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Collection Summary

Biography of Fritz Lang

Scope and Content

Restrictions

Preferred Citation

Processing Information

Acquisition Information

Related Materials

Access Terms

Container List
Series I.
General Files, 1933-1973

Series II.
Awards, 1931, 1957-1973

Series III.
Books, 1909-1973

Series IV.
Motion Picture Film, 1938-1940s, 1953

Inventory of the Fritz Lang papers, circa 1909-1973

University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.

Email: ahcref@uwyo.edu
URL: http://ahc.uwyo.edu/

The creation of the EAD-version of this finding aid was made possible through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.

"©" 2006

University of Wyoming


Collection Summary
	Title	Fritz Lang papers
	Dates (Inclusive)	circa 1909-1973
	Dates (Bulk)	1931-1973
	Creator	Lang, Fritz, 1890-1976
	Abstract	Abstract Collection contains manuscript, galley proof, notes, awards, books, and films of this film director and screenwriter, born in Austria. Fritz Lang received worldwide recognition for his work.
	Collection Number	07955
	Size	5 cubic ft. (9 document boxes, 1 slim document box, 1 SHO box and 1 F22 flat box)
	Repository	University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
	Language(s)	English

Biography of Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang (1890-1976) was an Austrian-American film director who began his film career as a scriptwriter. Many of the scripts he wrote in the 1920s were co-written by his wife, Theo Von Harbou. Lang fled Germany in 1933. By 1936 he was in Hollywood, where he directed films for twenty years, until his differences with producers led to his leaving Hollywood. He directed films in India until 1959 when he returned to Germany. In 1963 he portrayed himself in the French film “Mopris” which was directed by Jean-Luc Goddard.

His early films in America, as in “Fury” in 1936 and “You Only Live Once” in 1937, were about social injustice. He then directed westerns and psychological mysteries, including “The Woman at the Window” in 1944 and “Scarlet Street” in 1945. He later returned to the exposure of violence and corruption in “Big Heat” in 1953.

Although he was not honored by the American film establishment until a retrospective of his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1969, France, Germany, Austria, and Yugoslavia gave him many awards for his contribution to film from the 1950s through the 1970s. He also received an award for his film “M” from the German Motion Picture Arts Association in 1931.

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Scope and Content

The papers of Fritz Lang contain very little material about his personal or professional life. The general files, 1933-1973, are few, and other than the biographical information, reflect Lang’s interests.

There is a rare Navaho Male Shooting Chant translation from an audio tape made in the 1930s. He was fascinated by the American Indian Culture and often lived on Indian reservations for weeks at a time.

Most of the general files are research material for a film about the Taj Mahal. They contain pamphlets, photographs, and outlines. There is a slim file about San Quentin Prison containing a prison concert program and an issue of the prison newspaper. There is an almost inclusive run of the People’s Songs Bulletin, 1946-1949. This bulletin was founded and administered by Pete Seeger to create, promote, and distribute songs of labor and the American people. The bulletin was sold only to members of the People’s Songs Association and was not in wide distribution. There is one piece of sheet music, “No Surrender,” from the movie “Hangmen Also Die,” directed by Fritz Lang.

There are 16 mm motion-picture reels, 1938-1953, filmed by Fritz Lang as he toured the Southwest. They are films of New Mexico, Arizona, and Indians. There is one reel of Fritz Lang. There are a few incidental books which were inscribed to Fritz Lang, some books upon which he based films, and American Songbooks of special interest.

Awards in 1931 and 1957-1973 were presented to Fritz Lang for excellence in film and contribution to the motion picture art. He was given the Commander Cross, Order of Merit in 1957 and 1966, and the Golden Ribbon of Motion Picture Arts in 1963 by the Federal Republic of Germany. He was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters from France in 1965, made an Honorary Professor of Fine Arts by the University of Vienna, Austria, in 1973, awarded the Order of the Yugoslavia Flag with a Golden Wreath in 1971, and was given a plaque from El Festival Internacional del Cine de San Sebastian in 1970. The Silver Hand was awarded to Fritz Lang in 1931 for his film “M” by the German Motion Picture Arts Association.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Fritz Lang papers, circa 1909-1973, Collection Number 07955, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Processing Information

The collection was processed by Loreley Moore in June 2000.

