5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Adultery, Jealousy, Murdur, & the Perils of Train Travel !, August 16, 2009
ATTENTION film purists: Please don't tell me this is not as good as Jean Renoir's 1938 La Bete Humaine starring Jean Gabin and Simone Simon. Let's agree to accept that as a given.
However, looking at Fritz Lang's Human Desire from 1954 on its own merits, I think the film is well directed, perfectly cast, well paced and entertaining. It stands up even in the jaded 21st century.
Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford deliver the goods with strong although admittedly one dimensional performances. However, Gloria Grahame [Hollywood's queen of the tramps]steals the show with a carefully nuanced depiction of the bad girl trapped in a bad marriage with an abusive and menacing guy. She needs to be strong yet vulnerable; repellingly slutty yet attractively sensitive; despicable yet sympathetic. She is walking a dramtic tightrope for 90 minutes and she pulls it off!
I enjoyed the ride and the film improves with repeated viewings. I recommend it as a must see for film noir aficionados.
Noir Fan
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Human Desire (1954) ... Ford/Grahame/Crawford/Buchanan ... Fritz lang (Director) (1996)", October 30, 2011
Columbia Pictures presents "HUMAN DESIRE" (1954) ~ (91 min/B&W) ~~ Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan & Kathleen Case
Directed by Fritz Lang
Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) needs the intervention of his beautiful wife Vicki (Gloria Grahame) to keep his job, so Vicki meets with Carl's boss Owens (Grandon Rhodes), and Carl's job is secure. Insanely jealous, Carl finds Vicki with Owens on board a train and kills Owens. Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford) just back from Korea and now a train engineer protects Vicki and they begin an affair - all the more complicating the situation and leading to disastrous developments
Lang & Ford had previously combined for The Big Heat (1953) ~ Check out my review on Amazon ~
The Big Heat* Special footnote: ~~ Gloria Grahame's part was originally intended for Rita Hayworth ~~ Fritz Lang had desperately wanted Peter Lorre to play Jeff Warren, but Lang had treated Lorre so abusively during the making of M that the actor refused.
** The cast, direction and film is very good, but the Goodtimes video picture and sound is low quality...but still watchable!
BIOS:
1. Fritz Lang [Director]
Date of Birth: 5 December 1890 - Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
Date of Death: 2 August 1976 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Glenn Ford (aka: Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford)
Date of Birth: 1 May 1916 - Sainte-Christine, Quebec, Canada
Date of Death: 30 August 2006 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California
3. Gloria Grahame [aka: Gloria Hallward]
Date of Birth: 28 November 1923 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 5 October 1981 - New York City, New York
4. Broderick Crawford
Date of Birth: 9 December 1911 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 26 April 1986 - Rancho Mirage, California
5. Edgar Buchanan
Date of Birth: 20 March 1903 - Humansville, Missouri
Date of Death: 4 April 1979 - Palm Desert, California
6. Kathleen Case [aka: Catherine Walker]
Date of Birth: 31 July 1933 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 22 July 1979 - North Hollywood, California
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 3 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 91 min on VHS ~ Columbia Pictures ~ (December 18, 1996)
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