Fritz Lang, director of films such as Metropolis, M and The Big Heat, established his reputation in Germany during the silent era. When Hitler rose to power, Lang emigrated to the USA, where he injected his fatalistic Expressionism into the domestic world of Hollywood cinema. This biography presents him as a flawed human being, and includes suggestions that he murdered his first wife and engaged in sado-masochistic practices both on and off the set. Patrick McGilligan has also written biographies of George Cukor, Robert Altman, Jack Nicholson and James Cagney.