Ian (Flash Review)This was just shy of 3 hours and felt longer. Uff-dah for a silent film. The duration could have easily been hacked in half and been just as effective. The first overly long and forgettable portion is about a scientific professor who has a goal to prove there is a wealth of gold in the moon's rocks and surface ground. His hypothesis is greeted by skeptical laughter by his peers. Fast forward to the actual voyage to the moon. It was rather amusing and had improved creativity and cinematography than the first long portion. There are portrayals of the takeoff, approach, landing and comical moon adventures. And either Fritz believed there was oxygen on the moon or used that as a way to get the helmets off the actors to show their expressions. Will they find gold? Will they be able to get home to prove the professors hypothesis? Overall, the film dragged on and on and it was not a space adventure version of Fritz's masterwork Metropolis that I had hoped it might be.

suchenwi Suspend disbelief, or don't. For me, "Frau im Mond" is the most unbelievably lovely movie. I don't want to repeat what others have written, but there's so much more one could say... so here's some notes of mine. Best read them after seeing this film.It really feels this was silent movie's last stand. White-on-black inter-titles were just so out in 1929, they are often avoided (read their lips :), animated (the count-down), once bombed up, or drawn right into the shots (GOLD!...) as earlier seen in Dr. Mabuse, part 2.The supporting hero role of smart Gustav (14 years old - but able to launch the spaceship after some theoretical training, and avid reader of SciFi pulp) surprised me, but charmingly. In Spione, he only had a short part, but here, his was expanded considerably. Maybe marketing considerations - to attract young spectators? The movie wasn't so successful in its days in Germany, as talkies were already spreading.The professor gets to live his lifetime dream to step on the moon (complete with atmosphere testing by lighting three matches) and strike gold - and disappears soon after. I liked him best in the first act, so hungry and so much enjoying the food (and even sparing some for the mouse)."The person currently called Turner" struck me with his Hitler hairdo, matched in-flight with an army jacket, and in general his uncivil behavior (though he gave the best live mask-change I've ever seen). I wonder about his motivation though - why would he sabotage the starship? He couldn't fly it back alone I suppose, and he was representing the interests of the "brains and checkbooks" trust, no? Hans Windegger (Friede's fiancé) was tolerable while on earth, but away from it he appeared as rather one-dimensional space-sick weakling. I might have wished some more positive impressions of him after take-off.Friede (which is a German first name, but also means "peace") was the opposite, always nice and charming. Two times I felt reminded of the role of modern air hostess: when she takes orders for brandy, and instructs the professor to keep the window-shade shut. But did also good as feminist, camerawoman, and nurse - and ultimate heroine."Captain" Wolf Helius (Willy Fritsch, who is mostly known for smiling sonny-boy roles) had to carry the lost-love sorrow 160 minutes out of 163, but did it heroically, mastering all challenges posed to him, and refraining from wooing Friede though he'd love it so much...After very detailed beginnings, the end is somehow open. Will the spaceship make it back to earth? What will happen to Friede and Wolf? Yet, it's a terrific "happy end", even on repeated viewing.

MartinHafer It's funny that until recently I hadn't heard of this film even though I am a huge fan of silent films and talkies. This is even more surprising because the film was so good--being one of the very best early sci-fi films. In fact, aside from director Lang's more famous METROPOLIS, it is probably the best full-length silent sci-fi film you can find. And in so many ways it is very unlike METROPOLIS because the film seems rather plausible! It seemed that those who made WOMAN IN THE MOON really wanted to make a film that looked like a realistic film about the first moon landing. Considering that the film came out in 1929, I think it did a really good job of trying to get it right. Of course, the details weren't exactly right, but you could sure tell that Lang consulted with astrophysicists and other scientists to get it as close as they could to reality. The actual take-off, for example, was simply breath-taking--looking pretty realistic and using models that looked amazingly real even today!! Seeing the enormous-looking rocket being ferried to the launchpad was spectacular and just plain cool.While this attention to details COULD have made the film very dull and documentary-like, the addition of the subplots really lifted it in mood and made it very engaging. The hero of the story and his mentor are actually threatened by a cartel of five evil robber barons who want to take over this private space program! So, out of a desire not to be killed, they are forced to take along an agent of this cartel--who turns out to be destined to wipe out all those on the ship and take back gobs of gold to his evil masters! As a result, the film was infused with some excellent action and suspense.So my final verdict is that this silent film is simply amazing and worth seeing by anyone who is patient enough to watch a silent film without whining. Plus, historically speaking, this film is a true treasure--see it an be amazed.

dbdumonteil "Frau im Mond" is Lang's last silent movie and if it does not work that much well,blame it on the lack of sound.Earlier works such as "der Müde Tod" "die Niebelungen" and "Metropolis" easily made up for that with awesome,breath-taking pictures:that's why these three movies are as exciting today (particularly "Metropolis") as they were for the twenties' audience."Frau in Mond" is a different matter,because the first part is completely unspectacular,and as we cannot hear the dialogue,it's pretty boring.Things live up a bit when the moon trek begins.But Thea von Harbou's screenplay -probably inspired by Jules Verne's "de la terre à la lune" and HG Welles's "first men in the moon" - remains listless and uninteresting till the final thirty minutes.One must notice it's a very long yarn which runs about 165 min ,which is rather long !The best part is the last one:Lang's touch can be felt here.The old man ,discovering gold which drives him so mad he treats the metal like some divinity(recalling "Von Stroheim's "Greed").The villain,who wants to sacrifice all his mates for this fortune.And finally a riveting ,chilling scene :lack of oxygen leads the men to draw straws.This is by far the best sequence and we really feel the character's terror.The ending is both surprising and moving:some kind of Genesis all over again!But be warned ,you've got to sit through almost three hours ,and there are comic implausibilities:on the moon you can breathe as easily as on our good old earth,to name but one."Frau im Mond" epitomizes the agony of the silent movie.With "M" (dein ¨Mörder sieht dich an),his next movie and his first talkie,Lang found back his niche in the Pantheon of the seventh art.