Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang was a German-Austrian 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" by the British Film Institute.
His most famous films include the groundbreaking Metropolis (the world's most expensive film at the time of its release), and M, made before he moved to the United States, which is considered a precursor to the film noir genre.