Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang (December 5, 1890–August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-German-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. His most famous films are the groundbreaking Metropolis (the world's most expensive silent film at the time of its release) and M, made before he moved to the United States, where he contributed greatly to film noir.