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| imagesize =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| caption =
| birth_name = Franz Werner Murnau
| birth_name = Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|12|28}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1888|12|28}}
| birth_place = [[Kelsterbach]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
| birth_place = [[Bielefeld]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|1|19|1888|12|28}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1931|3|11|1888|12|28}}
| death_place = [[Santa Barbara, California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| death_place = [[Santa Barbara, California]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| other_names =
| other_names =
| occupation = Film director
| occupation = Film director
| years_active = 1916—1939
| years_active = 1919—1931
| height =
| height = 6'11 (2.10 m)
| spouse = [[Margaret Booth]] (common-law)
| spouse =
| website =
| website =
}}
}}


'''Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau''' (December 28, 1888 – March 11, 1931) was one of the most influential [[Germany|German]] [[film director]]s of the [[silent film|silent era]], and a prominent figure in the [[expressionism (film)|expressionist]] movement in German cinema during the 1920s. Although some of Murnau's films have been [[Lost film|lost]], most still survive.
'''Franz Werner Murnau''' ([[December 28]], [[1888]]–[[January 19]], [[1939]]), known professionally as '''F.W. Murnau''', was a [[Germany|German]]-[[United States|American]] [[film]] director, most famous for his long-standing but rocky collaboration with actor [[Max Schreck]]. He won several [[Academy Award]]s, including three for Best Picture, and many of his films are considered classics to this day. He is also infamous for the method of his death, a consensual mutual homicide with Schreck which was captured on film and forms the climax of the duo's final work, ''Dearest Enemies''.


==Biography==
==Early years==
He was born as '''Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe''' in [[Bielefeld]], [[Province of Westphalia]]. He attended the [[University of Heidelberg]] and studied [[art history]]. He took the name "Murnau" from the town in Germany named [[Murnau am Staffelsee]]. Openly gay, the 6'11 (210cm) director was said to have an icy, imperious disposition and an obsession with film.<ref>F.W. Murnau. Eisner, Lotte H. (1964). Le Terrain Vague. ASIN: B0029LAF1M</ref> He was a combat pilot during [[World War I]] and directed his first film ''Der Knabe in Blau'' ('The Boy in Blue') in 1919.
===Early life===
Franz Werner Murnau was born in [[Kelsterbach]], [[Germany]] on [[December 28]], [[1888]] to Johannes and Beate Murnau, a tailor and seamstress respectively. Though the Murnaus had eight children, Franz was the only one to survive childhood. As a youth, he worked in his parents' shop, and graduated from the Kelsterbacher Stadtgymnasium in 1907. That same year, he began attending the Kelsterbach Free University, where he studied literature and creative writing. In 1909, a movie theater opened in Kelsterbach, the first in the [[States of Germany|state]] of [[Hessia]]. Murnau began working as an usher at the theater, and quickly became entranced by the films. Using a camera stolen from one of his professors' offices, he began making short films with his university friends; often, the films advertised local businesses, and were played at the theater.


===Career in Germany===
==German films==
Murnau's most famous film is ''[[Nosferatu]]'', a 1922 adaptation of [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]'' for which Stoker's widow sued for [[copyright infringement]]. Murnau lost the lawsuit and all prints of the film were ordered to be destroyed, but bootleg prints survived. [[Count Orlok|The vampire]], played by German stage actor [[Max Schreck]], resembled a rat which was known to carry the [[Plague (disease)|plague]]. The origins of the word are from Stoker's novel, where it is used by the [[Romanian people|Romanian]] townsfolk to refer to [[Count Dracula]] and presumably, other [[undead]].
In [[1913]], Murnau graduated from university, and moved to [[Berlin]] to join the burgeoning German film industry. He worked as a typist in the story department at [[U.F.A.]] ''(Unzensierte Filme A.G.)''. Not content with merely transcribing the writers' handwritten outlines, Murnau would frequently rewrite the stories entirely, without the original writers' knowledge or consent. About a year after Murnau began working at U.F.A., screenwriter [[Johann S. Bach]] got ahold of Murnau's rewrite of Bach's ''Der dunkele Fluß ([[The Dark River]])''. Bach preferred the rewrite to his own original version, and recommended to U.F.A.'s producers that Murnau be given a writing job. Murnau wrote several important early films, such as [[1915]]'s ''Der Engel des Teufels (The Devil's Angel)''.


