Directed by:
Fritz LangScreenplay:
Alfred HayesCinematography:
Burnett GuffeyComposer:
Daniele AmfitheatrofCast:
Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan, Peggy Maley, Kathleen Case, Diane DeLaire, Dan Seymour, Carl Lee, Paul Brinegar, Don C. Harvey (more)Plots(1)
Adapted from the same Emile Zola novel previously filmed by Jean Renoir in La Bete Humaine, Lang’s gripping thriller has Glenn Ford as train engineer Jeff, just home from the Korean War. He’s instantly attracted to passenger Vicki (Gloria Grahame), not yet realizing that she’s the abused wife of Jeff’s alcoholic railroad yard superior Carl (Broderick Crawford) - or that Vicki was just entangled in a jealousy-fueled murder committed by Carl. As Jeff and Vicki embark on a steamy affair, she tells him about the crime, and Carl’s blackmail hold on her. If only Carl could be taken out of the picture. The only thing that’s not pitch black in this noir are the ethical shades of gray inhabited by all its characters. Yet its placid small town setting also offers a unique perspective on the genre, with Lang uncovering sinister secrets on these quiet streets that could rival any big city immorality. (Eureka Entertainment)
(more)Cast
Glenn Ford
Canada
Best movies:
The Sacketts (1979) (TV movie)
Gilda (1946)
Texas (1941)
Gloria Grahame
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Sudden Fear (1952)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Broderick Crawford
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Beau Geste (1939)
Scandal Sheet (1952)
Edgar Buchanan
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Peggy Maley
USA
Best movies:
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
The Harvey Girls (1946)
Kathleen Case
USA
Best movies:
Human Desire (1954)
Diane DeLaire
Best movies:
Human Desire (1954)
The Long Gray Line (1955)
The Damned Don't Cry (1950)
Dan Seymour
USA
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
Johnny Belinda (1948)
Carl Lee
USA
Best movies:
The Connection (1961)
Human Desire (1954)
The Landlord (1970)
Paul Brinegar
USA
Best movies:
Maverick (1994)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Storm Warning (1951)
Don C. Harvey
USA
Best movies:
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
Human Desire (1954)
Pushover (1954)
Hal Taggart
USA
Best movies:
The Graduate (1967)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
John Pickard
USA
Best movies:
White Heat (1949)
How the West Was Won (1976) (series)
Cimarron (1960)
John Zaremba
USA
Best movies:
The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Columbo (1971) (series)
Human Desire (1954)
John Maxwell
USA
Best movies:
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
One Man Mutiny (1955)
Grandon Rhodes
USA
Best movies:
Song of Love (1947)
White Heat (1949)
Storm Warning (1951)
Dan Riss
USA
Best movies:
Only the Valiant (1951)
Human Desire (1954)
The Enforcer (1951)
Olan Soule
USA
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Jean Engstrom
USA
Best movies:
A Star is Born (1954)
Human Desire (1954)
The Space Children (1958)