1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Greetings, I'm Eves and welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that believes no day in 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: history is a slow day. Today is January. The day 5 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: was January nine. The silent science fiction film Metropolis premiered 6 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: at the UFA Paulas m Zoo in Berlin. The futuristic 7 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: dystopian film is regarded as a pioneering work in the 8 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: history of film. Fritz Long was born in Vienna, Austria, Hungary. 9 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: He served in the Austrian Army in World War One, 10 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: but after the war he dove into the entertainment world. 11 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: He acted, wrote screenplays, and directed films, and his career 12 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: took him to Germany. In nineteen he met novelist and 13 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: screenwriter Ta von Harbo. They married two years later, and 14 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: over the course of their relationship, Von Harbo wrote the 15 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: script or story for many of Long's films. In four 16 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: Long traveled to the US to observe filmmaking techniques in 17 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: New York in Hollywood. When he returned to Germany, he 18 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 1: began working on the film Metropolis. The film was based 19 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: on von Harbo's novel of the same name, released in nine. 20 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: She and Lane collaborated on the screenplay, which is set 21 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: in the future in a city called Metropolis. In the city, 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: there's a class of wealthy industrialists and a class of 23 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: exploited workers who live underground. There's a robot of forbidden 24 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: Love and a revolution. Filming began at the UFA Film 25 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: Studios outside Berlin in May of nine and finished in 26 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: October of ninety. The production was over the top and expensive. 27 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: There were ends of thousands of extras and huge models 28 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: of skyscrapers. It cost uf A about five million reichs Marks, 29 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: which was the currency of the third Reich that would 30 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: have been somewhere around one million dollars at the time. 31 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: The studio was banking on Metropolis to be a success, 32 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: but the film was a flop. It premiered in Berlin 33 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 1: on January ninety seven and was criticized heavily. U f 34 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: A let the film run in Berlin, but it had 35 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: also entered into a code distribution deal with Paramount. Paramount 36 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: deemed its original length of one and fifty three minutes 37 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: too long for a US release, and playwright Channing Pollock 38 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: was hired to write a shorter version of the film. 39 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: The new cut of the film came in at under 40 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: two hours. It premiered in the US in March of nine, 41 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: but the high cost of the film, plus all the 42 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: other economic issues in Germany at the time, drove UFA 43 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: towards bankruptcy, and German businessman and politicians and Alfred Huggenberg 44 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,959 Speaker 1: bought the company in nineteen seven. Hugenberg also had the 45 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: original film cut down, and that version was released in 46 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: German theaters in August. This shortened version went on general 47 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: release around the world. These versions have been edited further 48 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: over the decades, and different versions of the film exist 49 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: in different countries. Metropolis got mixed reviews. H. G. Wells, 50 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: author of sci fi classics The War of the Worlds 51 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: and The Time Machine, wrote in The New York Times 52 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen seven that it was the quote silliest film, 53 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: but Nazi politician Joseph Gebel's praised the film. A note 54 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: here that von Harbo, who Long divorced in nineteen thirty three, 55 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: later joined the Nazi Party and was loyal to the regime. 56 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: But over the decades, the visual style and story told 57 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: in Metropolis became recognized as important work in film history. 58 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: Long ended up leaving Nazi Germany and moving to France, 59 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: then to the US to work in Hollywood. A large 60 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: part of the original cut of the film was recently 61 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: restored in screen in theaters. I'm Jefcote and hopefully you 62 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did 63 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: it yesterday. 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