Dreadfully Boring

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Fritz Lang's Human Desire is well worth the watch for any fan of film noir, as it is truly competent in that respect. Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame are back together following the superbly good The Big Heat a year earlier, although this time the result isn't nearly as interesting. Grahame as the femme fatale is the high point of this movie for me, Glenn Ford certainly doesn't disappoint, and although I was never a big fan of Broderick Crawford, his performance here is apt.These back-to-back movies starring Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame remind me of Lang's earlier works, The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street, both starring the wonderful Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett in some of the finest film noirs out there.Thinking of that connection, I can't help but compare the ending of The Woman in the Window to the ending of Human Desire. The former's ending left me flabbergasted; I won't spoil it, but it made my jaw drop. Some would say it was a terrible ending, but I don't think so when considering the limitations of the Hays code back then. In that context, I feel like the ending of The Woman in the Window was the best choice Lang could have made to avoid compromising the story.The ending of Human Desire, however, is utterly disappointing. It can hardly be said to be an ending at all, as it feels more like the result of the production running out of money, time or creativity than anything else. What's even stranger is how this ending ties in with the Hays code limitations considered earlier. Granted, this is much later than The Woman in the Window, but unless I'm mistaken, the film still fell under the code's scrutiny; from what I read, the nail in the coffin only came in 1959 with films like Some Like It Hot. Suffice to say, the bad guy gets away with it in this one, although this doesn't feel remotely satisfying or interesting, more like an afterthought.Regardless of the poor ending, Human Desire is still well worth the watch and is a fine example of later film noir.

Producers: Lewis J. Rachmil, Jerry Wald. Copyright 17 August 1954 by Columbia Pictures Corporation. New York opening at the Palace (as a support to a vaudeville bill of eight acts): 6 August 1954. U.S. release: 1 September 1954. Australian release: 15 October 1954. Sydney opening at the Victory. 10 reels. 91 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A violently jealous railroad executive murders one of his wife's former lovers. (Don't worry, this only the beginning of the story). NOTES: A re-make of Jean Renoir's La Bete Humaine (1938). Second of only eight films (made between 1950 and 1957) for Diane DeLaire. Locations filmed on Rock Island Railroad lines, Oklahoma. Shooting for 35 days, completed January 25, 1954.COMMENT: In the hands of an uninspired scriptwriter, an oddly indifferent director (Fritz Lang) and solidly unimpressive principals, this re-make signally fails to impress. It's impossible to believe that any hero, even a glumly non-personable Glenn Ford, would throw aside a delectable dish like Diane DeLaire for a tawdry, shallow Gloria Grahame. Nor is it possible to credit that Miss Grahame would even consider marrying a no-hoper thug like Broderick Crawford. As a result, all the relationships on which the drama depends don't convince in the slightest. What's even worse, the pace is not only inveterately slow and plodding but all the action occurs off-camera! Any prospect that director Lang might compensate for these defects by at least providing viewers with the feel and atmosphere of railroading, is also quickly dashed. The action might just as well have taken place on a steamer or large airliner. Production values, despite a bit of actuality filming, emerge as extremely moderate. Even the support players have little to contribute. Edgar Buchanan has a small role as the hero's buddy, but drops out of the action altogether for most of the running time.

First billing on Human Desire goes to Glenn Ford, but he's somewhat eclipsed by Gloria Grahame. Grahame as Vicky Buckley is a cross between a femme fa tale and a bullied and oppressed wife. While not a classic beauty she exudes a kind of striking combination of a sultry sexuality and a "girl next door" with a babyish voice to further complicate the juxtaposition. She most definitely can play the role she's given here standing toe-to-toe with both Ford and Broderick Crawford as her husband Carl. Vicky is at once damaged, devious, and extremely manipulative and Grahame delivers it in spades. Human Desire is a combination of film noir and a romantic drama. Named quite correctly the movie shows how certain innate desires can trip up otherwise solid people. Without haste the marriage between Carl and Vicky becomes a loveless match of wills. Even though Carl suspects Vicky of having an affair with the older wealthy John Owens he forces Vicky to meet him and ask for his influence in getting back the job Carl lost. This sets up Carl's rage when he once more accuses Vicky of a tryst with Owens as she was simply gone too long.In a jealous calculated murder plot Carl gets the upper hand on his wife with a note in order to lure Owens into a trap. It's implied he knows he is going to kill Owens while holding the letter framing Vicky. Carl will, thus, prevent Vicky from leaving for fear of being implicated in the murder.. But, instead of controlling his wife Carl is losing her to returning veteran and railroad engineer Jeff Warren played by Glenn Ford. Warren becomes intertwined in the whole mess by a kiss with Vicky Buckley prior to knowing who and what she is. Before he can figure out he is getting played, Warren decides to testify in an inquiry that he couldn't identify the passenger (Vicky) he may have witnessed, possibly involved in the murder of John Owens. Now, Jeff Warren is in deep being blinded by his budding love (i.e. lust) for Vicky, much to her design. Things get messier before Warren gets his own personal reality check as he truly contemplates murdering Carl Buckley to both save Vicky and have her for his wife. This plays out quite well as the love triangle of Carl, Vicky, and Jeff Warren comes to a critical mass. There's a good twist at the end when at least Vicky, who loses Warren, thinks she's, at least, free of Carl.While no classic, this is a solid movie with good elements of film noir and romantic drama. Director Fritz Lang may have been slumming just a little, though Grahame's performance stands tall. Ford is realistic as the otherwise "nice-guy" who gets snowed. Broderick, typically wooden, brings that unsympathetic bully quality needed for the dark matter to spring forth from. These three get nice support from Warren's fatherly co-worker Alec, played by the crusty character actor Edgar Buchanan (uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction fame) and his overly sweet and beautiful daughter Ellen played by Kathleen Case (Jeff's potential other love interest).This isn't a classic movie due to several factors such as less than stellar dialog and, perhaps, general lack of imagination. But, it is a quite strong film due to the strength of Grahame as Vicky Buckley in playing out of that age old story of a love triangle with a murder in the middle As such is gets a definite recommendation.

