Regarded as one of the foremost exponents of cinematic expressionism in
the 1920's, Fritz Arno Wagner was trained at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in
Paris and began in the film industry working for Pathé Freres in 1910.
Within just two years, he was promoted to head Pathé's offices in
Vienna, and, subsequently, in Berlin. He briefly worked out of New York
in 1913, reporting for Pathé Weekly, then returned to Germany for
wartime service in the cavalry. After being invalided out, he
progressed from still photographer to 2nd Cameraman. By 1919, he had
advanced to full director of photography.
Wagner was noted for his moody, atmospheric lighting. He did
outstanding work for the directors
F.W. Murnau and
Georg Wilhelm Pabst, best
exemplified by his chilling, eerily-lit gothic masterpiece
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922),
with its shadows and distorted images (the jerky, unsettlingly
grotesque movements of Count Orlock -- as played by
Max Schreck -- have undoubtedly served to
inspire more recent examples of the genre, such as
Ring (2002)). Wagner photographed
Arthur Robison's hallucinatory thriller
of obsessive jealousy,
Schatten - Eine nächtliche Halluzination (1923),
in a similar vein, using mirrors and light effects to convey delusions
and subconscious desires. Wagner's career remained prolific during the
1930's. He worked on many more prestige films (to name but a few:
Pabst's Westfront 1918: Vier von der Infanterie (1930),
M: Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931),
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933),
Amphitryon (1935),
Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war (1937)),
but the quality of his output began to decline by the mid-1930's under
the artistic strictures imposed during the Nazi regime. Post-war, he
directed the newsreel "Welt im Bild" and largely confined himself to
work as cinematographer on mainstream popular entertainments for DEFA.
At age 63, Wagner died as the result of falling from a camera truck.
