Fritz Lang, master of silent ci-fi, westerns, noirs

I must sing the praises of "Dr Mabuse - Der Spieler" (in English as The Gambler, Player, and so on). It is a far better film than Metropolis, with a better (if bizarre) plot and more memorable characters.

"You And Me" such a fun film. Totally panned (I think) on its release. One of my fave Langs. The mobster "types" almost right out of "M". And, yes, Sylvia Sidney at her most adorable.

yeah dr. mabuse is probably my favorite lang film, tied with spies.

3-pack of his silent "juvenilia":

http://blogs.artinfo.com/moviejournal/2012/11/06/fritz-lang-long-ago/

yeah dr. mabuse is probably my favorite lang film, tied with spies.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Tuesday, October 25, 2011 1:46 PM (2 years ago)

Forget it, Fritz, it's Metropolistown.

Wow, Scarlet Street is one weird ass movie. Robinson's fantastic, though.

Heh, I love that one.

Very good commentary track by Lang expert David Kalat on the Region 1 Kino DVD of Scarlet Street

Dan Dureya is SO creepy in SS

"Paint me, Chris."

Dan Duryea creepy in everything, including Allan Dwan Western I saw last year, can't remember if it was one Morbius was at too.

Silver Lode is the one I'm thinking of.

Love Robinson's paintings in SS, too - would be great if someone cld do a pataphysical-style recreation of them

http://wondersinthedark.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/scarletstreet.jpg

I realize that I made it sound like I was dissing the film in my original post. Rest assured, "one weird ass movie" is not a put down in my world. But I really was WTF'ing throughout most of the second half.

this week, reviewing silent FL:

http://notcoming.com/features/silentlang/

have you (or any ilxor) ever seen all of die nibelungen? i don't think i've ever sat through a silent film that long

Kevin J.B. and I saw Siegfried at the Austin Alamo Drafthouse about 5 years ago; haven't seen the rest.

Seen both, on successive weekends in Munich. Go.

TCM has Metropolis, Fury, Scarlet Street, The Blue Gardenia, Moonfleet and While the City Sleeps on Friday.

Found Ministry of Fear to be kind of a discount Hitchcock. Fun for a while, then less interesting as more of the plot was revealed. Not surprised to hear that Lang was unsatisfied with the ending, though I did laugh at the last line.

"I've never been thanked like this before!"

Been meaning to see Destiny and Die Nibelungen for years.

destiny and esp. die nibelungen are both incredible, though the latter requires a serious time investment. (totally worth it)

i have to admit to being generally underwhelmed by most of lang's wwII-era films. they all have some great things in them, but also some terrible things, and often they don't really follow through that well on an intriguing premise.

I've seen some amazing screenshots of Destiny but rarely see much talk of it. Glad to hear an enthusiastic recommendation of both.

i think the existing DVD of "destiny" kind of sucks, unfortunately, and may be a cut version. there's a blu-ray of "die nibelungen" that's stunning, though.

"Cut" as in censored or just a shorter version (because a lot of silent films have incomplete versions)?

Ministry of Fear is pretty non descript. I was excited to watch it when the uni library got a copy. Casting Ray Milland = the deal is off.

"Cut" as in censored or just a shorter version (because a lot of silent films have incomplete versions)?

i think maybe just missing parts of a fuller version that exists. i'm not sure.

xpost

oh, i like ray milland.

i think joan bennett's accent in "man hunt" may be the worst thing in any fritz lang movie (caveat: there's a few i haven't seen)

Ray Millbland more like

haha yes re Bennett's accent. I love her though, esp her perf in The Woman in the Window.

oh yeah, joan bennett is fantastic, just don't ask her to do a cockney accent.

ray milland is pretty great in the lost weekend, no? and in the man with x-ray eyes!

joan bennett got a man shot, what more do you want?

Ray Millbland more like
lol. Have you seen this excerpt from the Charles Brackett diaries?

March 18: . . . went on the set, to find distress: Ray Milland giving a dry, wooden performance (his usual performance to speak the truth)

i have to admit to being generally underwhelmed by most of lang's wwII-era films.

not Scarlet Street, surely.

I like Milland most of the time! You guys better stay clear of ilx superfan Virginia Plain.

I rewatched M this week, now knowing that FL did 20 takes of the hoods throwing Lorre down the stairs. Lang couldn't figure out why Lorre was cool to him in the Hollywood years.

I mean La Chienne > Scarlet Street, but closer than you'd think

Still have to read Lorre bio.

I guess I meant the war/spy thrillers. isn't scarlet street 1945... i think of it was post-war.

xpost

yeah, scarlet street nearly as good as la chienne. la chienne has two big points in its favor: michel simon, and the ending.

Is there anything Michel Simon isn't great in?

possibly, but i haven't seen it

apparently he was a really malevolent (and, naturally, extremely eccentric) dude

Mmm ... Scarlet Street > La Chienne

If only for that last minute.

Anyone have any defence of The Blue Gardenia? I found it to be an OK time-waster, but really nothing more.

I'm reading descriptions and trying to figure out if I saw it a couple of years ago or not. I'm about 80% sure I did--if so, the uncertainty indicates I had the same reaction.

Is that the one with creepy Raymond Burr? If so I liked it only for creepy Burr.

i don't think i've ever seen that one. moonfleet still my favorite american lang.

Angry Raymond Burr, Nat King Cole singing, some nice noir details. Isn't there a big set piece scene of the crime with broken glass or mirrors or nightmare logic or something? Only saw it the once, but seemed to be worth seeing again.

Raymond Burr's character here similar to the one Rear Window?

What's the general consensus on Fury? I found a few tasty Lang touches, but mostly this was exactly the kind of strident, heavy-handed "issue" movie that I generally hate. And that dissolve from the old women gossiping to a shot of the hens? Tacky!

I have the opposite response: powerful, marred by Expressionist imagery and pace. Tracy's best performance too.

i.e. a good and sometimes great film with blemishes

yeah crypto, c'mon

plus a good hen party gives me a laff

Well, the Oscars have ended.

Huge if true.

People watching Lang.

The thing that made fascism click for me as an ideology before and beyond a specific political formation was watching Metropolis. Brilliant propaganda film and all the more so because few people clock it as one, even today. I'm not even sure Lang did. Anyway, check it out.

— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) March 14, 2023

Not sure about this "few people clock it as one", everyone in the ILX Film Club seemed to.