Glenn Ford returns from the Korean War to a seedy little hole in the wall town where the rail yards are the only source of income. He becomes entangled with Gloria Grahame, who is married to big jealous lunk Broderick Crawford. Grahame is the reputed town beauty, but then again there is only one bar in town and the only other unmarried girl is underaged Peggy Maley who burst into tears in every single scene. Ford exuded an unflappable calmness in many roles, but this works against him in Human Desire. I didn't buy that he was that kooky over Grahame. There's a lot of blabbedy blab but the action peters out pretty quickly. The weaving train tracks are mesmerizing, but I wouldn't identify Human Desire as the one film to have best used this setting. This seems to be such an uneven movie that I'm sure there's a good yarn or two behind its making.
The story is based on an Emile Zola story that was filmed initially in 1920 and then again in 1938 by Jean Renoir (as La Bete Humaine). Lang's Human Desire marked the second time he tackled a Renoir film (Scarlet Street being a remake of Renoir's La Chienne). Found on the Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Volume 2 box set.
I'm dreadfully sorry - SNIFF!- but I seem to be bawling again!
Can I leave you with a little video entitled Andy Rooney on Human Desire? I'm pretty sure he and Fritz Lang were on the same wavelength.
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