HUMAN DESIRE (Masters of Cinema) Dual Format

Great Performances From All The Cast.This Film Deals With The Lowest Human Emotions And Is A Must See; Gripping.

Human Desire is directed by Fritz Lang and adapted for the screen by Alfred Hayes from the story "The Human Beast" written by Émile Zola. It stars Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and Burnett Guffey is the cinematographer. The story had been filmed twice before, as Die Bestie im Menschen in 1920 and La Bête humaine in 1938.The plot revolves around a love triangle axis involving Jeff Warren (Ford), Vicki Buckley (Grahame) and Carl Buckley (Crawford). Crawford's Railroad Marshall gets fired and asks his wife, Viki, to sweet talk one of the yards main investors, John Owens (Grandon Rhodes), into pressuring his yard boss into giving him his job back. But there is a history there, and Carl is beset with jealousy when Viki is away for far too long. It's his jealousy that will start the downward spiral of events that will change their lives forever, with Jeff firmly in the middle of the storm.The Production Code of the time ensured that Fritz Lang's take on the Zola novel would be considerably toned down. Thus some of the sex and violence aspects in the narrative give way to suggestion or aftermath. However, for although it may not be in the top tier of Lang's works, it's still an involving and intriguing picture seeping with film noir attributes. It features a couple of wretched characters living a bleak existence, what hope there is is in short supply and pleasures are futile, stymied by jealousy and murder. Thrust in to the middle of such hopelessness is the bastion of good and pure honesty, Jeff Warren, fresh from serving his country in the Korean War. Lusted after by the sweet daughter of his friend and landlord (Kathleen Case and Edgar Buchanan respectively), Jeff, back in employment at the rail yard, has it all going for him. But as the title suggests, human beings are at times at the mercy of their desires, and it's here where Lang enjoys pitting his three main characters against their respective fates. All set to the backdrop of a cold rail yard and the trains that work out of that steely working class place (Guffey's photography in sync with desolation of location and the characters collision course of fate).Featuring two of the principal cast from The Big Heat (1953), it's a very well casted picture. Grahame is a revelation as the amoral wife stung by unfulfillment, sleazy yet sexy, Grahame makes Vicki both alluring and sympathetic. Lang had wanted Rita Hayworth for the role, but a child custody case prevented her from leaving the country (much of the film was shot in Canada), so in came Grahame and film noir got another classic femme fatale. Ford could play an everyman in his sleep, so this was an easy role for him to fill, but that's taking nothing away from the quality of his performance, because he's the cooling glue holding the film together. Crawford offers up another in his line of hulking brutes, with this one pitiful as he has anger issues that take a hold, his original crime being only that he wants to desperately please his uncaring wife. Strong support comes from Buchanan, Case and Diane DeLaire.Adultery, jealousy, murder and passion dwells within Human Desire, a highly accomplished piece of film noir from the gifted Fritz Lang. 7.5/10

Absolutely love this film I know a lot of people think it's the poor cousin of say The Big Heat but I love the story the doomed noir triangle and Gloria Grahame is on top form.

This is an excellent noir movie, with Ford playing one of onnly a handful of anti-hero roles in his career (normally he played the hero, with only light shades of "character gray" showing now and then). The ending is perfect, and the scenes shot from the trains are spectactular.

Hothead older man ( Crawford) is married to younger woman ( Grahame) in a loveless marriage.Lots of train action as Crawfords character knifes a man Grahames having an affair with....enter Glen Ford who falls for Grahame !Always find Fritz Langs directiin interesting.Critic Tony Rayns explains how the film came about in the extras.

Everything was perfect. Any movie with the magnificent GLORIA GRAHAME is terrific.

Fritz Lang made a string of marvellous films from the thirties to the sixties, some of them as good or better than any films of the era, for example The Big Heat, The Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, and here is a torrid tale of lust, murder, jealousy, deception and, naturally, desire.The above Amazon synopsis tells you all you need to know concerning plot.Gloria Grahame has one of her best roles, as the frustrated, abused wife of jealous hunk Broderick Crawford {superb}, and casual love interest of an easygoing good-looking guy fresh from the war, played by Glenn Ford at his most dangerously genial. What a very underrated actor he was and is. He makes it look so easy, but there were few film actors of his day so unfussy, self-deprecating, and truthful, or so intriguing. He plays second fiddle to Gloria G some of the time {they’d already co-starred in the classic The Big Heat a year earlier, and were enjoying an affair while shooting this} but their scenes together are pretty incendiary, and GG could play the impishly flirty femme fatale like few other actresses.The location shots of trains, rail yards, and long stretches of tracks are evocatively filmed, and Lang conjures up the spirit of the story’s original author Emile Zola.Not quite the best of Lang, but even on a lower flame he’s one of the most watchable directors of the twentieth century.

Excellent Glenn Ford is superb in this movies.

Arrived on time

This DVD plays fine on the DVD player I have attached to my television. I have a new Dell PC with a Blu-Ray DVD player and I installed the Lewwo software to run the hardware. It works fine except for DVDs like this one that have several features like the commentary audio over the entire movie.The software on the PC does not display the menu to select with feature I want to view. It automatically begins to play the movie with commentary and not the original version. Anyone else had this problem?

ambientazione ferroviaria insolita e protagonisti perfetti. buon dvd consegnato nei termini.

First, like other reviewers, I initially had difficulty playing this on a U.S. blu ray player. Initially it displays a menu stating that it cannot be played in your region. But another reviewer mentioned getting past that screen by pressing the menu button, and I found that this workaround also worked for me. Once we could watch it, it turned out to be a decent but not top-tier thriller. Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Broderick Crawford are all good in their roles. However, the story really wimps out at the end. It made me wonder if they had to change the ending. As Fritz Lang thrillers go, I'd rate it well below his classics like Scarlet Street and The Woman in the Window. Side note: As another reviewer noted, there's a lot of footage of trains in here, so if you're into trains, that will be a plus.

I have loved this Fritz Lang film since the first time I saw it. Gloria Grahame with Glenn Ford, every bit as excellent as the Big Heat in its own way. Much darker in tone. When I ordered it there was no disclaimer posted by Amazon that it was Blu Ray B and DVD region 2. My player is not region free so it showed an error screen when first inserted. A minute later I was able to pull up a menu and enjoy the blu-ray. Weird. Nice surprise.