Nearly as important as ''Nosferatu'' in Murnau's filmography was ''[[The Last Laugh]]'' ("Der Letzte Mann", German "The Last Man") (1924), written by [[Carl Mayer]] (a very prominent figure of the ''[[Kammerspielfilm]]'' movement) and starring [[Emil Jannings]]. The film introduced the subjective point of view camera, where the camera "sees" from the eyes of a character and uses visual style to convey a character's psychological state. It also anticipated the [[cinéma vérité]] movement in its subject matter. The film also used the "[[Unchained Camera Technique]]", a mix of tracking shots, [[pan shot|pans]], tilts, and [[zoom lens|zooms]]. Also, unlike the majority of Murnau's other works, ''The Last Laugh'' is considered a ''Kammerspielfilm'' with Expressionist elements. Unlike expressionist films, ''Kammerspielfilme'' are categorized by their [[chamber play]] influence, involving a lack of intricate set designs and story lines / themes regarding social injustice towards the [[working class]]es.
In [[1916]] he directed his first feature-length film, the scientific-fiction adventure ''Wir brechen durch den Himmel (Breaking Through Heaven)''. It proved popular with audiences across Europe, and it, along with further successes in the following years, led to Murnau being one of the most sought-after and highest paid directors in Germany.


Murnau's last German film was the big budget ''[[Faust (1926 film)|Faust]]'' (1926) with [[Gösta Ekman (senior)|Gösta Ekman]] as the [[Faust|title character]], Emil Jannings as [[Mephistopheles|Mephisto]] and [[Camilla Horn]] as Gretchen. Murnau's film draws on older traditions of the legendary tale of [[Faust]] as well as on [[Goethe]]'s [[Goethe's Faust|classic version]]. The film is well-known for a sequence in which the giant, winged figure of Mephisto hovers over a town sowing the seeds of plague.
On [[January 19]], [[1919]], Murnau attended a [[Munich]] production of [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Hamlet]]'', in which local actor [[Max Schreck]] was performing the title role. Schreck's energy and fury captivated Murnau, and he sought the actor out after the performance. Murnau proposed bringing ''Hamlet'' to the screen with Schreck reprising his stage performance. Schreck spat in Murnau's face and screamed, "film is unworthy even to be shat upon by winos and prostitutes." Murnau was deeply offended, but was determined to cast Schreck in a cinematic ''Hamlet''. He called Schreck's dressing room a few nights later and offered to pay Schreck triple what he earned from the play. Schreck abused Murnau for several minutes but ultimately accepted the offer. The resulting film, ''Hamlet, König des Norwegens'', won Murnau an [[Academy Award]] for Best Foreign Film.


''Nosferatu'' (music by [[Hans Erdmann]]) and ''Faust'' (music by [[Werner Richard Heymann]]) were two of the first films to feature original [[film scores]].
The production of the film, however, was mired in strife. Schreck was, by all accounts, a tremendous egomaniac, and he would often be offended by the merest (often even imagined) slight against him. He would rant and scream for hours, sometimes even breaking into fisticuffs with those who attempted to argue back with him. On the final day of shooting the film, Schreck threw a camera at Murnau, cutting his face so badly that he required stitches. Both men vowed never to work with each other again.


==Hollywood==
[[Image:Max schreck.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Max Schreck]]
Murnau emigrated to [[Hollywood]] in 1926, where he joined the [[20th Century Fox|Fox Studio]] and made ''[[Sunrise (film)|Sunrise]]'' (1927), a movie often cited by film scholars as one of the greatest films of all time.<ref>[http://us.share.geocities.com/toddmagos/polls22.htm http://us.share.geocities.com/toddmagos/polls22.htm]{{dead link|date=October 2010|bot=AnomieBOT}} MASTER LIST<!-- bot-generated title -->]{{dead link|date=October 2010|bot=AnomieBOT}} at us.share.geocities.com</ref> Filmed in the Fox [[Movietone sound system|Movietone]] [[sound-on-film]] system (music and sound effects only), ''Sunrise'' was not a financial success, but received several [[Academy award|Oscars]] at the very first [[Academy Awards]] ceremony in 1929. In winning the [[Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production]] it shared what is now the [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] award with the movie ''[[Wings (film)|Wings]]''.
In [[1921]], however, Murnau had written a script called ''Rot, schwarz und weiß (Red, Black, and White)'' about the bloodthirsty [[15th century]] [[White Russia]]n [[czar]] Vasiliy the Red. Despite the hostilities between them, Murnau realized that Schreck was the best choice for the lead role. He sent Schreck a copy of the script and a contract under the assumed name "Franklin Kelsterbacher". Schreck signed the contract and arrived on the first day of shooting to discover that "Kelsterbacher" was in fact Murnau. Enfuriated at having been deceived, Schreck broke into a rage and destroyed the elaborately constructed palace set with his bare hands in a matter of minutes. However, he was contractually bound to perform in the role, and the performance is often cited as the best of his career; he won the year's Golden Eagle Award, Germany's top film award, for Best Male Performance.


