Last week it was the head clamp from A Clockwork Orange, for this week's Movie Gadget Friday Josie Fraser reaches back to the silent era with the False Maria from Fritz Lang's Metropolis:
German director Fritz Lang and writer Thea von Harbou collaborated to produce the silent classic Metropolis
(1927), which remains a benchmark movie in science fiction and has influenced generations of film makers.
Metropolis depicts a dark and urban future (it's set in 2027) where the idle rich frolic in a city of delights
maintained by slave labour.The plot centres on a prototype robot created by the unfortunately named C.A. Rotwang, mad
scientist and loser in love, who designs a mechanical replica of ex-girlfriend Hel. Somewhere during production,
Rotwang loses his right hand and has to have a mechanical replacement. If that isn't the biggest euphemism in film
history, ever, I'd like to know your alternatives.
At first it seems as in Rotwang has successfully solved his interpersonal problems with technology, and he names his
creation Maschine Mann. It's a Functional rather than glamorous name, but at least the guy is honest enough not to
panic about his sexual identity when he's planning on having an intimate relationship with some wires and tin
plate.