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How did Fritz Lang begin working in the German film industry after World War I?

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Fritz Lang directing Woman in the Moon (1929) — Fritz Lang Although it took Fritz Lang some 21 years to make 22 Hollywood films, arguably at least half of them are noirish masterpieces of menace. His time in Hollywood, which began in 1934, followed a directing career in Germany during the 1920s that included several landmark films.

After serving in the Austrian army during World War I and suffering injuries that required a year of convalescence in a Vienna hospital, Fritz Lang began his transition into the film industry by writing screenplays while recovering. Following his discharge, he initially worked as an actor on the Vienna stage before moving to Berlin.1

In Berlin, Lang continued his career as a screenwriter, notably writing for producer Joe May. His breakthrough into directing occurred in 1919, when he was given the opportunity to write and direct his first film, Halbblut (The Half-Caste). By 1920, he began working for producer Erich Pommer at the Decla-Bioskop studio, which later merged into the German film giant UFA. During this period, he also began a long-standing professional and personal collaboration with the scriptwriter Thea von Harbou, with whom he worked on numerous projects throughout the 1920s.12