The Human Desire (1954)

Director: Fritz Lang
Plot: 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 and murder.
Cast: Glenn Ford (Jeff), Gloria Grahame (Vicki) Broderick Crawford (Carl)

Based on the Zola novel and Renoir's 1938 film La Bête Humaine, this is a  cleaned-up and dulled down version for American audiences. The film lacks the style and emotional punch of Renoir's version. Its only 91 minutes - but seems longer. While Grahame does well with her "bad girl" part, Crawford can't play his character as anything more than a whiny, violent, unlikable slob. At his best playing blustery authority figures and crooks - any kind of nuance is beyond him. Nor does Ford do much better.  He does nothing to make his bland character more interesting. He's just a "Good Joe" who falls for Grahame and takes a walk on the wild side. Never did I sense that "Jeff" was getting in over his head or capable of an evil deed.




Summary: An Hollywoodized retelling of the Zola story, its unremarkable except for a good performance by Grahame. Watch the Renoir version instead.