I too saw Metropolis at the DIA Film Theatre many years ago. The rock group Queen made one of their music videos back in the 1980s using a lot of footage from Metropolis in "Radio Ga Ga"....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUr1pSWTVI

One of the inspirations for making this silent classic was when Fritz Lang arrived in New York City in the 1920s, marveling at the skyscrapers from an ocean liner.

Sadly Germany was becoming Europe's premier film producer in the 20s... only to have the eventual diaspora to Hollywood by many of its' actors and film industry people during the rise of the National Socialists in 1933. The German film industry to this day has never fully recovered.