Murnau's next two films, the (now lost) ''[[Four Devils]]'' (1928) and ''[[City Girl]]'' (1930), were modified to adapt to the new era of [[sound film]] and were not well received. Their poor receptions disillusioned Murnau, and he quit Fox to journey for a while in the [[Oceania|South Pacific]].
Murnau and Schreck, both publicly and privately, insulted each other's characters and upbringing, but they must have held some level of professional respect for each other. They never spoke ill of each other's talent, and they continued to work together on picture after picture, violent as the productions might be.


Together with [[documentary film]] pioneer [[Robert Flaherty]], Murnau travelled to [[Bora Bora]] to realize the film ''[[Tabu (film)|Tabu]]'' in 1931. Flaherty left after artistic disputes with Murnau who had to finish the movie on his own. The movie was censored in the [[United States]] for images of bare-breasted [[Polynesia]]n women. The film was originally shot by cinematographer [[Floyd Crosby]] as half-talkie, half-silent, before being fully restored as a silent film &mdash; Murnau's preferred medium.
Both men worked on films without the other, however. Murnau's ''Der Zorn Gottes ([[The Wrath of God]])'', earned a Golden Eagle nomination for Best Picture and a win for Best Male Performance for its lead actor, [[Emil Jannings]]. However, Murnau's greatest financial successes were always with Schreck.


==Death==
In March of [[1924]], Murnau and Schreck were on the north coast of Germany, shooting their third film together, ''Mann mit einer Filmkamera ([[Man with a Movie Camera]])'', when [[Switzerland]] invaded Germany without warning. Reports from the south (through which the Swiss had entered) were confusing but dire. Murnau stole a freighter and loaded his cast and crew, including Schreck, onto the boat, on which they escaped to England. From England they departed for the [[United States]]. A mere ten hours after they escaped from Germany, the Swiss reached the coast where they had been filming.
[[File:Suedwestkirchhof08.jpg|thumb|Grave and bust, by [[Karl Ludwig Manzel]], in the [[Stahnsdorf Southwestern Cemetery]]]]
Murnau did not live to see the premiere of his last film. He died in an automobile accident in [[Santa Barbara, California]] on 11 March 1931.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=F. W. Murnau Killed in Coast Auto Crash. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A17F6355C157A93C0A81788D85F458385F9 |quote=Movie Director Planned to Go Home to Germany After Making South Seas Film. F.W. Murnau, German and American moving picture director, died this morning in a local hospital from injuries received in an automobile accident yesterday afternoon on the Coast Highway north of here. |work=[[New York Times]] |date=March 12, 1931 |accessdate=2009-01-22 }}</ref> Murnau was entombed on Southwest Cemetery (Südwest-Kirchhof Stahnsdorf) in [[Stahnsdorf]] near [[Berlin]]. Only 11&nbsp;people attended the funeral. Among them were [[Robert Flaherty]], [[Emil Jannings]], [[Greta Garbo]] and [[Fritz Lang]], who delivered the funeral speech. Garbo also commissioned a [[death mask]] of Murnau, which she kept on her desk during her years in Hollywood.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eisner|first=Lotte H. |title=Murnau|year=1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520024250|page=222|accessdate=13 July 2010}}</ref>


==Legacy==
===Career in the United States===
In 2000, director [[E. Elias Merhige]] released ''[[Shadow of the Vampire]]'', a fictionalization of the making of ''Nosferatu''. Murnau is portrayed by [[John Malkovich]]. In the film, Murnau is so dedicated to making the film genuine that he actually hires a real [[vampire]] ([[Willem Dafoe]]) to play Count Orlok.
====1920s====
Upon arriving in the U.S., Murnau, Schreck, and the crew traveled to [[Los Angeles]], which even then was becoming the American capital of the film industry. They completed work on ''Man with a Movie Camera'', and it premiered in September of that year to widespread critical acclaim. It earned Murnau his second Academy Award, and his first for Best Picture.


