F. W. Murnau

F. (Fredrich) W. (Wilhelm) Murnau (1888-1931) was born to wealth.  He changed his name from Plumpe to Murnau to distance himself from his disapproving family. When he was at university he met Max Reinhart and became part of his company.

Murnau fought in the trenches and as a pilot in WW I.  He was captured and spent part of the war as a POW.

Murnau was inspired by liberal and pacifist political causes and by expressionist art. He recreated specific paintings in scenes from his films. Murnau's "assistant" (lover) was artist and political radical Walter Spies. You can see Spies work here (optional).

Murnau worked in both Expressionist and Kammerspiel genres. Among his most famous films are Nosferatu and The Last Laugh. The first is a classic of expressionism and the second of kammerspiele.

Murnau came to Hollywood in the mid 1920s.  His first film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) won two of the first Oscars ever given.  However, his next films were not successful and he was paired with Robert Flaharty to work on Tabu (1931).  Part of the appeal of Tabu for Murnau was filming in the South Seas where Spies lived. Murnau died in a car accident before the film opened..