Frau im Mond
Encyclopedia
Woman in the Moon is a science fiction
silent film
that premiered October 15, 1929
. It is often considered to be one of the first "serious" science fiction film
s. It was written and directed by Fritz Lang
, based on the novel Die Frau im Mond
(1928, translated as The Woman to the Moon during 1930) by his then-wife and collaborator Thea von Harbou
. It was released in the USA as By Rocket to the Moon, and in the UK as Woman in the Moon.
The basics of rocket
travel were presented to a mass audience for the first time by this film, including the use of a multi-stage rocket. The moon rocket Friede
was submerged in water before launch, which NASA
did not do when it sent actual rockets to the moon, but large rockets are launched over water to prevent damage to the spacecraft from the sound generated by liftoff. NASA
did, however, have proposals for water-launched rockets (the Sea Dragon
and Nova).
to zero" before a rocket launch. The launch crew counts down the seconds from ten to zero and the rocket ship then blasts off into space.
Since rocket scientist Hermann Oberth
worked as an advisor on this movie (he had originally intended to build a working rocket for use in the film; time and technology kept this from happening), it was popular among the rocket scientists in Wernher von Braun
's circle at the Verein für Raumschiffahrt
(VfR). The first successfully launched V-2 rocket
at the rocket development facility in Peenemünde
had the Frau im Mond logo painted on its base. Noted post-war science writer Willy Ley
also served as a consultant on the film. Thomas Pynchon
's Gravity's Rainbow
, which deals with the V2 rockets, refers to this along with several other classic German silent films.
with scientific speculation. Helius is an entrepreneur with an interest in space travel. He seeks out Professor Mannfeldt, a visionary who has written a treatise on the likelihood of finding gold on the moon, only to be ridiculed by his peers. Helius recognizes the value of Mannfeldt's work, but a gang of evil businessmen have also taken an interest in Mannfeldt's theories.
Meanwhile, Helius's assistant, Windegger, has announced his engagement to Helius's other assistant Friede. This is disconcerting to Helius, who secretly loves Friede, so he avoids their engagement party. He is mugged on the way home from his meeting with Mannfeldt by henchmen of the evil businessmen, commanded by an American named Turner. They steal the research which Professor Mannfeldt had entrusted to him and also burgle Helius's home, taking other valuable material. They then present him with an ultimatum: they know he is planning a voyage to the moon; either he includes them in the project or they will sabotage it and destroy his rocket. Reluctantly, Helius agrees to their terms.
The rocket team is assembled: Helius, Mannfeldt, Windegger, Friede and Turner, who represents the interests of the evil businessmen. After the rocket blasts off, they discover that Gustav, a young boy who has befriended Helius, is aboard as a stowaway with his collection of science fiction pulp magazine
s. During the journey, Windegger emerges as a coward and the feelings of Helius toward Friede become known to her, creating a romantic triangle.
Once they get to the far side of the moon
, Mannfeldt and Turner prove Mannfeldt's theory that there is gold on the moon. They struggle in a cave and Mannfeldt falls to his death in a crevasse. Turner attempts to hijack the rocket and in the struggle he is shot and killed. Gunfire damages the oxygen tanks and they come to the grim realization that there is not enough oxygen for all to make the return trip. One person must remain on the moon. (In this film the moon has a breathable atmosphere on its far side, per the theories of Peter Andreas Hansen
, who is mentioned near the beginning of the film.)
Helius and Windegger draw straws to see who must stay and Windegger loses. Seeing Windegger's anguish, Helius decides to drug him and take his place, letting Windegger return to earth with Friede. He makes Gustav his confidant and the new pilot for the ship. After the ship takes off for home, Helius discovers that Friede has decided to stay with him on the moon and they embrace passionately.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
that premiered October 15, 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
. It is often considered to be one of the first "serious" science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
s. It was written and directed by Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, based on the novel Die Frau im Mond
Die Frau im Mond
Die Frau im Mond is a science fiction novel written in 1928 by Thea von Harbou, about a fictitious moon mission. The book was turned into a movie one year later by Fritz Lang, Thea's husband. The movie was titled Frau Im Mond ....
(1928, translated as The Woman to the Moon during 1930) by his then-wife and collaborator Thea von Harbou
Thea von Harbou
Thea Gabriele von Harbou was a German actress, author and film director of Prussian aristocratic origin. She was born in Tauperlitz in the Kingdom of Bavaria.-Early work:...
. It was released in the USA as By Rocket to the Moon, and in the UK as Woman in the Moon.