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Acquisition Information

The Fritz Lang papers, circa 1909-1973, were given to the American Heritage Center by the Fritz Lang Estate (administered by Lily Latte) in three shipments in 1976. The papers were received in good order.

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Related Materials

To see an additional archival collection created by Fritz Lang, see:

Reminiscences of Fritz Lang : oral history, 1971, Collection Number NXCP88-A1480, Columbia University Libraries, New York, NY 10027 USA

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Access Terms

Awards.

Blue Eyes. Male shooting chant.

Bogdanovich, Peter, 1939- Fritz Lang in America.

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah).

Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.)

Death Valley (Calif. and Nev.)

Folk music--Periodicals--United States.

Haile, Berard, 1874-1961. Male shooting chant.

Hopi Indians.

India--History--1500-1765.

Mogul Empire.

Motion picture producers and directors.

Motion pictures.

Navajo Indians--Rites and ceremonies.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (Ariz.)

People’s Song Bulletin.

People’s Songs (Organization).

Reichard, Gladys Amanda, 1893-1955. Male shooting chant.

Taj Mahal (Agra, India).

Tombstone (Ariz.)

White Sands National Monument (N.M.)

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Container List

Series I.
General Files, 1933-1973

Size (1.5 document boxes)

Arranged alphabetically. Includes biographical information, research for films about the Taj Mahal and the American prison system, Navaho Male Shooting Chant, and People’s Songs bulletins.

Description

Container

Biographical Information, 1953-1973


Box 1	Folder 1

Navaho Male Shooting Chant, circa 1939


Box 1	Folder 2

People’s Songs Bulletins, 1946-1949


Box 1	Folder 3

Research for a Film about the Taj Mahal, 1952-1960


Box 1	Folders 4-6

Research for a Film about the Taj Mahal, 1956


Box 2	Folders 1-2

Research on San Quentin Prison, 1933-1936


Box 2	Folder 3

Sheet Music “No Surrender,” 1943

From the movie “Hangmen Also Die” by Fritz Lang.


Box 2	Folder 4

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Series II.
Awards, 1931, 1957-1973

Size (1.5 document boxes, 1 F22 Flat box, and 1 SHO box)

Arranged chronologically when possible, depending upon the kind of box needed to house the size of the award. Includes awards from Austria, France, Germany, Yugoslavia, and the Festival of San Sebastian.

Description

Container

Commander Cross, Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany, 1957


Box 2	Folder 5

Golden Ribbon of the Motion Picture Arts from the Federal Republic of Germany, 1963


Box 2	Folder 6

Order des Arts et Lettres from France, 1965


Box 3	Folder 1

Commander Cross, Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany, 1966


Box 3	Folder 2

El Festival Internacional del Cine de San Sebastian, 1970


Box 3	Folder 3

Honorary Professor of Fine Arts from the University of Vienna, Austria, 1973


Box 3	Folder 4

Order of the Yugoslav Flag with a Golden Wreath, 1971


Box 4	Folder 1

Zur-Erinnerung-An-Unsere Erste Zu Samnenarbeit S Nebenzahl, 1931

(Silver Hand for the film “M.”)


Box 5	Folder 1

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Series III.
Books, 1909-1973

Size (3 document boxes, 1 slim document box)

Arranged by Category. Inscribed to Fritz Lang, books upon which he based his films, and American song books.

