Born in 1890, Vienna, Austria. He was an Austrian and later an American filmmaker, screenwriter, an occasional film producer and actor. He studied at the College of Technical Sciences of Vienna's Academy of Graphic Arts, but later on, he studied art in Munich and Paris again. When World War I began, he was drafted into the Austrian army. After the war, he became a story editor, and then screenwriter. His most famous films are the groundbreaking Metropolis (the world's most expensive silent film at the time of its release) and M, his iconic contribution to the film noir genre.