== Filmography ==
Murnau and Schreck did not work together for another three years. In the meantime, Murnau directed several films for Golden Gryphon Pictures with leading Los Angeles actors of both stage and screen. His [[1925]] epic ''[[In Old California]]'', starring [[Frank Powell]], [[Arthur V. Johnson]], and [[Marion Leonard]], was a resounding critical and commercial success; it was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Scene Design and Best Actress (Leonard's only Oscar).
{{Category see also|Films directed by F. W. Murnau}}


*''[[The Boy in Blue (1919 film)|Der Knabe in Blau]]'' (''The Boy in Blue'', released 28 June 1919)
In [[1926]] he directed and edited the documentary ''[[Bubble (film)|Bubble]]'', a look at the lives of workers in a [[doll]] factory in [[Ohio]]. ''Bubble'' won an Oscar for Best Documentary, and, when adjusting for inflation, is the third-highest-grossing documentary film in the history of cinema (the second is [[Fritz Lang]]'s ''Nanook of Arabia'', and the first is Murnau and Schreck's own ''Dearest Enemies''; see below for more information).
*''[[Satan (1920 film)|Satanas]]'' (released around 30 January 1920 but made in 1919)
*''[[The Hunchback and the Dancer|Der Bucklige und die Tänzerin]]'' (''The Hunchback and the Dancer'', released 8 July 1920)
*''[[The Head of Janus|Der Janus-Kopf]]'' (''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' / ''The Head of Janus'', released 17 September 1920)
*''[[Evening – Night – Morning|Abend - Nacht - Morgen]]'' (''Evening - Night - Morning'', released October 1920)
*''[[Sehnsucht (1920 film)|Sehnsucht]]'' (''Desire: The Tragedy of a Dancer'', released 18 October 1920)
*''[[Journey Into the Night|Der Gang in die Nacht]]'' (''Journey Into the Night'', released 13 December 1920)
*''[[The Haunted Castle (1921 film)|Schloß Vogelöd]]'' (''The Haunted Castle'' / ''Castle Vogeloed'', released April 1921)
*''[[Marizza]]'' (released 20 January 1922 but filmed in 1921)
*''[[Nosferatu|Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens]]'' (''Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror'', released 5 March 1922)
*''[[Der brennende Acker]]'' (''The Burning Soil'', released 16 March 1922)
*''[[Phantom (1922 film)|Phantom]]'' (released 29 October 1922)
*''[[The Expulsion (film)|Die Austreibung]]'' (''The Expulsion'', released 23 October 1923)
*''[[Die Finanzen des Großherzogs]]'' (''The Grand Duke's Finances'', released 7 January 1924)
*''[[The Last Laugh|Der letzte Mann]]'' (''The Last Laugh'', released 23 December 1924)
*''[[Herr Tartüff]]'' (''Tartuffe'', released 25 January 1926)
*''[[Faust (1926 film)|Faust]]'' (released 14 October 1926)
*''[[Sunrise (film)|Sunrise]]'' (released 23 September 1927, won a special Oscar for "Unique Artistic Presentation" at the first [[Academy Awards]])
*''[[4 Devils]]'' (released 3 October 1928, is generally regarded as one of his best works and is a highly sought-after [[lost film]])
*''[[City Girl|City Girl / Our Daily Bread]]'' (released 19 May 1930)
*''[[Tabu (film)|Tabu]]'' (released 18 March 1931)


==References==
Murnau and Schreck collaborated again in [[1927]]'s ''[[The Last Man]]'', a surreal film in which Schreck played a psychotic hotel manager who gradually turns his hotel staff into a paramilitary organization and overthrows the government of the unnamed country in which the film takes place. ''The Last Man'' is likely the most widely known of their films (excepting, of course, ''Dearest Enemies''), and is often ranked as one of the greatest films of all times in polls of film critics and scholars. The production of the film was the most turbulent yet. Schreck frequently destroyed scenery in his rages, the two often broke out into fistfights, and on one occasion both men brought [[gun]]s to the set and threatened to murder each other. In interviews after the premiere of the film, both men were quoted as stating that the only reason they did not actually kill the other was because the film hadn't been completed.
{{reflist}}


