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Poll

What's your favorite film by Fritz Lang?

Destiny
0 (0%)
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler
0 (0%)
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
0 (0%)
Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge
0 (0%)
Metropolis
14 (43.8%)
Spies
0 (0%)
Woman in the Moon
1 (3.1%)
M
10 (31.3%)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
0 (0%)
Liliom
0 (0%)
Fury
1 (3.1%)
You Only Live Once
0 (0%)
You and Me
0 (0%)
The Return of Frank James
0 (0%)
Western Union
0 (0%)
Man Hunt
0 (0%)
Moontide
0 (0%)
Hangmen Also Die!
0 (0%)
Ministry of Fear
0 (0%)
The Woman in the Window
0 (0%)
Scarlet Street
1 (3.1%)
Cloak and Dagger
0 (0%)
Secret Beyond the Door
0 (0%)
House by the River
0 (0%)
Rancho Notorious
0 (0%)
Clash by Night
0 (0%)
The Blue Gardenia
0 (0%)
The Big Heat
2 (6.3%)
Human Desire
1 (3.1%)
Moonfleet
0 (0%)
While the City Sleeps
0 (0%)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
0 (0%)
The Tiger of Bengal
0 (0%)
The Indian Tomb
0 (0%)
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
0 (0%)
haven't seen any
2 (6.3%)
don't like any
0 (0%)
other
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 31

Author Topic: Lang, Fritz  (Read 12421 times)

jascook

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #20 on: July 03, 2014, 01:55:11 AM »
Metropolis: 9/10
Scarlet Street: 8/10
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried: 8/10
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roujin

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #21 on: August 10, 2014, 11:23:21 AM »
Ministry of Fear (Fritz Lang, 1944)

Liked this a little less than the other more overt Nazi thrillers that Lang made, though the free-floating  atmosphere of unease and dread that Lang conjures up through angles and shot compositions is very well and good. Still, "Cake?!" is sorta hilariously awful and great at the same time.

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #22 on: August 25, 2014, 10:53:49 PM »

The Return of Frank James (1940)
"There ain't no right for us poor people than the end of a gun."

This sequel to Henry King's Jesse James plays so much like the 2nd half of one film I was surprised to learn the films have different directors and writers. In fact, the only major crossover besides the cast are Producer Darryl F. Zanuck and Cinematographer George Barnes (Rebecca). Both films look like an early attempt at color photography even though we're already a couple of years away from The Adventures of Robin Hood. The heavy shadows make the film look cheap in places, with some night shots clearly filmed in daylight alongside ones filmed after sunset, but it also give the film its own impressionistic effects. Like David Lynch's Inland Empire, there's a consistency to the low grade look and occasional shots that remind you you're safely in the hands of a visual artist.


This is a heavily fictionalized version of events, but what it loses out to The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford in term of realism, it mostly wins back as an entertaining western with lots of flavor. Performances favor the theatrical, but that's what makes them fun. Weakest of the cast (which includes Jackie Cooper, John Carradine, Donald Meek and Henry Fonda as Frank James) is Gene Tierney in her film debut. However, it's a very interesting performance when placed against her overall career. Here is Tierney at her most unrefined. Her voice is a bit whiny, her cheeks are fuller and her overall look is rather plain compared to the classy knockout she would play once Hollywood got a hold of her image.
RATING: * * * - Good
« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 12:25:07 AM by 1SO »

colonel_mexico

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #23 on: August 25, 2014, 11:00:00 PM »
Nice review 1SO have to add FRANK JAMES to my short must watch list.
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roujin

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #24 on: August 26, 2014, 10:56:28 AM »
1. You and Me (1938)
2. Fury (1936)
3. M (1931)
4. The Big Heat (1953)
5. The Return of Frank James (1940)
6. You Only Live Once (1937)
7. Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
8. Manhunt (1941)
9. Ministry of Fear (1944)

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #25 on: August 26, 2014, 11:34:22 AM »
Hasn't seen Metropolis or Scarlet Street.

smh.

MartinTeller

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #26 on: August 26, 2014, 01:06:17 PM »
You seem awfully concerned with what roujin has seen or not seen.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #27 on: August 26, 2014, 01:18:52 PM »
I just like ragging him because it's fun.

roujin

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #28 on: August 26, 2014, 01:19:08 PM »
Sam and I are inextricably linked.

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: Fritz Lang
« Reply #29 on: August 28, 2014, 07:39:51 PM »
RE-WATCH MARATHON


The Woman in the Window (1944)
"The flesh is still strong, but the spirit grows weaker by the hour."


REASON FOR RE-WATCH: I first watched The Woman in the Window back-to-back with Scarlet Street. Because of their similar casts, story points and endings they've been linked together in my mind ever since. Scroll up and you'll see two months ago I rewatched Scarlet Street. Hopefully now I can tell the two apart.


A key difference is I enjoyed Scarlet Street more the 2nd time around. The character interactions are sharper, more diabolical. The acting achieves dark comedy, which increases the danger when it comes along. Joan Bennett is too nice here. No private agenda. No secret reserve of cunning. Dan Duryea also never reaches weasel heights. He's smart and lets his brains lead him. Boring. I prefer when he behaves like he's pulling a con, but he has the truth on his side here. Robinson is excellent as always, and he's much more the lead here, whereas Scarlet Street features all three equally. (It's such a long time before Duryea enters the film, I started to doubt he was in it at all.)


There's something fresher about Scarlet Street that makes it a film I know I will watch again. This is more of a cautionary tale about straying to far into the night. It does a good job trying to get away with the perfect crime, only to show that no matter how much care you take, outside forces will always work against you many times over. Then there's that ending, which I remembered was coming but I do not like it one bit. Knowing it this time through there are moments where logic would be a question without the ending, but I would happily trade a little logic for something more solid at the climax.
RATING: * * *, a small downgrade from my original review

 

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