The Restoration of FRAU IM MOND was carried out in 2000
by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in Wiesbaden,
based on the camera negative from the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin.
The intertitles were taken from the negatives.
The comparison and copying was carried out by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna.
The master negative of this edit was used for the 2K digital version.
WOMAN IN THE MOON.
For the human mind, there is no Never, — only a Not Yet.
Georg Manfeldt, Ph.D. Professor of Astronomy
You should have let that skunk break his neck, Helius —
For thirty years I live like a dog for the sake of my ideas —
and then comes this louse-fellow speculating on my misery,
and wants to buy my manuscript from me as a curiosity —
I'd like to have dinner with you, Professor — can you spare some bread?
I found this in my coat when you left the other day —
buy yourself some bread with it, Mr Helius —
Spare me having to take handouts from my only friend, Helius...
If you don't join me, Professor, I won't be able to enjoy it.
FOOL OR SWINDLER?
Thursday, 17 August, 1896
Hypothetical Account of the Gold Content
in the Mountains of the Moon
I maintain, after many years of comparative analyses,
that primitive moon-rock contains more gold than the earth's mountains.
One day, the first spaceship will fly to the moon,
to bring its gold back to the earth.
Laughter, gentlemen, is the argument of idiots
against every new idea —
The progress of the world will not fail
due to learned ignoramuses lacking in fantasy
whose brains work in inverse proportion to their calcification —
Professor — I've decided to go...
But not without me, Helius — not without me —
Now your idea will triumph after all, Professor...
Naturally Windegger will go along?
What — ? Windegger won't — ? Your collaborator and best friend?
Friede Velten, student of astronomy,
and Hans Windegger, Chief Engineer of Helius Hangars are engaged.
Dear Friede. Best wishes to you and Hans.
Don't be upset that I can't come tonight to your engagement party.
Please accept the flowers as a substitute.
Yours, Wolf Helius.
He doesn't even know anything about my decision —
no-one does — except for you...
I tell you, Helius, more people than you and I know of your plan —
— and the fellow whom I threw down the stairs before is one of them —
Three nights ago —
So you think someone knows of my plans
and is thus also interested in your moon-gold theory...?
Helius, don't be angry — it's my life's work — go home —
I can't rest until I know the manuscript is in your safe.
Dear Helius. I write to you in incomparable bliss
and you should be the first to know that Friede has agreed to be my wife.
Perhaps I took her a bit by surprise, but she said yes.
Come tonight to the engagement party at Friede's apartment.
I am ridiculously happy. Windegger
Fresh violets, sir?
Wolf Helius, Bergstr. 86-3 To be delivered in person
Mr Helius isn't home...
Please... let me wait for Mr Helius anyway. Mr Windegger sent me...
To be delivered in person
Dear Helius. Accept this poor soul, if you can, and give him work
and a chance to make a life — he won't disappoint you.
Warmest regards, Windegger
Drive to the nearest police station —
don't hold things up with long explanations —
just bring some sort of officer here to me.
Saturn-Pirates
The thieves' craft approaches unlucky Saturn —
God in Heaven; you must have some idea when you last phoned —
Did you leave the flat unattended — ?
Only for a moment, when Gustav came to get me...
but then there was that man whom Mr Windegger had sent —
Would you allow me to use your telephone?
My phone isn't working...
Christ, madame — someone has to pick up —
there's at least half a dozen people sitting around that phone —
I'm only the foreman of Helius Hangars —
but if you keep working like this,
you, Miss Friede, will soon be the forewoman of us all.
I was supposed to have sent you
somebody with a letter of recommendation — ?
I'm begging you, Hans, get over here...
I can't tell you over the telephone what this is all about...
just, please, come...
You can be assured, Hans, that I would not call you away
from your engagement party if it weren't absolutely necessary...
We'll be there right away, Helius.
Allow me to introduce myself — : Turner...
If you go flying down those steps again, Mr Turner,
I won't be standing at the bottom to catch you...
Believe me, Mr Helius, there's no wiser way to pass the time
till the arrival of Ms Velten and Mr Windegger
than to have a chat with me...
First, a small request...
tell your chauffeur it's no longer necessary to inform the police...
The police have already been informed, Mr Turner...
Just a measure of caution, Mr Helius, — as well as this...
Also a measure of caution, Mr Turner?
I now grasp the phenomenon, Mr Turner,
how you haven't been whiling away in prison all this time —
You do flatter, Mr Helius.
Perhaps you can also reveal to me, Mr Turner,
where the stolen manuscript —
and the contents missing from my safe are located — ?
Five of the wealthiest and cleverest minds
who wish to keep the earth's gold reserve under their control —
One of the most interesting documents, madame and sirs...
To prove the accessibility of the moon,
Helius sent the unmanned trial rocket H.32,
filled with magnesium, moonward — the explosion of which,
upon impact, was viewed and photographed from the earth.
Thanks to the competence of our representative
I can show you something completely different —
things that Helius himself has thus far not made accessible to science.
