Human Desire

"A rarity on the screen … a RAW slice of life!"

1954 1h 31m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 150

CrimeDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in a sordid affair with a co-worker's wife following a murder on a train.

“A rarity on the screen … a RAW slice of life!”

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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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Fritz Lang
Writers: Alfred Hayes
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

72 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Fritz Lang, shot by Burnett Guffey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Daniele Amfitheatrof. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Aaron Stell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A rarity on the screen … a RAW slice of life!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0047101 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Fritz Lang directs. Burnett Guffey behind the camera. Daniele Amfitheatrof scores. Aaron Stell cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

172 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Fritz Lang, shot by Burnett Guffey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Daniele Amfitheatrof. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Aaron Stell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "A rarity on the screen … a RAW slice of life!".
7IMDB entry: tt0047101 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Original score: Daniele Amfitheatrof
Editing: Aaron Stell
Costume design: Jean Louis
Makeup / hair: Clay Campbell
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Human Desire (1954)

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Fritz Lang

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-04-09
★ 8/10
You never knew me. Human Desire is directed by Fritz Lang and adapted for the screen by Alfred Hayes from the story "The Human Beast" written by Émile Zola. It stars Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and Burnett Guffey is the cinematographer. The story had been filmed twice before, as Die Bestie im Menschen in 1920 and La Bête humaine in 1938. The plot revolves around a love triangle axis involving Jeff Warren (Ford), Vicki Buckley (Grahame) and Carl Buckley (Crawford). Crawford's Railroad Marshall gets fired and asks his wife, Viki, to sweet talk one of the yards main investors, John Owens (Grandon Rhodes), into pressuring his yard boss into giving him his job back. But there is a history there, and Carl is beset with jealousy when Viki is away for far too long. It's his jealousy that will start the downward spiral of events that will change their lives forever, with Jeff firmly in the middle of the storm. The Production Code of the time ensured that Fritz Lang's take on the Zola novel would be considerably toned down. Thus some of the sex and violence aspects in the narrative give way to suggestion or aftermath. However, for although it may not be in the top tier of Lang's works, it's still an involving and intriguing picture seeping with film noir attributes. It features a couple of wretched characters living a bleak existence, what hope there is is in short supply and pleasures are futile, stymied by jealousy and murder. Thrust in to the middle of such hopelessness is the bastion of good and pure honesty, Jeff Warren, fresh from serving his country in the Korean War. Lusted after by the sweet daughter of his friend and landlord (Kathleen Case and Edgar Buchanan respectively), Jeff, back in employment at the rail yard, has it all going for him. But as the title suggests, human beings are at times at the mercy of their desires, and it's here where Lang enjoys pitting his three main characters against their respective fates. All set to the backdrop of a cold rail yard and the trains that work out of that steely working class place (Guffey's photography in sync with desolation of location and the characters collision course of fate). Featuring two of the principal cast from The Big Heat (1953), it's a very well casted picture. Grahame is a revelation as the amoral wife stung by unfulfillment, sleazy yet sexy, Grahame makes Vicki both alluring and sympathetic. Lang had wanted Rita Hayworth for the role, but a child custody case prevented her from leaving the country (much of the film was shot in Canada), so in came Grahame and film noir got another classic femme fatale. Ford could play an everyman in his sleep, so this was an easy role for him to fill, but that's taking nothing away from the quality of his performance, because he's the cooling glue holding the film together. Crawford offers up another in his line of hulking brutes, with this one pitiful as he has anger issues take a hold, his original crime being only that he wants to desperately please his uncaring wife. Strong support comes from Buchanan, Case and Diane DeLaire. Adultery, jealousy, murder and passion dwells within Human Desire, a highly accomplished piece of film noir from the gifted Fritz Lang. 7.5/10
CinemaSerf2023-03-28
★ 7/10
"Jeff" (Glenn Ford) returns from the Korean War to the United States where he picks up where he left off at the railroad. His boss "Buckley" (Broderick Crawford) is the jealous sort and suspects that his wife "Vicki" (Gloria Grahame) is playing away with her former, and wealthy, boss. When she returns home one night, he confronts her and forces her to write a letter that will lure the man to an unused stateroom on a train - and, well... Thing is, "Jeff" is also on the train - and he manages to complicate their exit strategy. She sees a chance, now, to be rid of her brutish husband and sets about seducing her new friend and trying to manipulate him into finding a new use for an heavy spanner. Graham is on good form here as the duplicitous woman, and Crawford is also quite effective as the frequently whiskey-sodden husband. It's Ford that's a bit of a revelation for me, though. I always found him rather a bland actor. Like Alan Ladd, he never quite managed to ignite a role for me - yet here, he goes some way to delivering a convincing performance as the man gradually ensnared in the trap of a shrewd "Vicki". This also does not end as I was expecting - it's got a sense of validation that I rather enjoyed. It's quite well paced with a script notable more for it's brevity than for anything especially potent and the three actors work well to deliver a solid and watchable drama.