M (1931)

Peter Lorre pleads his case

M (1931), Director: Fritz Lang.

In Germany a series of young girls have been abducted and presumably murdered. The police. headed by Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke), are using all of their resources to track down this fiend, but can't zero in on him. Members of the underworld, represented by Schranker (Gustaf Grundgens), himself a murderer, gather together to try to deal with the fact that the search for the child-killer is drastically and negatively interfering with their own operations. The crooks determine to find the maniac themselves, and employ the beggars of the city to help them do so. A blind balloon seller who recalls a man whistling when one child goes missing is able to direct the thieves and cutthroats to one Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), and he is put on trial by the city's underworld. 

Determined to catch the killer: Otto Wernicke

Frankly, M, long considered a classic and a masterpiece (I never held with the latter opinion), does not hold up well. The movie is rather slow, often primitive -- with long stretches of silence (sometimes strikingly interrupted by noise) -- although there are certainly touches of mild cinematic virtuosity. The final section of the film, the underground trial, presents Beckert as mentally ill and unable to control himself, an attitude that would not be that well-received today. (Some people would rather shoot themselves than hurt a child, and why couldn't Beckert have sought help when he realized he had these impulses?) The sequence can also be taken as a plea against capital punishment, with three mothers at the very end saying "it won't bring our children back." Having the killer judged by criminals also enables the film to supposedly take a moral high road it doesn't deserve. At times M has a light touch that is at odds with the proceedings. Peter Lorre gives a very good performance, however. Lohmann apparently played the same role two years later in Lang's Testament of Dr. Mabuse. The prolific Fritz Lang directed everything from genuine masterpieces like Clash By Night and Scarlet Street to stinkers like Secret Beyond the Door ... There was an American remake of M twenty years later. 

Verdict: I don't care what some so-called film scholars say -- this is a bit dull all told. **, 

THE LOST ONE: A LIFE OF PETER LORRE

THE LOST ONE: A LIFE OF PETER LORRE. Stephen D. Youngkin. University Press of Kentucky; 2005.

It was to the eternal frustration of much-admired actor Peter Lorre that he was forever seen as some sort of "horror star," and never quite got the kind of roles that he wanted, and that would have lifted him into a more exalted category. Of course, nowadays most film enthusiasts who are familiar with Lorre's work in various genres have come to recognize his dramatic ability as his numerous fine performances certainly attest to. This lengthy, in-depth biography of the actor covers his life as a Jewish emigre from Austria to his move to the United States, details his coming to international attention thanks to his starring role in Fritz Lang's M, looks into his Hollywood career and the frustrations it engendered, and examines his private life, including his three marriages and serious, life-long drug addiction. Along the way he appeared in such notable films as the first version of Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, Mad Love, Crime and Punishment and Casablanca, starred in a series of Mr. Moto movies, and directed his one and only picture, the controversial Der verlorene ("The Lost One"). In his later years he appeared in everything from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, along with a Jerry Lewis film, The Patsy, and Roger Corman's The Raven and Tales of Terror. The Lost One is a solid bio, although I wish it was perhaps a bit more entertaining; the passages devoted to Lorre's relationship with Bertolt Brecht eventually become tedious and there are other dry stretches. The details of Lorre's divorce from his first wife, Celia Lovsky, with whom he remained close, are never quite made sufficiently clear. Otherwise, this is a good book on an important film figure.

Verdict: Possibly not the last word on Lorre, but he certainly deserves this exhaustive look at his life and career. ***. 

THE 1000 EYES OF DR. MABUSE

Wolfgang Preiss

THE 1000 EYES OF DR. MABUSE (aka Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse/1960. Director: Fritz Lang.

A series of murders and strange occurrences center around the Hotel Luxor. When a woman, Marion Menil (Dawn Addams of The Vault of Horror), stands out on a ledge threatening to jump, she is coaxed in by American millionaire scientist Henry Travers (Peter van Eyck of The Wages of Fear). As Travers tries to determine the reason for Marion's despair, Commissioner Kras (Gert Frobe) investigates the murder of a reporter who is shot while his car is stopped in traffic -- a murder that reminds Kras of a similar death that the late criminal Dr. Mabuse was responsible for (and which occurred in Lang's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.) Assisting Kras is the blind psychic Peter Cornelius, even as Marion is assisted by her physician, the striking Dr. Jordan (Wolfgang Preiss). Whoever is behind the goings-on has outfitted the Hotel Luxor with television monitors in each room, as well as two-way mirrors. A bomb in the Commissioner's phone nearly ends the case for him.  The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, Fritz Lang's final Mabuse film, is an absorbing thriller with lots of twists and turns and a satisfying wind-up. The performances are good, with Wolfgang Preiss [The Terror of Dr. Mabuse] being especially notable.

