 The film features the talents of Curt Siodmak (story), Fred Zinnemann (cinematography) and Eugen Schüfftan, who had developed the Schüfftan process for three years earlier.The film is subtitled "a film without actors" and was filmed on Sundays in the summer of 1929.The actors were amateurs whose day jobs were those that they portrayed in the film—the opening titles inform the audience that these actors have all returned to their normal jobs by the time of the film's release in February 1930.