53 Fritz Lang Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

The futuristic Metropolis city is sharply divided into two classes: the workers operating underground machines, and the upper-class living above in utopia. Freder, son of city’s mastermind Johhan Fredersen, is shocked to discover the plight of workers. After meeting Maria, activist of the workers, he decides to work with her to help the exploited. But his authoritative father plots a devious scheme. 

In the streets of Berlin, a murderer is on the prowl, killing innocent children. As the children keep vanishing, the city police become especially vigilant and their regular raids make it hard for the underworld to operate. In desperation, the crime lords meet together to decide that they will undertake a parallel search for the murderer. 

When incorruptible detective Sgt. Dave Bannion starts investigating the suspicious death of a fellow officer, he receives threatening calls and is pulled off the case. When his car is blown killing his wife, Bannion stands against influential mob-bosses who wield power over the town. Helped by Debby, the spurned mistress of the gangster, Bannion battles corruption, powerful adversaries, and violence, to bring the mob to justice. 

Siegfried is a bold, fearless and invulnerable prince, who hears about the beautiful Princess Kriemhild, after which he travels to Burgundy to meet her. He soon reaches King Gunther’s castle, and in exchange for the permission to marry his sister, Gunther asks him for his help to win the fierce warrior Queen Brunhild through trickery. They are successful, but when Brunhild finds out about the deception, she gets determined to kill Siegfried.

Don "Wardaddy" Collier embarks on a mission with his crew of five members. The mission is sure to put many lives in danger. As they begin, they realize that the odds are against them, but they still decide to go on with the task of attacking the Nazi army.

Scarlett Street is a thriller drama film which tells the story of a woman who befriends a man going through a mid-life crisis. Thinking that the man is very wealthy, her fiancé persuades her to swindle him out of the fortune.  

The Woman in the Window is a crime thriller mystery drama film which tells the story of a middle aged professor who finds himself attracted towards a young woman, and they soon enter a relationship. However, he soon finds himself in a nightmarish world, far beyond his expectations.

When a series of crimes start to terrorize the city, the police suspect that Dr Mabuse is involved, who had gone insane ten years earlier. However, they are  shocked to know that he is still captive in the asylum.  

Dr Mabuse: The Gambler is a mystery crime film which tells the story of Dr Mabuse, a criminal mastermind, who is a master of disguise, and has the ability to hypnotize and control the minds of others. When Police Commissioner Wenk learns about his crime spree, he decides that someone has to stop the doctor.  

The Last Will of Dr Mabuse is a German crime thriller film which tells the story of Dr Mabuse, who is writing his crime plans in an insane asylum, and the attempts of Inspector Lohmann to stop him. 

While riding in a carriage on a country road, a young couple decides to give a ride to a hitchhiker. However, they are unaware of the fact that the stranger is none other than Death himself.

Screenwriter Paul Javal is hired by producer Jeremy Prokosch to make a more commercially viable script. When Javal allows Prokosch to drive Javal’s pretty wife, Camille, in his two-seater while he comes in late, Camille believes that he is using her to please the producer and get a better deal. Though he tries to convince her otherwise, the marriage continues to disintegrate.

Joan Graham is working as a secretary to a public defender, but she soon falls in love with Eddie, a criminal. She feels that Eddie is actually a good man deep down, who is just going through bad times. She pulls some strings and gets him released,  but it soon seems that Eddie is unable to change his true nature.

Set in Nazi occupied Czecchoslovakia, Hangman Also Die! is a film noir about the assasination of a German leader by a patriotic Czech surgeon. It is a story of resistance in the face of brutality and immense pressure from the apex of power.

Ministry of Fear is a mystery drama film which tells the story of Stephen Neale, who is released during the time of the Second World War, after spending two years in a psychiatric asylum. His life takes a turn when he gets his hands on a microfilm about a deadly Nazi plot. Unsure about what to do, he finds himself drawn into a mission to save his country.     

A departmental store-owner employs ex-convicts to give them a second chance. One ex-con, Joe Dennis, falls for co-worker Helen Roberts, but is unaware of her past. They get married which is against Helen’s parole terms, so she keeps it secret. When Joe discovers her past, he furiously joins criminals to rob the store. Helen must stop him from reverting to old ways. 

Clash By Night is a drama film which tells the story of a woman named Mae Doyle, who returns to her hometown in Monterey, California, after spending ten years on the East Coast. All this time, she was seeing a married politician who has now passed away. Although he had left her some money, unfortunately his wife and relatives took her to court and won the case. Although Mae has now become quite cynical in nature, she begins to date Jerry D’Amato, a good natured and unsophisticated fisherman. However, she dislikes his friend Earl, who seems to be a misogynist.

Liliom, a carousel barker, is in love with a chambermaid, Julie; but both are fired by the jealous carousel owner. When Julie is pregnant, Liliom tries to get money by helping in a robbery, which fails and he loses his life. Instead of admitting him in the heaven, after purgatory, he is sent back to do one good deed to make amends.

Based on the novel titled Das indische Grabmal by Thea Von Harbou, Journey to the Lost City is an adventure film which tells the story of an exotic dancing girl of India, who ignites the passions of a traveling worker.

After receiving a bottled message, with a map of lost Incan civilization, from missing Harvard professor, sportsman Kay Hoog starts an expedition in quest of Incas’ gold. Criminal syndicate, ‘The Spiders’ and their chief, Lio Sha, are also after the treasure. After saving Inca priestess, Naela, at Golden Lake, love-struck Kay brings her home, but when Lio Sha kills her, Kay pledges revenge. 

This film revolves around an organization named ‘Die Spinnen’, who is trying to obtain a certain diamond that can give its owner rule over the entire Asian continent. 

This German silent film features the successful broker Harry Yquem who buys diamonds from a dubious fence using counterfeit currency. He spots a man whom he identifies as wife Florence’s lover from earlier time. Suspicious of Florence’s fidelity, Harry concocts a plan to catch the two lovers, but with more characters converging on concurrently, he gets caught in complications of his own creation.

‘Mitch’ Mitchell, American war-correspondent in London, needs to send an important news regarding expected Nazi invasion of England. With press offices and teletype machines destroyed in an air-raid, he takes the help of teletype-operator Jennifer to send his scoop, but realizing it is uncensored, she tries to stop him. Devastated by the death of his informer, Mitch stops transmitting news, earning Jennifer’s affection.  

The Wandering Image is a silent drama film which tells the story of a young woman Mia May, who surrenders herself to a disciple of free love. After giving birth to a child, she marries the twin brother and lookalike of her lover.

This animated science fiction adventure thriller film takes us to a futuristic city named Metropolis, where humans and robots coexist. The film revolves around a private investigator named Shunsaku, who along with his nephew, discover a sinister plan that threatens entire humanity.