrate positive print dating from the initial March 1928 Australian and New Zealand release of the film by the Australasian company Cinema Art Pictures, local distributor of UFA film.

Logo on leader of New Zealand Film Archive copy of Metropolis, 1928.

Though the New Zealand print is based in part on the United States version edited by Channing Pollock and released by Paramount (Parufamet) in March 1927, 3 months after the German premiere, it was in fact compiled by UFA in Germany and based on the version prepared for the British market during 1927. The NZFA copy is in good physical condition and substantially complete. The digital copy obtained by the author runs at 24fps for approximately 84 minutes. It is a near identical copy to the print held by the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra, though possibly with some additional elements due to localised editing. Both the Canberra and Wellington prints are significant in that they contain elements of the film not found in any other surviving prints or negatives of Metropolis, apart from the 2008 South American copy.

Background

In June 2004 I was notified by Ray Edmondson, Emeritus Curator of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia, that the New Zealand Film Archive (NZFA), Wellington, held a nitrate copy of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. After contacting the NZFA Client Services Manager, Bronwyn Taylor, to obtain further details, on Monday, 4 April 2005 I visited the Archive in Wellington and, under the supervision of Senior Curator Kurt Otzen, viewed over a light table the 5 reels of Metropolis and associated loose frame clips.

This copy of Metropolis had been acquired from a private collector in 1987. Prior to my inspection the available description was largely based on the physical elements of the film, with no precise information about age or content. I therefore sought to address the following issues during my visit: (1) Age of the nitrate print; (2) Provenance; (3) Condition, and (4) Content. I was also hoping to identify any material within the NZFA print which may be additional to Metropolis holdings in film archives around the world.

Detailed Description of Findings

1. Age

The 5 nitrate reels of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis in the NZFA are first generation, tinted (sepia) and untinted prints on AGFA (German) film stock. This version of Metropolis derives from one of the three UFA Metropolis negatives produced during original filming in Germany between 1925-6. One negative was used to produce Fritz Lang’s 13,701 ft (4,189 metres) version which premiered in Berlin on 10 January 1927. A second negative was sent to the United States at the end of 1926 and edited by local playwright Channing Pollock. This version was released in March 1927 and ran over 10,600 ft (3,241 metres), though it was further cut at the end of 1927 to 8,039 ft (2,458 metres). A third negative – the so-called export negative – was used to compile a version for the British and foreign markets, including Australia and New Zealand. According to German film archivist Martin Koerber, the NZFA print is derived from the British edition.

The original German export negative was used to produce copies of the fully tinted print which was sent to Australia and New Zealand for distribution by Cinema Art Pictures (UFA) in 1928. Compiled by UFA in Germany, it was inspired by the Pollock edit and the credits specifically name the American playwright. Despite this, the Australasian print of Metropolis differs significantly from Pollock’s edit in both film content and intertitle language. Both the US and Australasian print also differ markedly from Lang’s original cut of January 1927.

The NZFA print is on AGFA stock throughout, with a short, tinted insertion on German Goerz Tenax nitrate film during the Moloch sequence. This latter segment also bears a marking of ‘Eastman Kodak’ along the edge of the film. This is explained by Martin Koerber as follows:

“As the Moloch scene is an optical (though partially made in the camera), it is possible that this scene was shot or printed on Kodak and then duplicated onto Goerz stock - or vice versa. Depending on the printer type used, you would print through the margin and thus imprint the edge mark of the first stock onto the second.”

The use of AGFA film throughout points to a German origin for the Australasian print.

The NZFA print differs from the Australian NFSA print only in that it contains one or two additional intertitles and some of the shots appear to be longer, suggesting that elements of the Australian print have been cut through use or censorship. In addition, the NZFA print contains a leader bearing a 1942 censorship certificate, stating:

Reg. No. 7184 New Zealand Certified for Approval for Registration Cinematographic Films Act 1928 The film: Metropolis length 9350 feet, registered as a Foreign Quota film, is hereby approved for general exhibition. Dated at Wellington the 29th day of April 1942. W.A.O. Kingsley Censor and Registrar.

This is followed by a J. Arthur Rank leader, pointing to the film’s local re-release in 1942, or at least preparation for re-release at that time. The 1942 material has been attached to the original 1928 release print. Other leaders and end pieces attached to the NZFA print show the logo of Cinema Art Pictures, pointing to the 1928 origin of the print. The quality of the print also indicates a first generation origin.[Addenda: As the digital copy includes what appears to be both sepia tinted and untinted black and white material, it is possible that this 1942 collector's copy contains both 1st and 2nd generation material MO]

It is interesting to note that the 1942 New Zealand censorship certificate indicates a length for Metropolis of 9,350 feet, which is 1,670 feet – or approximately 1 reel - longer than the present copy, which runs for 7,680 feet over 5 reels. Both of these are, of course, significantly shorter than Lang's original cut of 13,701 ft.