Cinematographic images of the surface of the moon
by H.32 during its first orbit of the moon.
The unmanned register-rocket H.32,
equipped with automatic imaging-instruments.
The rocket-jet.
In its nose-cone...
...is located the egg-shaped register-chamber
with the automated imaging-instruments.
The imaging-instrument, linked to a clockwork.
The mirror tele-objective.
Schematic depiction of the H.32's trajectory.
Earth---384,000km---Moon
Gravitational Field of the Earth
Gravitational Field of the Moon
Zero-G Zone
Trajectory of H.32
Necessary starting speed 11,200 metres per second
First image of the moon, 36 hours after lift-off;
Distance of the rocket from the moon: approx. 40,000 km.
At an altitude of approx. 1000 km
H.32 flies over the moon crater Eratosthenes —
— in its depths the astronomer W. H. Pickering,
director of Mandeville Observatory, Jamaica,
believes to have observed swarms of insects.
The objective's eye sees what no man's eye has ever seen:
the opposite side of the moon turned away from the earth.
Cryptic, monochrome planes of colossal dimensions —
Vegetation? Fog? Water? —
— all seem to confirm the theory of Prof. Peter Andreas Hansen
— of the Seeberg Observatory near Gotha —
that on the opposite side of the moon
exists an atmosphere and, therefore, life.
Why lose any more time?
I for one want the moon's riches of gold,
should they actually prove to exist, to fall into the hands
of businessmen and not visionaries and idealists.
At this moment our representative is making
Mr Helius aware of our intentions
in a very concrete manner...
You have only two choices, Mr Helius:
either make the trip to the moon in our employ —
— or not at all...
If we don't come to an agreement, Mr Helius,
five minutes after my departure,
your hangar, along with the nearly completed spaceship,
will be reduced to a heap of rubble...
What would you gain, by removing me, Mr Helius? —
at the most, a travel companion who is less considerate.
You still don't get the picture, Mr Helius...
we'd rather annihilate all of your plans
than let you shut us out of the operation...
Tell your clients, Mr Turner, that I do not aim
to found upon the moon a criminal colony...
Give me 24 hours to think it over...
Will your... plans be seriously affected by the theft, Helius?
Don't worry about the plans — . I have duplicates
of everything, safe in my desk's secret compartment.
Hans dear, if I were you, I wouldn't be so sure about that.
Why did you conceal from us, Helius, the fact that you now
actually want to take on the voyage to the moon?
You've called me your good comrade so often at work —
in the laboratory — in this very room...
now you want to lie to me, Helius?
I didn't mean to lie to you, Friede —
I just wanted to spare Hans the conflict
between his love for you and his sense of duty
towards the work we've been doing.
But do you really believe, Helius,
that Hans would ever be capable of letting you down?.
Oh no, Helius. You won't make the trip to the moon without Windegger...
— and not without me —
Have you forgotten, Friede, how those fared
that dared this trip to the moon before us —
IN MEMORY OF...
TO THE BOLD PIONEERS OF SPACE NAVIGATION
WHO DID NOT RETURN FROM THEIR JOURNEY INTO OUTER SPACE
THEY LIVED AND DIED FOR A GREAT IDEA
HONOUR THEIR MEMORY
Friede — don't you get it?. I just couldn't stand
to know you were in danger — God in heaven —
and what danger indeed —
He's decided to travel to the moon, Hans...
So when do we start — ? And who will go with us...?
Ask Friede...
Friede... Do you want to go with me — ?
...in exactly 24 hours...
Mr Helius, the 24 hours for consideration
were up 61 minutes ago...
The explosion is of no concern, Mr Helius —
it's nothing but a small accentuation of my offers...
The price of this first warning, Mr Windegger,
is the hangar; just a shack...
the second one will cost the lives of men...
the third, the spaceship...
Don't force me, Mr Helius, to take stronger measures;
choose the lesser of two evils — : me.
I give you my word, Mr Helius,
the very hour that we come to an agreement,
you'll get your stolen material back,
complete and in perfect condition...
...the Spaceship "FRIEDE" [Peace] is ready for launch...
...at moonrise the spaceship will soar into outer space,...
...only to land — if God sees fit — 36 hours later
upon the opposite side of the moon...
...at this moment bells will ring —
the sirens of all the factories, trains and ships
around the world will wail to honour the pioneers
of space navigation...
In this final hour I must once again warn all of you...
You, Manfeldt, and you — Mr Turner;
I'm leaving out Windegger; and as for you... Friede —
Friede... in this last minute... — I'm begging you —
Don't beg me, Helius.
Helius, in this last instant,
do you want to shame me as a woman?
...the whole world's eyes are directed upon us... —
...the whole world's ears are listening to us...
Everyone to their stations... We launch in 50 minutes —
...the whole world's eyes are directed upon us... —
...the whole world's ears are listening to us...
Just now
Just now the
Just now the spaceship
Just now the spaceship has
reached
Just now the spaceship has reached the
Just now the spaceship has reached the launch pad...