Description

Container

Films by Fritz Lang based upon:

Grey, Zane, Western Union, 1939


Box 6	Folder 1

Greene, Graham, The Ministry of Fear, 1943


Box 6	Folder 2

Household, Geoffrey, Man Hunt, 1939


Box 6	Folder 3

Household, Geoffrey, Rogue, 1939


Box 6	Folder 4

Wolfert, Ira, American Guerilla in the Philippines, 1945


Box 6	Folder 5

Inscribed to Fritz Lang:

Bemelmans, Ludwig, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, 1943


Box 6	Folder 6

Booth, Ernest, With Sirens Screaming, 1945


Box 6	Folder 7

Caspury, Vera, The Husband, 1957


Box 7	Folder 1

Chatterton, Ruth, Homeward Borne, 1950


Box 7	Folder 2

Harvin, Emily, The Stubborn Wood, 1948


Box 7	Folder 3

Hollander, Frederick, Those Torn from the Earth, 1941


Box 7	Folder 4

Kakfa, John, The Apple Orchard, 1947


Box 7	Folder 5

Mooney, Martin, The Parole Scandal, 1939


Box 7	Folder 6

Popper, David, The Puzzle of Palestine, 1938


Box 8	Folder 1

Spies, Walter, and de Zoete, Beryl, Dance and Drama in Bali, 1938


Box 8	Folder 2

Twain, Mark, extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven, 1909


Box 8	Folder 3

Velikovsky, Immanuel, Oedipus and Akhnaton: Myth and History, 1960


Box 8	Folder 4

Weinberg, Herman, Saint Cinema: Writings on the Film 1929-1970, preface by Fritz Lang, 1973


Box 8	Folder 5

Black, Eleanora, and Robertson, Sidney, “Gold Rush Songbook,” 1940


Box 9	Folder 1

Davis, Joe, “Songs of the Roaming Ranger,” 1935


Box 9	Folder 2

Gelhert, Lawrence, “Negro Songs of Protest,” 1936


Box 9	Folder 3

Niles, John, “American Folksong Series”:

“Ballads, Carols, and Tragic Legends,” 1937, 1938


Box 9	Folders 4-5

“More Songs of the Hill Folk,” 1936


Box 9	Folder 6

“Songs of the Hill Folk,” 1935


Box 9	Folder 7

“Ten Christmas Carols,” 1935


Box 9	Folder 8

Palmer, Edgar A., “G.I. Songs Written, Composed and/or Collected by Men in the Service,” 1944


Box 9	Folder 9

Spaeth, Sigmund, “Barbershop Ballads and How to Sing Them,” 1940


Box 9	Folder 10

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Series IV.
Motion Picture Film, 1938-1940s, 1953

Size (3 document boxes)

Arranged alphabetically. 16 mm reels of the American Southwest and 1 reel of Fritz Lang.

Recording and Reproduction Characteristics

American Southwest film 16mm.

Description

Container

Large Reels, 16 mm, 1930s-1940s:

Betakin


Box 10	Folder 1

Bryce Canyon


Box 10	Folder 2

Cactus, Superstition Mountain


Box 10	Folder 3

Canon de Chelly


Box 10	Folder 4

Death Valley


Box 10	Folder 5

Fritz Lang


Box 10	Folder 6

Hopi Villages


Box 11	Folder 1

Location Shots


Box 11	Folder 2

Missions


Box 11	Folder 3

New Orleans


Box 11	Folder 4

Sandpainting and Weaving


Box 11	Folder 5

White Sands


Box 11	Folder 6

Small reels, 16 mm:

Black Road to Fort Defiance, 1939


Box 12	Folder 1

Cactus, 1939-1941


Box 12	Folders 2-6

Fata Morgana, 1939


Box 12	Folder 7

Hopi Village and Eagles, 1939


Box 12	Folder 8

Hubble with Judge, 1939


Box 12	Folder 9

Missions, 1940s


Box 12	Folder 10

Mother Dog and Pups, 1941


Box 12	Folders 11-12

On the Road, 1939


Box 12	Folder 13

Painted Desert, 1938


Box 12	Folder 14

Papago Indian Graveyard and Organ Pipe Cactus, 1953


Box 12	Folder 15

Petrified Blue Forest, 1939


Box 12	Folders 16-17

Petrified Blue Forest, Colorado River Bridge, 1939


Box 12	Folder 18

Rainbow Oil Fields, 1940


Box 12	Folder 19

Rodeo – Navaho close-up, 1939


Box 12	Folder 20

Southwest Scenes, 1940s


Box 12	Folder 21

Tombstone, 1940s


Box 12	Folder 22

White Sands after Sunset, 1939


Box 12	Folder 23

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