Woohoo, Fritz Lang and Graham Greene, together at last! Alas, neither one was happy with the output, which they could blame largely on writer-producer Seton I. Miller exercising too much creative control in his deviation from the novel. But the movie's still pretty esteemed, so I had to check it out.
At a British village fair, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) accidentally says a code phrase and comes into possession of a cake containing a MacGuffin. Someone tries to make off with it by violent force, but the chaos of war ensures that nobody has it anymore. Suspecting the alleged charity that gave him the cake, Neale hires a PI (Erskine Sanford) to help investigate. Organizer Willi Hilfe (Carl Esmond) and his sister Carla (Marjorie Reynolds) appear surprised at the possibility of a spy ring in their ranks and offer their own cooperation. Of course, this wouldn't be the first Lang picture or the first Greene picture to feature major secret Nazi infiltration, so our heroes may have bitten off more than they can chew. It doesn't help that Neale wants to avoid contact with the police, because he was only recently released from an asylum....
Showing posts with label fritz lang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fritz lang. Show all posts
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Spies (1928)
This was it: the last 1920s movie on my Netflix queue or list and thus probably the last silent. If it would become my last silent viewing ever, I was wise to choose one from a proven director, Fritz Lang.
Bank director Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) also leads a vast spy ring that meddles in international government affairs, seemingly just for the sake of wielding power. Knowing that one Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch, whose character name is never revealed) seeks to bring him down, he sends an agent of his own, Sonja (Gerda Maurus), to seduce and betray 326. The plan backfires when she falls for him for real. Of course, catching a mastermind still isn't easy....
Bank director Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) also leads a vast spy ring that meddles in international government affairs, seemingly just for the sake of wielding power. Knowing that one Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch, whose character name is never revealed) seeks to bring him down, he sends an agent of his own, Sonja (Gerda Maurus), to seduce and betray 326. The plan backfires when she falls for him for real. Of course, catching a mastermind still isn't easy....
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Woman in the Moon (1929)
One of the most esteemed Fritz Lang movies is Metropolis, a rare silent sci-fi classic. Unfortunately, he didn't stick with the genre much (the Dr. Mabuse series is better described as fantasy in my book), but his wife, Thea von Harbou, had another sf story in her. It would not be a longer version of Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon, because Lang prefers dark to fanciful.
IMDb says it runs 95 minutes, but that's only for the U.S. theater cut; the one I received runs 209 minutes. I suspect that the cut parts were mostly in the first half, before the journey to the moon even begins. That part is dominated by a question of who exactly will go. Old, largely discredited Professor Mannfeldt will, because it was his idea to search for gold in lunar mountains. Entrepreneur Helius, arguably the protagonist, is the first volunteer. His assistant and crush, Friede, won't brook his objections to her coming along, and her new fiance, fellow assistant Windegger, would hate to have them leave without him. Then there's Turner, a suave gangster (there's the Lang I know) who coerces his way into the mission so his gang can claim the gold. Only after launch do they learn of the sixth passenger, preteen stowaway Gustav, whose ideas of the moon and space come from magazines.
IMDb says it runs 95 minutes, but that's only for the U.S. theater cut; the one I received runs 209 minutes. I suspect that the cut parts were mostly in the first half, before the journey to the moon even begins. That part is dominated by a question of who exactly will go. Old, largely discredited Professor Mannfeldt will, because it was his idea to search for gold in lunar mountains. Entrepreneur Helius, arguably the protagonist, is the first volunteer. His assistant and crush, Friede, won't brook his objections to her coming along, and her new fiance, fellow assistant Windegger, would hate to have them leave without him. Then there's Turner, a suave gangster (there's the Lang I know) who coerces his way into the mission so his gang can claim the gold. Only after launch do they learn of the sixth passenger, preteen stowaway Gustav, whose ideas of the moon and space come from magazines.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Contempt (1963)
I'm a bit wary of entries from the British Film Institute's "Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time." More than half the time, I find them OK at best. But Jean-Luc Godard hadn't let me down with Breathless and Alphaville, so this seemed a sufficiently safe bet. Besides, I had never seen the legendary Brigitte Bardot on film before.
It's one of the most international films I've seen, set in Italy but having more lines in French, English, and maybe German. Philandering Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) wants to produce The Odyssey on the big screen, with the one and only Fritz Lang directing. The main focus is on reluctant screenwriter Paul (Michel Piccoli) and his wife, Camille (Bardot), who find something coming between them -- and it may make the difference in whether Paul stays with the project. The other major character is Giorgia Moll as talented translator Francesca.
It's one of the most international films I've seen, set in Italy but having more lines in French, English, and maybe German. Philandering Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) wants to produce The Odyssey on the big screen, with the one and only Fritz Lang directing. The main focus is on reluctant screenwriter Paul (Michel Piccoli) and his wife, Camille (Bardot), who find something coming between them -- and it may make the difference in whether Paul stays with the project. The other major character is Giorgia Moll as talented translator Francesca.
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