Fritz Lang (1890–1976) was an Austrian film director, producer and screenwriter. In Lang's early career he worked primarily as a screenwriter, finishing film scripts in four to five days.[1] Lang directed major German films of the silent and early sound eras including Metropolis (1927) and M (1931) respectively.[2][3] After fleeing from the Nazi regime, Lang directed some of the most important American crime and film noir motion pictures of the studio era, such as The Big Heat (1953).[3] Lang appeared as himself in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (Le Mepris, 1963).[2]