Fritz Lang is an iconic Hollywood director who was successful in the silent era and was able to transition and be successful into the “talkie” era. His work in Germany is what he is most known for, Metropolis (1927) and M (1931) but in 1934 he fled Nazi Germany, even after being offered to be the head of the German Cinema Institute and came to America where he signed a contract with MGM studios where his career flourished despite having a reputation for being difficult to work with. He’s a director that if you go to film school you will learn about, and you’ll either appreciate his films or find yourself falling asleep during them. Despite my appreciation for M and Metropolis, I have to admit I really never explored the filmmaker’s work beyond those films, so when the chance came to check out Human Desire, I was curious to see how it was.
Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford) is a Korean War vet who returns home, and the first thing he wants to do is get back to work as a railroad engineer. As he’s getting used to life back home, he’s living with his fellow engineer Alec Simmons (Edgar Buchanan) and his family. Immediately he is reunited with Alec’s daughter, Vera (Diane DeLaire) who apparently has always been infatuated with Jeff, though he always viewed her as a younger sibling … now that he’s back from the war, Vera seems more grown up as well as being more forward with her intentions, but Jeff seems to have other plans. Then there is Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) who works for the railroad and has a hotheaded temper; this temper of his gets him fired. This brings us to Vicki Buckley (Gloria Grahme), the young and beautiful wife of Carl who may be her husband’s only chance of salvaging his job. Though to get her husband’s job back it means talking to an old family friend, and despite himself, Carl can’t help but get jealous of what his wife may or may not be up to, and his temper once again gets the best of him, and this time it leads to murder on a train.
The setup for this film does take a while to get going, but it is needed to deliver on the tension that follows later in the story. For a good portion of the film we see Vicki as a woman who seems trapped in an unfortunate situation, and when she finds herself having drinks with Jeff we can understand why she seems to fall for him. As for Jeff, well, it’s frustrating that he has a woman like Vera who is throwing herself at him, but he seems to just want to ignore her and would rather spend his time with the married woman who seems to have so many red flags most would run away, but instead he stays. That seems to be the center theme of the film, how despite knowing what’s good for him, his “lust” or heart prefers Vicki. I’m really not a fan of Jeff till the third act of this film kicks in, and that’s right about the time when the audience may be questioning their feelings about Vicki. It’s the interesting character dynamics that really make this film work and make it a fun companion piece along with Strangers on a Train.
I love the use of the trains throughout this film; they are almost a character on their own that are always present whether on screen, in conversation, or heard in the background. The cast really delivers some great performances, but what stands out most is the film’s final act. It takes a simple noir setup to another level with a very satisfying conclusion.