==External links==
While working on the film, Murnau began a relationship with his editor, [[Margaret Booth]]. They never married, but, using the money they made from ''The Last Man'', they purchased a large house in [[Santa Barbara]] and lived there together until Murnau's death.
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{commons category|Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau}}
* [http://www.murnau-stiftung.de/en/00-00-00-willkommen.html Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation], the legal successor to [[Universum Film AG|UFA]], [[Bavaria (company)|Bavaria]], [[Terra (film company)|Terra]], [[Tobis]], and [[Berlin-Film]]
* [http://internettrash.com/users/murnau/murneng.htm F. W. MURNAU<!-- bot-generated title -->] at internettrash.com
* {{Amg movie|103827}}
* {{IMDb name|0003638}}
* [http://www.filmportal.de/df/64/Uebersicht,,,,,,,,EFC0CAA3DC8C03C1E03053D50B372D46,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.html F.W. Murnau] at filmportal.de
*{{Find a Grave|8443}}


{{Murnau}}
Murnau surprised critics in [[1929]] with the release of a sixteen-episode [[film serial]], ''Queen Locuta of Shangri-La''. Film serials had come into existence shortly after the widespread establishment of permanent movie theaters, but they had always been created on meager budgets and were often formulaic in story. They were never taken seriously by critics or scholars. However, they were popular with audiences, and the typical feature-length film would have episodes of at least two serials before the main film. Audiences would thus see the same characters on the screen every week for months at a time, and Murnau recognized the emotional attachment viewers developed towards the characters and the dramatic storytelling potential this held. Due to his esteem in the industry, he was able to command a budget of $750,000, a huge budget for the time, roughly equivalent to $25 million today. All the money went onto the screen, furnishing enormous, elaborate setpieces, a cast of hundreds, and some of the most innovative special effects of the day. The result was a highly successful, widely praised series responsible for critics viewing serials as a legitimate art form for the first time.

====1930s====
[[1931]] saw the release of ''Death of Our Fathers'', a meditation on the Swiss occupation of Germany. Though epic in scope, it is often considered to be Murnau's most personal film. It follows several characters from mid-1923 through the Swiss invasion and subsequent weeks. The main characters were played by some of the most respected actors of the era, including [[Sam Loomis]] and [[Marion Crane]] as the only two characters to escape the Swiss invaders; Loomis and Crane won Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. Murnau, for his effort, won his second Academy Award for Best Picture.

In [[1933]], Murnau finished writing a script called ''The Power of Man'', telling the story of [[Nikola Tesla]]'s creation of the Teslacast tower. The script portrayed the scientist as a mad genius, working to help humanity through higher technology. Murnau's diary shows that he had considered several actors of the day to play the role, but ultimately he concluded that the only man who could truly play the part was, of course, Max Schreck. The pair worked together on the film, but relations were even more strained than before, as Murnau suspected Schreck of having an affair with Margaret Booth. The original schedule for the film allotted two months for filming, but ultimately it took five, due to the constant fighting on the set. Murnau and Schreck fought with each other, and both often took out their frustrations on other members of the cast and crew. On one occasion, Schreck locked himself in the studio restroom and raved for several hours, all the while smashing everything he could get his hands on. When he emerged from the restroom at the end of the day, everything within had been reduced to rubble so fine it could be sifted with a tennis racket. ''The Power of Man'' was released in late 1933 to generally good reviews but modest sales. Both men publicly stated that they would never work with the other again.

In February of [[1935]], Monumental Pictures released ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'', the world's first [[sound film]]; within six months, every major studio in Los Angeles had begun making their own sound films, and it was clear that sound was the way of the future. Murnau's first attempt at sound was 1935's disastrous ''Requiem for a Soldier''. The story had been tailored to show off the studio's sound technology, using loud noises such as gunshots and [[dirigible]] engines whenever possible. The resulting storyline was a mess, and it became the first film Murnau made in the United States to lose money. Around the same time, his son Matthias was born, and he decided to take a break from making films to care for his child.

Murnau returned to the screen in [[1937]], filming an adaptation of the popular stage musical ''[[Our American Cousin]]'', with Sam Loomis playing the title role. The film, a light-hearted musical about the introduction of a boorish American to snooty [[United Kingdom|British]] aristocrats, was commercially successful, though for the most part critically derided. Executives at Golden Gryphon decided to commercially release a phonographic recording of the songs from the film, the earliest (and, for a number of decades, most successful) example of a [[soundtrack album|soundtrack]].

In 1938, Murnau made his final narrative film, ''Braunschweiger's Last Stand'', about [[17th century]] [[Prussia]]n general Ernst Braunschweiger's doomed campaign against the [[Austria]]n invaders. When Golden Gryphon executives suggested Schreck for the part of Braunschweiger, Murnau refused. He auditioned dozens of men for the role, but was unsatisfied with all the contenders. Finally, after weeks of auditions, Margaret Booth was able to convince him to cast Schreck. He called him and offered the unheard-of sum of $400,000, over half the film's budget. Schreck reluctantly accepted.