2. Provenance

The NZFA copy of Metropolis derives directly from the German film production company UFA via Cinema Art Pictures, the Australasian distributor. The original Cinema Art Pictures leader attached to two of the NZFA Metropolis reels clearly associate the print with the original 1928 Australian and New Zealand release of the film. It is a first generation sepia tinted print derived from one of the three original UFA negatives and similar to the British release edition. The 1942 censorship certificate attached to the leader of reel 1, and the J. Arthur Rank logo indicates a possible release of the film during that year by the British-based company [and possible use of 2nd generation material MO]. The history of the print after this is unknown. The quality of the print would suggest that it has only ever had a limited period of public exhibition and has not been heavily used since 1942. It was subsequently acquired by a private collector and transferred to the NZFA in 1987.

3. Condition

The 5 reels of 35mm nitrate film comprising the NZFA print of Metropolis are substantially in good condition. Most joins are original, with only 2 uses of repair tape noticed over the total extent of the 5 reels. The surface of the film is in good condition, with only minor scratches and other evidences of wear. Very few torn perforations were observed. There was one instance of the film being torn over 4-5 frames and temporarily repaired. Nitrate chemical deterioration was only evident by intermittent spotting, and this was rare amongst the 5 reels. A more detailed examination may reveal more instances of this. The film was substantially complete and in original order, though reel 3 had mistakenly been listed as a separate reel of fragments. The print exhibits evidence of minimal use. The existence of a small number of frame clips with the collection suggests that perhaps a second print was available in New Zealand for general distribution during 1928, and that this print was subsequently destroyed, with only the few frame clips from the most significant scenes kept.

4. Content

The NZFA print comprises 5 reels of 7658 feet in length. It was inspired by the version of Metropolis prepared by American playwright Channing Pollock, though it is similar in image and intertitle content to the British release print of 1927. As such, the Australasian version includes content not surviving in American or European copies, perhaps due to censorship restrictions e.g. the parade of women in the garden and Maria in the Yoshiwara nightclub. A detailed scene breakdown of the Australian and New Zealand prints of Metropolis is available on request. It should be noted that the NZFA print also appears to contain additional elements to the Australian print, though more detailed study is required to confirm this. There is no doubt that the Australian and New Zealand prints, in combination, represent a substantially complete version of the version of Metropolis as released in Australasia during 1928. The original Cinema Art Pictures leader (logo reproduced above from the print) appears unique to the New Zealand print.

Summary

The New Zealand Film Archive copy of Metropolis is an original, first generation tinted nitrate print derived from the original UFA negative and inspired by the Channing Pollock edit. The film stock is AGFA throughout, indicating the German origin of the print. This copy dates from the initial 1928 Australian and New Zealand release by Cinema Art Pictures (UFA). The NZFA version contains elements additional to the American version, though with significant cuts from the original Fritz Lang’s version. The NZFA copy is in good physical condition and substantially complete. It also contains some original lead elements. It is a substantially identical copy to the print held by the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra, though possibly with some additional elements. Both the Canberra and Wellington prints are significant in that they contain elements of the film not found in any other surviving prints or negatives of Metropolis. The good, original condition of the NZFA print is also noteworthy.

Michael Organ, 6 May 2005

NB: A full frame, digital copy of the New Zealand print was obtained by the author after the completion of this report. It ran for approximately 84 minutes at 24 fps and included both tinted and non-tinted sections. It did not include the additional clips with reference to the distributors and censorship text.

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Addenda

# 1 - In 2008 a near complete, degraded, second or later generation 16mm print of Metropolis was located in South America. During the subsequent process of preparing a new public release of the film, a number of shots from the New Zealand print were including as they represented the best available copies of this material. At the time a digital copy of the New Zealand film was also received by the author from the German film archivists. The copy ran for approximately 68 minutes and did not include footage of the various leaders.

#2 - Steve Pennells and Munich, Found: a legendary lost city .... and one hell of a director's cut, The Age, Melbourne, 14 February 2010:

One Australian and two unlikely archives have helped restore Fritz Lang's Metropolis to its rightful state. FILM archaeology is an inexact science. A copy of France's 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc was once found - 53 years after it was thought destroyed - in the janitor's closet of a Norwegian psychiatric institution. That was possibly the most important discovery in film history. At least until now, when a global hunt stretching from Berlin to Buenos Aires and Wollongong to Wellington has unearthed, in equally bizarre circumstances, a cinematic Holy Grail.

