Human Desire (1954)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Émile Zola (novel) and
Alfred Hayes (writer)

Release Date:

5 August 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

She was born to be bad...to be kissed...to make trouble!

Plot:

Engineer Jeff, returning from Korea, falls in Love with his co-worker Carl's wife Vicky, who both commited a murder...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Foreign Language Adaptation | Railroad | Based On Novel

Cast

Glenn Ford	...	Jeff Warren
Gloria Grahame	...	Vicki Buckley
Broderick Crawford	...	Carl Buckley
Edgar Buchanan	...	Alec Simmons
Kathleen Case	...	Ellen Simmons
Peggy Maley	...	Jean
Diane DeLaire	...	Vera Simmons
Grandon Rhodes	...	John Owens

Also Known As:

The Human Beast (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:X (1954) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | USA:Approved (PCA #16878, Adult Audience) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Fritz Lang had desperately wanted Peter Lorre to play Jeff Warren, but Lang had treated Lorre so abusively during the making of M (1931) that the actor refused.

Quotes:

Ellen Simmons: What would you men do if there were no women around to sew your buttons on ?
Alec Simmons: Without women we wouldn't need any buttons !

Movie Connections:

Version of La bestia humana (1957)

desire trumps reality

Broderick Crawford and Gloria Grahme make an interesting couple as the two of them unravel in yet another boozy black and white (but mostly drab grey) plot of murder, betrayal, and blackmail, this time on a train as well as in a railroad yard, with Glenn Ford in the middle, coming back to his job as an engineer after fighting in the Korean War. It makes for a cozy and claustrophobic setting. While the lines that they say seem a bit unconvincing, their situations and personalities are what make this a memorable film. Crawford is especially impressive as a hulking railroad office employee with a vicious temper and jealousy for his younger wife. The plot has some inescapable holes in it, but the drama and tension build fairly well, first because of his tortuous marriage with Grahme which seems to go with the film's title, as the marriage is a sham that represents another unattainable desire for him. He carries the part off all the way to end.