The basics of rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
travel were presented to a mass audience for the first time by this film, including the use of a multi-stage rocket. The moon rocket Friede
Friede
Friede was a fictional spacecraft designed by Hermann Oberth and was featured in the 1929 silent movie Woman in the Moon. The Friede was, at the time, the most realistic depiction of space travel, having multiple stages, liquid fuel, etc...
was submerged in water before launch, which NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
did not do when it sent actual rockets to the moon, but large rockets are launched over water to prevent damage to the spacecraft from the sound generated by liftoff. NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
did, however, have proposals for water-launched rockets (the Sea Dragon
Sea Dragon (Rocket)
The Sea Dragon was a 1962 design study for a fully reusable two-stage sea-launched rocket. The project was led by Robert Truax while working at Aerojet, one of a number of designs he created that were to be launched by floating the rocket in the ocean...
and Nova).
Influence
This film is often cited as the first occurrence of the "countdownCountdown
A countdown is a sequence of counting backward to indicate the seconds, days, or other time units remaining before an event occurs or a deadline expires. Typical events for which a countdown is used include the launch of a rocket or spacecraft, the detonation of a bomb, the start of a race, and the...
to zero" before a rocket launch. The launch crew counts down the seconds from ten to zero and the rocket ship then blasts off into space.
Since rocket scientist Hermann Oberth
Hermann Oberth
Hermann Julius Oberth was an Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and engineer. He is considered one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics.- Early life :...
worked as an advisor on this movie (he had originally intended to build a working rocket for use in the film; time and technology kept this from happening), it was popular among the rocket scientists in Wernher von Braun
Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...
's circle at the Verein für Raumschiffahrt
Verein für Raumschiffahrt
The Verein für Raumschiffahrt was a German amateur rocket association prior to World War II that included members outside of Germany...
(VfR). The first successfully launched V-2 rocket
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
at the rocket development facility in Peenemünde
Peenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
had the Frau im Mond logo painted on its base. Noted post-war science writer Willy Ley
Willy Ley
Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...
also served as a consultant on the film. Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
's Gravity's Rainbow
Gravity's Rainbow
Gravity's Rainbow is a postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28, 1973.The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military, and, in particular, the quest...
, which deals with the V2 rockets, refers to this along with several other classic German silent films.
Plot
The film is a melodramaMelodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
with scientific speculation. Helius is an entrepreneur with an interest in space travel. He seeks out Professor Mannfeldt, a visionary who has written a treatise on the likelihood of finding gold on the moon, only to be ridiculed by his peers. Helius recognizes the value of Mannfeldt's work, but a gang of evil businessmen have also taken an interest in Mannfeldt's theories.
Meanwhile, Helius's assistant, Windegger, has announced his engagement to Helius's other assistant Friede. This is disconcerting to Helius, who secretly loves Friede, so he avoids their engagement party. He is mugged on the way home from his meeting with Mannfeldt by henchmen of the evil businessmen, commanded by an American named Turner. They steal the research which Professor Mannfeldt had entrusted to him and also burgle Helius's home, taking other valuable material. They then present him with an ultimatum: they know he is planning a voyage to the moon; either he includes them in the project or they will sabotage it and destroy his rocket. Reluctantly, Helius agrees to their terms.
The rocket team is assembled: Helius, Mannfeldt, Windegger, Friede and Turner, who represents the interests of the evil businessmen. After the rocket blasts off, they discover that Gustav, a young boy who has befriended Helius, is aboard as a stowaway with his collection of science fiction pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s. During the journey, Windegger emerges as a coward and the feelings of Helius toward Friede become known to her, creating a romantic triangle.
Once they get to the far side of the moon
Far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away, and is not visible from the surface of the Earth. The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon...
, Mannfeldt and Turner prove Mannfeldt's theory that there is gold on the moon. They struggle in a cave and Mannfeldt falls to his death in a crevasse. Turner attempts to hijack the rocket and in the struggle he is shot and killed. Gunfire damages the oxygen tanks and they come to the grim realization that there is not enough oxygen for all to make the return trip. One person must remain on the moon. (In this film the moon has a breathable atmosphere on its far side, per the theories of Peter Andreas Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen was a Danish astronomer, was born at Tønder, Schleswig.-Biography:The son of a goldsmith, Hansen learned the trade of a watchmaker at Flensburg, and exercised it at Berlin and Tønder, 1818–1820...
, who is mentioned near the beginning of the film.)
Helius and Windegger draw straws to see who must stay and Windegger loses. Seeing Windegger's anguish, Helius decides to drug him and take his place, letting Windegger return to earth with Friede. He makes Gustav his confidant and the new pilot for the ship. After the ship takes off for home, Helius discovers that Friede has decided to stay with him on the moon and they embrace passionately.