The audience meets some wretched characters on the railroad in this adaptation of the Emile Zola novel, The Human Beast. A French picturization of the work was done earlier with heavy accent on psychological study of an alcohol-crazed killer. Fritz Lang, director, goes overboard in his effort to create mood. Long focusing on locomotive speeding and twisting on the rails is neither entertaining nor essential to the plot. At the outset the screenplay provides much conversation about the fact that Glenn Ford, who's back on the job as an engineer, had been fighting the war in Korea. There's not much point to this, considering that Ford's background has little bearing on the yarn. Broderick Crawford, Gloria Grahame and Ford make a brooding, sordid triangle, hopelessly involved. Crawford is utterly frustrated in his effort to please his wife (Grahame) and stay on an even keel with his heartless boss. Grahame is a miserable character, alternately denying and admitting she has given herself to other men. Ford dates Grahame and toys with the idea of murdering her husband. 3 STARS OUT OF 5 - Not vintage Lang but still watchable human desire dvds | videos al pacino | michelle pfeiffer yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider the godfather | the godfather part ii marlon brando | james caan | diane keaton | al pacino laurence olivier | clark gable | vivien leigh | leslie howard | alfred hitchcock | robert montgomery | grace kelly olivia de havilland | humphrey bogart | howard hawks | frank capra | charlie chaplin | lauren bacall | fritz lang jean harlow | greta garbo | ava gardner | audrey hepburn | edward g. robinson | john garfield erich von stroheim | wim wenders | madeleine carroll | marlene dietrich | rita hayworth fritz lang dvds fritz lang videos human desire dvds | videos al pacino | michelle pfeiffer yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider the godfather | the godfather part ii marlon brando | james caan | diane keaton | al pacino laurence olivier | clark gable | vivien leigh | leslie howard | alfred hitchcock | robert montgomery | grace kelly olivia de havilland | humphrey bogart | howard hawks | frank capra | charlie chaplin | lauren bacall | fritz lang jean harlow | greta garbo | ava gardner | audrey hepburn | edward g. robinson | john garfield erich von stroheim | wim wenders | madeleine carroll | marlene dietrich | rita hayworth Page created by: lenin@netcomuk.co.uk Changes last made: 2004