Actress Brigitte Helm takes a break in her Maschinenmensch robot costume on the set of Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis.... Helm was just 19 years old when she starred in Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis,” one of the most ambitious films ever made. She played two roles: Maria, a kind-hearted young woman, and the Maschinenmensch, a robot built in her image. The famous suit was created by sculptor Walter Schulze-Mittendorff, using a plaster cast of Helm’s body. It was made from a new material called “plastic wood,” then sprayed with varnish and bronze powder to look like polished metal. It pinched and scratched her constantly, and crew members filed down the sharp edges, but it barely helped. At one point, Helm asked Lang why she had to wear the suit at all, since no one would ever know it was her inside. Lang reportedly replied, “I’d know.” Crew members sometimes slipped coins into gaps in her armor as a joke, and she used them to buy chocolate in the studio canteen. The film itself was a massive undertaking, with enormous sets, thousands of extras, and a budget that nearly bankrupted its studio. For decades, about a quarter of “Metropolis” was believed to be lost forever. Then, in 2008, a nearly complete copy was discovered in a film museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a restored version premiered in 2010. #archaeohistories