The production of the film was catastrophic. Both Murnau and Schreck destroyed setpieces and props in their furies, often laying waste to valuable antiques. In one fight, Murnau fractured three of Schreck's ribs and Schreck broke Murnau's jaw, halting production for several weeks. But the worst incident occured on August 13 during a fight between the two men over Schreck's handling of a battle chariot. In his rage, Schreck attempted to run Murnau down with the chariot, but Murnau leapt out of the way, and the chariot instead struck cameraman [[Miguel Herrera]], killing him. Murnau, Schreck, and Golden Gryphon were jointly sued by the Herrera family, but were controversially found not guilty; it is frequently contended (but remains unproven) that the jury was bribed by Murnau, Schreck, or executives at the studio. Finally, production was completed, and the film premiered on November 31 at the Great Palm Theater in Los Angeles. It received Academy Awards for Best Editing, Best Musical Score, Best Scene Design, and Best Costume Design. However, neither Murnau nor Schreck were even nominated for their contributions, a fact which each man blamed on the other.

====''Dearest Enemies''====
On January 2, 1939, Murnau's son Mathias died of [[influenza]] during a minor outbreak of the disease in Santa Barbara. Devastated, Murnau locked himself in his bedroom, screaming and crying and destroying everything in the room. After trying for several days to coax Murnau into leaving the room, Margaret Booth gave up and returned to Los Angeles. A few days later, Murnau emerged from his bedroom and traveled unannounced to Schreck's house in [[Malibu, California|Malibu]]. There he outlined his idea for his final film, a documentary on the duo's relationship called ''Dearest Enemies''. Schreck readily agreed, and the two began compiling and editing the film from behind-the-scenes film footage, filmed newsreel interviews, and home movies.

Murnau and Schreck finished the bulk of the film within ten days. Only the finale remained. On January 19, 1939&mdash;twenty years to the day after they first met&mdash;F.W. Murnau and Max Schreck set up a camera on a tripod in Schreck's living room and began recording. They addressed the camera in turn, speaking in German:
:MURNAU: My name is Franz Werner Murnau, and I want nothing in this world so much as I want to kill this man.
:SCHRECK: My name is Maximilian Nikolaus Otto Schreck, and I want nothing in this world so much as I want to kill this man.
They turned to face each other, and each pulled a gun out of their pockets, the same guns they had pulled on each other in 1927 during production of ''The Last Man''. Speaking in unison, they counted to three, and then they shot each other. As they bled out on the floor, they cursed furiously at each other with their last breaths. The camera continued to roll after their final spasms, recording their motionless bodies until it ran out of film. Murnau's will stipulated that this scene be used as the end of the documentary, and the film was released by Golden Gryphon amid a great deal of controversy. ''Dearest Enemies'' won Murnau his final, posthumous Academy Award, winning not only Best Documentary Film but Best Picture as well; ''Dearest Enemies'' remains to this day the only documentary to win Best Picture.

Murnau's eulogy was delivered by Fritz Lang, and his body was interred in Eternal Hills Cemetery in Santa Barbara.

==Filmography==
F.W. Murnau made over three hundred films; this is a list of the more notable entries. Collaborations with Max Schreck are listed in '''bold type'''.

===Writing===
* [[1915]] - ''The Spy from Transylvania (Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle)''
* 1915 - ''The Devil's Angel (Der Engel des Teufels)''
===Writing and direction===
* [[1916]] - ''Breaking Through Heaven (Wir brechen durch den Himmel)''
* [[1917]] - ''Man and his Women (Mann und seine Frauen)''
* [[1918]] - ''Good with Birds (Gut mit Vögeln)''
* [[1919]] - '''''Hamlet''' (Hamlet, König der Norwegen)''
* [[1921]] - '''''Red, Black, and White''' (Rot, schwarz und weiß)''
* [[1923]] - ''[[The Wrath of God]] (Der Zorn Gottes)''
* [[1924]] - '''''[[Man with a Movie Camera]]''' (Mann mit einer Filmkamera)''
* [[1925]] - ''[[In Old California]]''
* [[1926]] - ''[[Bubble (film)|Bubble]]'' (documentary)
* 1926 - ''The Death of Innocence, the Innocence of Death''
* [[1927]] - '''''[[The Last Man]]'''''
* [[1928]] - ''Last Weekend''
* [[1929]] - ''Queen Locuta of Shangri-La'' (serial)
* [[1931]] - ''Death of Our Fathers''
* [[1933]] - '''''The Power of Man'''''
* [[1935]] - ''Requiem for a Soldier''
* [[1937]] - ''[[Our American Cousin]]''
* [[1937]] - ''For I Have Seen the L<span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">ORD</span> Above''
* [[1938]] - '''''Braunschweiger's Last Stand'''''
* [[1939]] - '''''Dearest Enemies''''' (documentary; released posthumously)