...because the spaceship is built too light to stand freely,
it's submerged in a water-basin in which it floats upright...
From the moment of launch till attaining the necessary
speed of 11,200 km per second...
SPEED
...there will be 8 critical minutes
in the battle with the increase in speed, with G-force,
which has a fatal effect upon human organisms
when it goes over 40 metres per second...
G-FORCE
...after these 8 minutes, during which we'll feel
an intolerable burden pulling our bodies back to earth,
we'll be victors in the battle with gravitational force... or —
...and if we aren't able to maintain our speed of 11,200...
then we'll hurtle — and hurtle — further — and further still —
— irretrievably lost in outer space —
never again... never again... to return to the earth...
I'll be the one to pull the stop-lever, Windegger....
60 seconds to go —
20 seconds to go — lie still — take a deep breath —
NOW
Launch-rocket depleted. Full throttle on middle-rocket.
Windegger... jettison... middle---rocket...
Turn... back...
Maybe this chap is dead?.
I think Josephine needs a brandy.
I think Mr Turner needs one even more.
Don't you see, someone is stowed away in the cargo hold.
You wretched scoundrel, how did you get in here?
I've devoted my whole life to moon-issues, Mr Helius.
Moon Vampire
The Mystery of the Deadly Moon-Rays
Battling with Moon-Calves
Mingo's Homecoming to the Earth
The earth... where is our earth — ?
The sun is rising on our earth...
Logbook of the Spaceship FRIEDE
Turning the spaceship's black side toward the sun...
to absorb warmth. —
All's well on board. 227,000 km from earth.
Stopping the last jets, flying without propulsion.
Weightlessness on board.
Have entered the moon's gravitational field. —
Are within 9000 km of the moon.
Through the directional boosts mentioned above
weight regained on board.
Turning the spaceship with the jets in direction of
destination to fire brake boosts to prevent
premature crash on the moon. —
Are about to reach the side of the moon
facing away from earth. Watching the earth set.
We're seeing it again, Hans... we're seeing it again.
And when are we finally going to land?
If we had a spark of reason in us, we wouldn't ever land —
You're just afraid — you weakling —
Tell him he has no right to jeopardise all our lives
for the sake of his ambition....
By God now is not the time for arguments, Hans —
Shut the window hatches —
Full brake-power — we're plummeting —
Hold on tight — ....
The ignition cable probably isn't going to fix itself.
The moon awaits....
First though we have to do an air sample,
to tell whether we can breathe outside.
Do what you want.
I'm only interested in how I'll get back out of here.
I'll tell you just one thing, Friede,
as soon as I have the spaceship ready
to launch again, I'll fly back to earth —
and neither Helius nor Manfeldt will stop me — .
Do you really aim to stab Helius in the back?
Do you really aim to stab me in the back?
Now Helius has no choice but to prepare right away
for the trip back —
But Helius is convinced that we'll find water with the divining rod.
You know what the only thing is
that we'll find on the moon —
— death.
Professor, please, help me with the air-sample.
For God's sake, don't open it —
If he opens the outer door
and outside there's no breathable atmosphere,
then we're done for good.
He's taken the divining rod with him.
It's as if the rod is pulling him forward.
Mingo would follow this trail, Mr Helius.
The main objective should be to look for water.
I have enough to do, to get us ready to launch again.
May I volunteer to look for Professor Manfeldt
and, at the same time, water?
Atmosphere breathable, not yet analysed.
Törner on the trail for three hours
of Manfeldt searching for water.
Since when is Gustav your secretary?
I can't stand it anymore...
I'm going to look for Manfeldt —
From Miss Friede... so you won't go hungry.
Don't let him into the ship.. Don't let him into the ship...
Is there anyone in the world to whom we should relay
your last regards — if we get back to earth?
The oxygen containers —
the shot hit the oxygen containers —
What does this mean, Miss Friede,
with the oxygen containers?
Let's pray to God it means nothing.
We've lost more than half of the oxygen.
That means: one of us can't go back to earth —
One of us has to stay on the moon —
Yes, Windegger: one of us.
Do you know what this means — do you?
To stay here — alone on the moon —
just because you didn't want to listen to me —
you and him..
Short one loses — long one wins...
and we draw three times... how's that?
You draw —
So draw then —
Would it be easier for you, Hans,
if I stayed with you on the moon?
I have only one desire: to get back to earth —
Let's drink to a happy homecoming to earth —
for all of us...
...to a happy homecoming — for all of us, Hans.
The depot is ready, Mr Helius.
Now you must prove, Gustav, that I can rely upon you.
I'm staying back here on the moon...
— and you will guide the spaceship away from the moon.
Do you want Mr Windegger to perish — ?
And Miss Friede, who loves him — ?
The enormous shock of the launch
will naturally wake the sleepers —
and then Mr Windegger will take over the command...
Dear Hans. I am convinced that you won't let me down
just as I haven't let you down.
I shall wait calmly and with confidence
that you'll come to get me. My greetings to Friede. — Helius.
Farewell.