FRITZ LANG (in Hollywood)

Fury and You Only Live Once have Expressionist acting and script moments at odds with the fear and trembling that Lang imparts to, say, the lynching scenes in the former; but it's not too much to say that what I retain most is Sylvia Sidney's expressions of terror in both films.

The quiet moments between Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Douglas, and Stanwyck's exchanges with a terrifically unaffected Marilyn Monroe in Clash By Night are other highlights. I'm fondest, though, of The Woman in the Window, which has Edward G. Robinson's best performance (which is saying a lot) and a wrong-man scenario that Hitchcock might have envied.

while the city sleeps is late sleeper (lol)
really good ida lupino and dana andrews

I've only seen Clash by Night and The Big Heat. Clash by Night wins.

actually, moontide doesn't belong, his work on that was mostly cut out

Of what I've seen, Scarlet Street easily. Most want to see Ministry of Fear.

ministry of fear pretty solid with another great dan duryea villain turn

he used so many of my favorite actresses - sylvia sidney, gloria grahame, joan bennett, ida lupino
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/60/60_images/60grahamebig2shot.jpg

omigod and I didn't even mention The Big Heat! Lang mebbe had the best Hollywood career of the Continental emigres.

Probably 'The Big Heat', but 'You Only Live Once' was very cool. I've got several more of these, but not yet watched them. This is foolish.

Definitely Scarlet Street for how the outrageous story turns subtly disguise the typical Langian fate suck. And ooh boy, Dan Duryea played the scummiest of scumbags here!

But I do want to put a word in for a personal fave, You and Me, Lang's quasi-musical with a loopier and lighter touch than usual. Check it out.

you & me is really bizarre

I vote for Woman In The Window, despite the dodgy ending. Apart from the last five minutes, it's the perfect noir.

of the ones I've seen (12 I think), it's between Fury, Scarlet Street and The Big Heat.

Definitely The Big Heat, but The Blue Gardenia is good too and is gonna get zero votes unless I vote for it.

Lee Marvin en route to yr house w/ coffee pot

that pic of Fritz above makes him look like William F. Buckley, Jr.

anyone ever see American Guerrilla in the Philippines? that's the only one on the list that i have no interest in.

Blue Gardenia was lots of fun--Peter Lorre as evil nightclub owner in preposterously-huge-stairwelled nightclub.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

And they said the youth of today wouldn't turn out the vote.

Blue Gardenia was lots of fun--Peter Lorre as evil nightclub owner in preposterously-huge-stairwelled nightclub.

that's a decent ranking (tho Fury is upper-echelon)

I WAS thinking of 'Black Angel'. Damn. I know I've seen 'Gardenia' - [check IMDB to remind self] - ah, the Anne Baxter passes out, wakes up to a murdered man one. Yeah, that was quite good. My memory, obviously, is not.

For UK ILXers, Sky Arts 2 are kicking off a Lang season on Thursday, starting with Metropolis and an hour-long conversation with William Friedkin from the 70s. Hoping they mix up the German classics with the Hollywood work.

Sylvia Sidney is seriously sexy in 'You Only live Once'

is that Friedkin interview on a Criterion disc?

Human Desire released yesterday; got a copy at home.

Film Forum will show his American films for the next two weeks.

http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/the-other-fritz-lang-20110127

I am pissed that I have to miss Moonfleet.

posters

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/2864

I caught Scarlet Street / Woman in the Window the other weekend at the Film Forum. Great stuff, I can see why Scarlet Street topped this poll!

and it's not as great as the film it's a remake of!

http://amichelsimon.free.fr/images/ovale.jpg

Woman on the Window >>> Scarlet Street

Gosh, Stanwyck and Ryan in Clash By Night put Method actors to shame.

Just got done w/While The City Sleeps--freaking awesome.

Haha! Actually just watched "Fury" again. Was he the best at capturing the "look" of the underworld/criminals? Especially in his 30s flicks. Great movie.

Rancho Notorious...goddamn.

Got a copy of Ministry of Fear, given the Criterion treatment.

Saw the three featuring Joan Bennett recently, Man Hunt, The Woman in the Window, and Scarlet Street.

In Man Hunt it confused me why Walter Pidgeon as the British "Captain Alan Thorndike" did not have the appropriate accent - I was kind of expecting that to come up later as a plot point, but no, it was just that Pidgeon didn't bother with an accent. But then Joan Bennett did attempt a cockney accent...............

Watching Dan Duryea in the other two films led me to think Jon Lovitz modeled his pathological liar character "Tommy Flanagan" from SNL on Duryea's chiseler characters here. Same voice/inflection.

I thought it was a goof that Edward G. Robinson does a double take when he sees Duryea as a doorman at the end of Woman in the Window but imdb says it's "incorrectly regarded as a goof." I say the point's arguable.

Always love when Greenwich Village is portrayed in old films such as Scarlet Street as being full of painters and subterranean Italian restaurants. Were that it were like that today.

Ranking:

The Woman in the Window > Scarlet Street > Man Hunt

man, Scarlett Street is SO much better than Woman in the Window... twist ending is promising but given up too soon I think!

EGR just going monkeymode on Joan Bennett with the icepick in Scarlett Street is some of the most brutal and violent shit I've seen in any classic Hollywood film

I like SS but WITW is more realized. I haven't seen either in years, though.

4K Big Heat? Can't complain:

https://www.criterion.com/films/29681-the-big-heat

You're frisky today.

And why not!