==Awards==
* [[1919]] - [[Academy Award]] for Best Foreign Film - ''[[Hamlet]]''
* [[1924]] - Academy Award for Best Picture - ''[[Man with a Movie Camera]]''
* [[1926]] - Academy Award for Best Documentary Film - ''[[Bubble (film)|Bubble]]''
* [[1931]] - Academy Award for Best Picture - ''Death of Our Fathers''
* [[1939]] - Academy Award for Best Picture - ''Dearest Enemies''
* 1939 - Academy Award for Best Documentary Film - ''Dearest Enemies''

==References==
* ''Dearest Enemies''. Dir. F.W. Murnau. Golden Gryphon: 1939.
* Hesperia, Susan. ''The Last Man: The Life and Death of Max Schreck''. Chicago: Stephenson & Davies, 1997.
* Jonas, Stephen. "Gun Scare on Set of ''The Last Man''". ''Film News Weekly'' [Los Angeles], July 2, 1927: A1.
* Lynch, Andrew and Vladimir Korsakov. ''The Early History of Golden Gryphon Studios''. Los Angeles: Burns, 2002.
* Michaels, David. ''F.W. Murnau: Fact and Fiction''. Los Angeles: Hallaway, 1973.
* Murnau, F.W. ''Wrath of God: The Diary of F.W. Murnau''. Ed. Christopher Novak. Brueckeburg, Virg.: Brueckebooks Ltd., 1955.
* Zabriskie, Christian Brevoort. "A New Direction for Film". Rev. of ''Queen Locuta of Shangri-La'', dir. F.W. Murnau. ''Film News Weekly'' [Los Angeles], August 16, 1929: B2.


{{Persondata
{{Persondata
|NAME= Murnau, F. W.
|NAME= Murnau, F. W.
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Murnau, Franz Werner
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Plumpe, Friedrich Wilhelm
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=
|DATE OF BIRTH= 1888-12-28
|DATE OF BIRTH= 1888-12-28
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Kelsterbach]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Bielefeld]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
|DATE OF DEATH= 1939-03-11
|DATE OF DEATH= 1931-03-11
|PLACE OF DEATH= [[Santa Barbara, California]], [[United States|USA]]
|PLACE OF DEATH= [[Santa Barbara, California]], [[United States|USA]]
}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murnau, F.W.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murnau, F.W.}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:German film directors]]
[[Category:German film directors]]
[[Category:German-language film directors]]
[[Category:German-language film directors]]
[[Category:Horror film directors]]
[[Category:Horror film directors]]
[[Category:German emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:German emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:People from Kelsterbach]]
[[Category:German military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:People from Hesse]]
[[Category:LGBT directors]]
[[Category:LGBT people from Germany]]
[[Category:People from Bielefeld]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Westphalia]]
[[Category:Road accident deaths in California]]
[[Category:Luftstreitkräfte personnel]]
[[Category:Silent films by director]]
[[Category:Silent films by director]]


Revision as of 12:15, 24 November 2011

F. W. Murnau
Born
Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe

(1888-12-28)December 28, 1888
Bielefeld, Germany
DiedMarch 11, 1931(1931-03-11) (aged 42)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
OccupationFilm director
Years active1919—1931
Height6'11 (2.10 m)

Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau (December 28, 1888 – March 11, 1931) was one of the most influential German film directors of the silent era, and a prominent figure in the expressionist movement in German cinema during the 1920s. Although some of Murnau's films have been lost, most still survive.

Early years

He was born as Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe in Bielefeld, Province of Westphalia. He attended the University of Heidelberg and studied art history. He took the name "Murnau" from the town in Germany named Murnau am Staffelsee. Openly gay, the 6'11 (210cm) director was said to have an icy, imperious disposition and an obsession with film.[1] He was a combat pilot during World War I and directed his first film Der Knabe in Blau ('The Boy in Blue') in 1919.

