Star Wars (film) inspired by the silver female robot Maria, the "Maschinenmensch" from Fritz Lang's 1927 film "Metropolis". The film was originally released in 1977 with the title ""Star Wars"". The subtitles "Episode IV" and "A New Hope" were only added to the opening crawl in subsequent re-releases. Official sources state that the change was made at the theatrical re-release of April 10, 1981. The retroactive addition of these subtitles was intended to bring the film into line with the introduction to its sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back", which was released in 1980 bearing the designation ""Episode V"". Lucas has claimed to have
Fritz Lang greatly underappreciated by "cinema historians and critics" who "deny him any genius when he 'signs' spy movies ... war movies ... or simple thrillers." Filmmakers that were influenced by his work include Jacques Rivette and William Friedkin. The Academy Film Archive has preserved a number of Fritz Lang's films, including "Human Desire", "Man Hunt", and "The Art Director". Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang (December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-German-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best-known "émigrés" from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness"