According to Lang himself, on 25 March 1933, two days after
Il testamento del dottor Mabuse (1933) had been banned, he was
summoned to the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda to meet with
Joseph Goebbels himself. Goebbels explained the reason for the
ban (the Nazi party slogans are fed into the mouth of the villain at
the film's conclusion) and apologized to Lang. He then shocked Lang by
offering him the position of production supervisor at the UFA studios,
where his first film would be a biography of Wilhelm Tell. Lang claims
he suspected a trap and attempted to throw off Goebbels by telling him,
"My mother had Jewish parents," to which Goebbels responded, "We'll
decide who's Jewish!" Lang then expressed interest in the position and
said he needed some time to think it over. He describes how he looked
at a clock and how during the entire meeting all he could think about
was leaving as soon as possible so he could get to the bank and flee
with all of his money. Lang says he didn't get there in time so he sold
his wife's jewelry, boarded a train to Paris that same evening, leaving
most of his money and personal possessions behind, along with his wife,
Thea von Harbou, who divorced him later that year and went on to write
and direct films for the Nazi propaganda machine. This story is
possibly exaggerated by Lang for dramatic effect because there is
evidence he left weeks after that.