German films

Murnau's most famous film is Nosferatu, a 1922 adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula for which Stoker's widow sued for copyright infringement. Murnau lost the lawsuit and all prints of the film were ordered to be destroyed, but bootleg prints survived. The vampire, played by German stage actor Max Schreck, resembled a rat which was known to carry the plague. The origins of the word are from Stoker's novel, where it is used by the Romanian townsfolk to refer to Count Dracula and presumably, other undead.

Nearly as important as Nosferatu in Murnau's filmography was The Last Laugh ("Der Letzte Mann", German "The Last Man") (1924), written by Carl Mayer (a very prominent figure of the Kammerspielfilm movement) and starring Emil Jannings. The film introduced the subjective point of view camera, where the camera "sees" from the eyes of a character and uses visual style to convey a character's psychological state. It also anticipated the cinéma vérité movement in its subject matter. The film also used the "Unchained Camera Technique", a mix of tracking shots, pans, tilts, and zooms. Also, unlike the majority of Murnau's other works, The Last Laugh is considered a Kammerspielfilm with Expressionist elements. Unlike expressionist films, Kammerspielfilme are categorized by their chamber play influence, involving a lack of intricate set designs and story lines / themes regarding social injustice towards the working classes.

Murnau's last German film was the big budget Faust (1926) with Gösta Ekman as the title character, Emil Jannings as Mephisto and Camilla Horn as Gretchen. Murnau's film draws on older traditions of the legendary tale of Faust as well as on Goethe's classic version. The film is well-known for a sequence in which the giant, winged figure of Mephisto hovers over a town sowing the seeds of plague.

Nosferatu (music by Hans Erdmann) and Faust (music by Werner Richard Heymann) were two of the first films to feature original film scores.

Hollywood

Murnau emigrated to Hollywood in 1926, where he joined the Fox Studio and made Sunrise (1927), a movie often cited by film scholars as one of the greatest films of all time.[2] Filmed in the Fox Movietone sound-on-film system (music and sound effects only), Sunrise was not a financial success, but received several Oscars at the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In winning the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production it shared what is now the Best Picture award with the movie Wings.

Murnau's next two films, the (now lost) Four Devils (1928) and City Girl (1930), were modified to adapt to the new era of sound film and were not well received. Their poor receptions disillusioned Murnau, and he quit Fox to journey for a while in the South Pacific.

Together with documentary film pioneer Robert Flaherty, Murnau travelled to Bora Bora to realize the film Tabu in 1931. Flaherty left after artistic disputes with Murnau who had to finish the movie on his own. The movie was censored in the United States for images of bare-breasted Polynesian women. The film was originally shot by cinematographer Floyd Crosby as half-talkie, half-silent, before being fully restored as a silent film — Murnau's preferred medium.

Death

Grave and bust, by Karl Ludwig Manzel, in the Stahnsdorf Southwestern Cemetery

Murnau did not live to see the premiere of his last film. He died in an automobile accident in Santa Barbara, California on 11 March 1931.[3] Murnau was entombed on Southwest Cemetery (Südwest-Kirchhof Stahnsdorf) in Stahnsdorf near Berlin. Only 11 people attended the funeral. Among them were Robert Flaherty, Emil Jannings, Greta Garbo and Fritz Lang, who delivered the funeral speech. Garbo also commissioned a death mask of Murnau, which she kept on her desk during her years in Hollywood.[4]

Legacy

In 2000, director E. Elias Merhige released Shadow of the Vampire, a fictionalization of the making of Nosferatu. Murnau is portrayed by John Malkovich. In the film, Murnau is so dedicated to making the film genuine that he actually hires a real vampire (Willem Dafoe) to play Count Orlok.

Filmography

See also: Category:Films directed by F. W. Murnau

References

  1. ^ F.W. Murnau. Eisner, Lotte H. (1964). Le Terrain Vague. ASIN: B0029LAF1M
  2. ^ http://us.share.geocities.com/toddmagos/polls22.htm[dead link] MASTER LIST][dead link] at us.share.geocities.com
  3. ^ "F. W. Murnau Killed in Coast Auto Crash". New York Times. March 12, 1931. Retrieved 2009-01-22. Movie Director Planned to Go Home to Germany After Making South Seas Film. F.W. Murnau, German and American moving picture director, died this morning in a local hospital from injuries received in an automobile accident yesterday afternoon on the Coast Highway north of here. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Eisner, Lotte H. (1973). Murnau. University of California Press. p. 222. ISBN 9780520024250. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.

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