Last Friday, when the full 3½-hour version of Fritz Lang's Metropolis was simultaneously premiered in Berlin and Frankfurt, beamed on to the Brandenburg Gate and broadcast live across Germany, the historic event owed as much to chance as a mischievous breach of contract by antipodean film distributors more than eight decades ago. Almost from the day Fritz Lang's silent dystopian epic began shedding scenes just after it's 1927 release, there had been reports of a complete version, including an original Australian release print preserved in Canberra's National Film and Sound Archive. All had been false alarms.

''This happens so often,'' said German film restorer Anke Wilkening last week. ''Someone says they have a more complete Metropolis but it is always a cut version.'' So when Wilkening sat down to watch a blurry black-and-white DVD of a print found in a closed archive in Buenos Aires, she didn't expect much. Argentina was one of the last places anyone would have expected to find an original version of Metropolis, arguably Germany's most famous movie and one of the most influential films of all time. But it took only a few seconds for Wilkening to realise the enormity of what had been uncovered. Flickering beneath the dirt and scratches of long-forgotten reels of film was the stuff of legend - an apparently complete version of the film. ''We couldn't believe it,'' Wilkening said. ''It just seemed impossible.''

Barring a few missing seconds here and there, the 3½-hour Argentinian print was exactly the same film as the one that had premiered in Berlin in 1927 and disappeared almost immediately afterwards when it was butchered by studios desperate to get their money back on what was, at the time, the most expensive film ever made. Wilkening's employer, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation, which owns the rights to most of Germany's earliest films, began negotiations for the print to be flown from Buenos Aires to Munich under the kind of security usually reserved for a Van Gogh.

The Argentinian find would have been enough. But six months ago, as Germany was midway through a national project aimed at restoring Metropolis to its former glory, a second discovery was made on the other side of the world. Wollongong historian and former Greens MP Michael Organ alerted the restorers to a print of the film that had been sitting in the New Zealand Film Archive and was believed to be the same cut version as the initial Australian print. But it wasn't. The New Zealand print contained 11 key scenes missing from other cut version - scenes that either filled in missing sections from the Argentinian print or could replace badly damaged ones. It was also hand-tinted, destroying the long-held theory that Metropolis was never coloured in the style of other films of the day. The reels were rushed to Munich and both prints have been used to frame the reconstruction of a masterpiece long thought lost. Organ, who first examined the New Zealand print in 2005, said he had not heard from the German restorers for a year and didn't know the importance of his find until contacted last week by the The Sunday Age.

This ''new'' Metropolis becomes probably the world's oldest director's cut. It is 30 minutes longer than the version that wowed much of the world more than 80 years ago and introduces excised characters, scenes and sub-plots that fundamentally change the story. ''[It] can now be shown more or less as Fritz Lang originally intended it,'' said Helmut Possmann, president of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation. ''In terms of understanding what it's about, we'll be seeing a new film.'' Berlin Film Festival director Dieter Kosslick said the reconstituted Metropolis would be the centrepiece of this year's festival line-up. International release, along with DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions will follow. No Australian details have been finalised but the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation said an Australasian tour of the completed epic was almost a certainty.

The significance of the find cannot be underestimated. Even people who know nothing of the film will still have experienced its influence. A science-fiction classic before the term was even invented, Metropolis has woven its way through popular and cinematic culture in a way few other films have. In 2001, it became the first movie to be included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Program, the cultural equivalent of the World Heritage List. Despite its legacy, the film was a commercial flop on its initial Berlin release, which explains its butchering. In Melbourne, its run was accompanied by unprecedented hype and audiences were teased with ads that juxtaposed a sketch of an 1858 Melbourne streetscape with a still of the film's futuristic city: ''Seventy years ago Melbourne looked like this! What will it be like 100 years from now? Will it be like this visioned city? Metropolis will answer this question …'' Historians believe the survival of the Argentinian and NZ prints is due to a chance decision by distributors to ignore their contractual obligation to destroy the reels after they were screened. The NZ print is thought to have been copied from the same master as both the Argentinian and shorter Australian print, but for some reason the editor at the time excised different scenes. This meant the editor unwittingly saved critical segments of the film - making it possible to piece together this missing masterpiece. ''Obviously the editor made a mistake and a scene was left in that should have been cut,'' said Joseph Lengl, one of the film's restorers. ''I don't know how that comes about. You don't know what happens 80 years ago.''

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Site last updated: 5 February 2010

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