Fritz Lang's career stretched across nearly half a century, bridging two distinct cinematic traditions: German and American cinema. His journey began during the heyday of the German film studio UFA (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft) before the rise of Nazism, and he became a central figure in German Expressionist film movement. Through several silent films that were ambitious in epic proportions, Lang and his frequent collaborator and wife, Thea von Harbou, shaped genres as varied as adventure (The Spiders), science fiction (Metropolis), and crime-thriller (Dr. Mabuse the Gambler). Later, he escaped Nazi Germany for America, where his taut pacing and striking visual style helped define film noir as the world knows it today.