Verdict: Dr. Mabuse has denied that he had anything to do with the 2016 US presidential election. ***.

THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE

Rudolph Klein-Rogge

THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (1933). Director: Fritz Lang.

A disgraced cop named Hofmeister (Karl Meixner), who is still involved in criminal activity, desperately tries to get a message to his former employer, Commissioner Lohmann (Otto Wernicke). Hofmeister tries to tell Lohmann that the notorious Dr. Mabuse (Rudolph Klein-Rogge) is behind the latest crime wave. But Mabuse is now an elderly man who has been in an asylum for years -- Mabuse's hypnotic influence has taken over the mind of the institution's head, Dr. Baum (Oscar Beregi, Sr.)! As Lohmann tries to track down the new mastermind behind the scenes, one gang member, Tom Kent (Gustav Diessl) has a crisis of conscience, mostly to do with his beloved, Lilli (Wera Liessen). Tom and Lilli then find themselves trapped in a warehouse by "Mabuse," with a time bomb ticking away and water filling up the room -- the movie's best sequence. Fritz Lang had already made a long silent film about the German master criminal, Mabuse, and this was his follow-up for the sound era. The film has brief spurts of action and interest -- the murder of Dr. Kramm (Theodor Loos) when his auto stops at an intersection, for instance -- bu it's rather slow as well, and the Commissioner, although well-acted by Wernicke, borders on a buffoon. Mabuse in this is essentially an anarchist and terrorist whose main scheme is to set fire to a plant and unleash poisonous gases on the population. Lilli's reaction to the revelation of Tom's murderous past makes her seem like a sap! There are some flavorful supporting performances in this. Lang followed this up many years later with The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse. Made in 1933, Testament was not released in the US until nearly twenty years later. A remake made by others was alternately titled The Terror of Dr. Mabuse.

Verdict: So-so Mabuse with interesting moments. **1/2.

JOURNEY TO THE LOST CITY

JOURNEY TO THE LOST CITY (1960). Director: Fritz Lang.

Architect Harald Berger (Paul Christian) travels to Ishnapoor in India where he saves Princess Seetha (Debra Paget of The River's Edge) from a tiger. Naturally the two fall in love, a situation which does not sit well with the jealous Prince Chandra (Walter Reyer). Harald and Seetha go on the run, but Chandra sends his men after them into the desert. And Chandra himself is subject of a palace coup ... Journey to the Lost City was originally two German films that American- International stripped down to one movie, dubbed, and released in the U.S. Most people have seen only washed-out prints of the movie, which has some striking art direction. The most interesting scenes have to do with the underground tunnels and giant statues below the palace, where lepers are kept in horrible conditions in one chamber. There are whippings, people placed in a pit of tigers, and the like, but somehow this never gets very interesting. It's a shame that the voice of Paul Christian [The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms] has been dubbed, as it's much more flavorful than that of the anonymous actor who says his lines. Filmed in the province of Rajasdan, India. Lang's Clash By Night is vastly superior to this.

Verdict: Not really a journey nor a lost city, but it has some attractive settings. **.

HOUSE BY THE RIVER

HOUSE BY THE RIVER (1950). Director: Fritz Lang.

"You are a swine, Stephen."

Struggling writer Stephen Byrne (Louis Hayward) makes a pass at a pretty maid, Emily (Dorothy Patrick), and winds up accidentally killing her, then gets his lame, bookkeeper brother, John (Lee Bowman), to help him cover up the crime and put her body in the river beside his house. Meanwhile the mystery over the disappearing maid provides enough publicity for Stephen to capitalize on for his writing career, but his wife, Marjorie (Jane Wyatt), finds his new success a little ghoulish. Then Emily's body is found and one of the brothers is arrested .,.  With moody, beautiful photography from Edward Cronjager, a fine score by George Antheil, and a memorable lead performance by Hayward, House By the River is one of Lang's best pictures. Wyatt is quite good, Bowman also good [if not on Hayward's level], and we even get Ann Shoemaker as a friendly neighbor and Kathleen Freeman as a party guest. Jody Gilbert also scores as John's housekeeper, Flora. In the Lang canon, this falls somewhere between the awful Secret Beyond the Door ...  and the excellent Clash By Night.

Verdict: Brooding, well-done suspense film that just misses being a real classic. ***.

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956)

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956). Director: Fritz Lang.

