Made in France between leaving Germany, and before his Hollywood career, Lilliom is more interesting for its historic value. In addition to Lang, producer Erich Pommer was in transition from Germany to Hollywood. In addition to several films starring Charles Laughton, Pommer's first American film, Music in the Air had lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, future librettist of Carousel. Composer Franz Waxman and cinematographer Rudolph Mate were two films away from their respective Hollywood debuts, Waxman scoring The Bride of Frankenstein and Mate shooting the cult classic, Dante's Inferno. Mate is possibly remembered most for photographing several of Carl Dreyer's silent classics. Mate moved to the director's chair after moving to Hollywood. Sadly, his name is never mentioned in spite of the news that a science fiction classic he helmed, When Worlds Collide, is to be remade by Steven Spielberg.

While the documentary, Fritz Lang: Circle of Destiny does not add many insights into Lang, it should probably be required viewing for people who think film history begins with Star Wars. Not only was Fritz Lang the Steven Spielberg of his time with the oversized budgets and state of the arts special effects, but the shots of the futuristic city of Metropolis are still being duplicated almost eighty years later. While Patrick McGilligan's biography may be the best written source on Lang's life and films, the clips are fun to watch. The anecdotes and analysis from people like McGilligan, Volker Schlondorff, Claude Chabrol and producer Artur Brauner are all less interesting than the clip of Lang discussing his films with Michel Piccoli and Brigitte Bardot in Contempt. That Lang ended his film making career in the same place as he began, essentially remaking films he created in the silent era, is fitting for someone who's screen characters were people unable to escape from the patterns of their lives.