Fritz Lang's "Human Desire" is based on Emile Zola's novel "La Bete Humaine" which had previously been made into a movie directed by Jean Renoir in 1938. For Lang's version, the time frame was changed to the 1950s, the action was relocated to the United States and some modifications were made to satisfy the requirements of studio bosses and the production code. What remains however, is still a very powerful and grim tale about a couple who are driven by their most base instincts into acts of deceit, blackmail, adultery and murder. These people are not only unencumbered by any type of moral code but also, by their actions, have a corrupting effect on a more passive character who is also a mutual acquaintance.Railroad official Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) is fired from his job for insubordination and begs his wife Vicki (Gloria Grahame) to approach her mother's former employer, the influential John Owens (Grandon Rhodes), to get him to persuade Carl's ex-employer to change his mind and re-employ him. After Vicki completes her mission quickly and successfully, Carl becomes suspicious about the method she'd used to induce Owens to cooperate so readily and in a fit of jealousy and rage beats her and forces her to write a letter to Owens. The letter is an invitation for Owens to meet Vicki on a train at an arranged time on the following day.Owens and Vicki meet as arranged but Carl who'd accompanied Vicki uses his knife to kill Owens and removes Vicki's letter from his victim's pocket and steals his money to make it appear that the murder was connected with a robbery. Railroad engineer Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford) is standing in the train corridor when the couple want to leave Owens' compartment and so Carl tells Vicki to encourage Jeff away from the area which she duly does. Jeff and Vicki go into another compartment and talk but when he kisses her, she runs away.At the inquest into Owens' death, Jeff doesn't admit that he'd seen Vicki near the crime scene and when he sees her next, she tells him a fabricated version of what happened on the train and also about her husband's abusive behaviour towards her. She shows Jeff some of her bruises and shortly after they embark on an affair.Some time later, Vicki tells Jeff the truth about the murder, the incriminating content of her letter to Owens and the fact that Carl had kept the letter to ensure her future cooperation. However, when Carl gets fired from his job for the second time, Vicki says that she's terrified about his reaction if he discovers the truth about her affair and tries to persuade Jeff to murder her husband. What Jeff ultimately does has a critical effect on both their futures.Carl's volatile nature had been the original cause of him losing his job and his subsequent irrational outbursts of violence and jealousy then led him into wife beating, blackmail and murder and his drunkenness and apparent lack of remorse made his relationship with Vicki even more toxic. Broderick Crawford is impressively powerful and menacing as the brutish Carl whose actions are determined by the destructive force of his unbridled passions.Vicki is a victim of Carl's behaviour but is also manipulative, mendacious and totally unscrupulous. Gloria Grahame captures perfectly her character's devious nature and changing moods as well as her unashamed willingness to be involved in a plan to murder her husband.Jeff had returned from military service in Korea and in the movie's earliest scenes shows the natural type of contentment he enjoys as a passive man whose aspirations are modest. Glenn Ford then shows as the action continues, how Jeff's demeanour alters as he becomes morally compromised enough to withhold information from the murder inquest before getting involved in an affair with the untrustworthy Vicki and then taking part in a plot to kill her husband."Human Desire" is ultimately an engaging and sordid story about people who act without reason, logic or compassion and in the process, corrupt or inflict misery on, those with whom they come into contact.