After viewing an  execution in a prison, writer Tom Garrett (Dana Andrews) and newspaper publisher Austin Spencer (Sidney Blackmer) have a discussion in which the latter wonders if the dead man, convicted on purely circumstantial evidence, could have been innocent. While Spencer is very much opposed to the death penalty, Garrett is thinking more of what a great book it would make if the two of them conspired to make it look as if the latter were responsible for the unsolved murder of a show girl. The idea is to get the innocent Garrett convicted and then whip out photographs Spencer has taken of Garrett planting phony evidence. (It doesn't occur to either of them that by tampering with evidence and obstructing justice they would both be committing serious crimes.) The biggest problem is that the two men don't include Spencer's daughter Susan (Joan Fontaine), who is engaged to Garrett, in the loop. While the whole movie has to be taken with a grain of salt, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt moves at a brisk pace and is quite entertaining, offering a neat twist that most viewers won't see coming. Andrews' stoicism serves him well as Garrett, Blackmer is as good as usual, and Fontaine is simply outstanding in her strongly emotional scenes as Joan. Arthur Franz, Shepperd Strudwick, Barbara Nichols and Philip Bourneuf are also solid in supporting roles. Remade -- quite well -- in 2009.

 Verdict: Invigorating suspense film with neat finale. ***.

CLASH BY NIGHT

Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Douglas in a tense moment

CLASH BY NIGHT (1952). Director: Fritz Lang. Based on the play by Clifford Odets; screenplay by Alfred Hayes.

"Home is where you come when you run out of places."

"I'm tired of looking after men. I want to be looked after!"

"I guess it's terrible to get old and lonely. I guess that's what everyone's afraid of."

"You impress me as a man who needs a new suit of clothes or a new love affair, but he doesn't know which." 

Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to the fishing village where she was born to escape unhappy memories of her failure to find lasting love and success in New York. She begins dating fisherman Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas) but can't stand his insolent friend Earl (Robert Ryan) and at first fights her attraction to him. Mae eventually marries one of those men, and an unpleasant triangle situation develops. The basic plot may be nothing new, but this is based on a play by Clifford Odets and has a richness of character and detail that lifts it far above the usual marital infidelity drama. Stanwyck and Douglas are superb and Ryan gives one of his finest performances which calls on him to be both hard and pathetically vulnerable. J. Carroll Naish gives another of his exemplary performances as Jerry's uncle, and Silvio Minciotti also scores as his old papa. There's also very nice work from Keith Andes [introduced in the film] and Marilyn Monroe [in her pre-stardom days] as, respectively, Mae's somewhat disapproving brother and his rather independent girlfriend. The film is very well directed by Fritz Lang, and beautifully photographed by Nicholas Musuraca. The only negative thing about the movie is the phoney Hollywood happy ending forced on it by the production code.

Verdict: It's a shame this lovely, intense adult drama isn't better known. ***1/2.

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956). Director: Fritz Lang. 

A young man called "the lipstick killer" is stalking women in the city during a shake-up at a newspaper where several men hope to be named the new editor. Dana Andrews is a hot-shot reporter; Ida Lupino is Mildred, a columnist; Vincent Price is the neophyte publisher; Rhonda Fleming is his unloving wife, Dorothy; James Craig is Dorothy's handsome lover; and George Sanders is an executive with his eye on the prize. The interesting cast, a generally fast pace, and a couple of exciting scenes -- such as a chase in the subway -- may keep viewers from initially noticing that this would-be sprawling movie is kind of mediocre. There's a dumb attempt, typical of the period, to blame juvenile delinquency on comic books! 

Verdict: Busy but basically insubstantial. **1/2.

HUMAN DESIRE

HUMAN DESIRE (1954). Director: Fritz Lang. 

Vicki Buckley (Gloria Grahame) is married to the rather bestial and jealous Carl (Broderick Crawford) who forces her to accompany him when he plans to murder one of her alleged lovers. Into this unpleasant mix comes railroad engineer Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford), who falls for Vicki and whom she hopes will help her get out of the trap that her marriage has become. The opening with the train zooming along is excellent, and everything that follows certainly holds the attention, but a big problem with the picture is that it has no real climax. Brockerick is terrific; Ford gives one of his better performances; and Grahame has her moments as the femme fatale but she's uneven and never altogether convincing. Well-directed by Lang and beautifully photographed by Burnett Guffey. Despite her somewhat cold nature, it's hard not to see Vicki in part as a victim, but the film doesn't encourage the audience to feel much sympathy for her. Kathleen Case as the "good girl" in the story is just as sexy as the bad girl, if not more so. Her first appearance, filling out her sweater, makes you wonder why Warren even bothered with Vicki. Inspired by a novel by Emile Zola. 

Verdict: Compelling if imperfect. ***.