Thea von Harbou
Thea Gabriele von Harbou (27 December 1888 – 1 July 1954) was a German screenwriter, novelist, film director, and actress. She is remembered as the screenwriter of the science fiction film classic Metropolis (1927) and for the 1925 novel on which it was based. von Harbou collaborated as a screenwriter with film director Fritz Lang, her husband, during the period of transition from silent to sound films.
Thea von Harbou
1 July 1954 (aged 65)
- Filmmaker
- actress
- author
1905–1954
Rudolf Klein-Rogge (1914–1920)
Fritz Lang (1922–1933)
Ayi Tendulkar (c. 1933–??)
Early life, family, and education[edit]
Thea von Harbou was born in Tauperlitz (now part of Döhlau), Bavaria, in 1888,[1] into a family of minor nobility and government officials, which gave her a level of sophisticated comfort. As a child, she was educated in a convent by private tutors who taught her several languages as well as piano and violin. She was a child prodigy.[2]
Her first works, a short story published in a magazine and a volume of poems published privately, focused on perceptions of art, subjects considered unusual for a girl of thirteen. Despite her privileged childhood, von Harbou wanted to earn a living on her own, which led her to become an actress despite her father's disapproval.[3]
From novelist to screenwriter[edit]
After her debut in 1906, von Harbou met actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge and married him during World War I. By 1917, she and Klein-Rogge had moved to Berlin where von Harbou devoted herself to building her career as a writer. She was drawn to writing epic myths and legends with an overtly nationalistic tone.[3] In one historian's estimation: "Her novels became patriotic and morale-boosting, urging women to sacrifice and duty while promoting the eternal glory of the fatherland".[3]
Her first close interaction with cinema came when German director Joe May decided to adapt a piece of her fiction, Die heilige Simplizia. From that moment forward, "Her fiction output slowed down. In short order she would become one of Germany's most celebrated film writers, not only because of her partnership with Fritz Lang, but also for writing scripts for F. W. Murnau, Carl Dreyer, E. A. Dupont, and other German luminaries".[3]
Her brother, Horst von Harbou, worked for Universum Film as a photographer and began to work closely with Thea and Fritz Lang on many of their most famous productions.[4]
Under Nazi rule[edit]
With Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, the German film industry began to be used for propaganda purposes. Von Harbou was loyal to the new regime. Around 1934, a year after the Nazi Party came to power, on her own initiative she wrote and directed two films, Elisabeth und der Narr and Hanneles Himmelfahrt. However, she did not find the experience of directing satisfactory and remained a prolific scenarist during this time. "Under a regime where every film was a 'state film,' Thea von Harbou amassed writing credits on some twenty-six films, while giving uncredited assistance on countless others-including a handful with an indisputable National Socialist worldview".[23]
When war broke out in 1939, her husband was forced to leave Germany, and their marriage ended. With von Harbou's blessing, he courted and later married an Indian woman, who would visit her after the war (in 1953).[22]
Death[edit]
Toward the end of von Harbou's life, pain from high blood pressure, migraines, and neuralgia weakened her, although she continued to write or dictate from her bed.[25] After attending a showing of Der müde Tod (Destiny, 1921)
as a guest of honor in June 1954, she fell and suffered serious internal injuries in her hip. On 1 July 1954, five days later, she died in hospital at the age of sixty-five.[26]
Several years after her death, Lang directed the film The Indian Tomb (1959), based upon one of von Harbou's novels.
Some of Harbou's most prominent films:
Some of Harbou's most prominent books: