Metropolis at 100: The City, The Machine, and The Heart

Thea von Harbou, creator of the screenplay for Fritz Lang's iconic 1927 film, wrote this novel to expand upon the movie's ideas and concepts. Vivid in description, rich in characterization and symbolism, the story draws upon ancient myths to form a compelling vision of the future. Noted science-fiction authority Forrest J. Ackerman hailed the book as "a work of genius," and a century after its initial publication Metropolis continues to captivate readers.

Taken as a whole, the sixteen remarkable films discussed in this provocative new volume of essays – edited by Noah Eisenberg – represent the brilliant creativity that flourished in the name of German cinema between the wars. Training a keen eye on Weimer cinema's unusual richness and formal innovation, this anthology is an essential guide to the revolutionary styles, genres, and aesthetics that continue to fascinate us today.

Jeff Beal is an Award-winning composer with an oeuvre that includes hundreds of works for the screen and stage. Following in the tradition of great American composers such as Copland, Gershwin and Bernstein, his works are influenced by his roots as a jazz trumpeter, and incorporate a sophistication that has made him the favorite of outstanding directors of both dramas and documentaries. His outstanding work has been recognized with five Emmys, an SCL Ambassador and Jury Award, and three HMMAs. An official Steinway Artist, the composer also maintains an active performing and recording career, playing his compositions on the piano, trumpet or flugelhorn as well as conducting. Recent works include the score for the award-winning Peacock thriller All Her Fault, the song cycle Our Better Selves for Rachel Willis-Sørensen, New York Études, Volume II, and his new symphonic score to Metropolis (world premiere in Prague in 2026).

Noah Isenberg is the Charles Sapp Centennial Professor of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin and Executive Director of the university’s two study-away programs, UTLA (Los Angeles) and UTNY (New York City), where he’s based. Author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller We’ll Always Have ‘Casablanca’: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood’s Most Beloved Movie (W.W. Norton + Faber & Faber, 2017), his anthology Billy Wilder on Assignment (Princeton, 2021) was selected by Tom Stoppard as a TLS 2021 Book of the Year. His latest book, Runnin’ Wild: The Madcap Story of ‘Some Like It Hot’, is due out next June from Norton and from Faber soon after. A 2026 Guggenheim fellow, he is currently completing short interpretive biography of Wilder for the Yale Jewish Lives series.