#649: LANG, Fritz: Ministry Of Fear (1944)
LANG, Fritz (United States)
The Booklet
Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Glenn Kenny. Sort of an apology to the apologists. Look folks, this is no masterpiece — especially considering some of Lang’s other works.
Commentary
None, unfortunately.
Video interview
Ministry Of Fear [1944]
Spine #649
Blu-ray
Blu-ray
Suffused with dread and paranoia, Fritz Lang's adaptation of Graham Greene's novel is a plunge into the eerie shadows of a world turned upside down by war. On his way to London after being released from a mental asylum, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) stops at a seemingly innocent village fair, after which he finds himself caught in the web of a sinister, possibly Nazi-connected underworld. Lang was among the most illustrious of the European émigré filmmakers working in Hollywood during World War II, and Ministry of Fear is one of his finest American productions, an unpredictable thriller with style to spare.
87 minutes
Black & White
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2013
Director/Writer
Based on the novel by Graham Greene.
Screenplay by Seton I. Miller.
Fritz Lang was 54 when he directed Ministry of Fear.
Like many émigrés from 1930’s Germany, Fritz Lang’s long career is somewhat bifurcated; his early silent films (Die Nibelungen [1924], Metropolis [1927] and Woman in the Moon [1929]) come from a time of great cinematic experimentation — German Expressionism.
In 1931, he directed his first talkie M, considered a masterpiece of early sound cinema.
In 1936, Lang moved to the United States. He made dozens of films in Hollywood, including a few classic noirs: Fury (1936), Scarlet Street (1945), and The Big Heat (1953).
Graham Greene wrote the novel in 1943. The film is pretty faithful to the book. Seton I. Miller was the screenwriter.
Other Lang films in the Collection:
#30: M (1931)
#231: The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Other Lang films in the Collection:
#30: M (1931)
#231: The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
The Film
Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) has just been released from an insane asylum for the “mercy killing” of his wife. On a whim, he wanders into a nearby carnival. Lang sets up the suspense from there and never lets his foot off the pedal.
- The camera never moves gratuitously.
- 11:30 as Neale boards the train, Lang places the camera where the window would be. As he gets settled, the camera moves around and forms an awkward angle on the compartment door (there’s that German Expressionism!). We see smoke and hear the hissing; then a new sound — the thumping and dragging of a cane ... the camera quickly covers Milland’s reaction ... and a blind man appears. All very Hitchcockian!
- 13:33 Lang informs the viewer that the man is not blind without dialogue or exaggeration; it all happens on the actor’s face, specifically his eyes.
- 15:20-18:41 Directors from the silent era always seem to pull off magnificent scenes like this one — void of any dialogue. He also resisted scoring it (by Victor Young), instead using the sounds of roaring airplanes.
- 18:42 Milland’s interplay with George Rennit (Erskine Sanford) injects a little humor, after all that silence:
NEALE
“Excuse me. There didn’t seem to be anyone here.”
RENNIT
(hiding the liquor bottle he had been drinking from)
(gruffly) “What do you want?”
NEALE
“I’m looking for Mr. Rennit.”
RENNIT
“I’m Mr. Rennit. You should have made an appointment.”
NEALE
“Evidently you don’t want clients. Good morning.” (turns to walk away)
They drink together, and Neale talks poor Rennit into coming with him to face people he thinks are trying to kill him. Rennit pretty much disappears from the film after that.
- 22:28 Neale meets brother and sister Willi (Carl Esmond) and Carla Hilfe (Marjorie Reynolds) [hilfe = help!] … and the red herrings keep piling up.
- 29:45 “… the lights will fade now” — and what a fade! Lang brings down the light level to nearly nothing, until you can barely see Hillary Brooke (Mrs. Bellane No. 2); then slowly brings it back up.
- 38:18 A soft wipe introduces the “bomb shelter” scenes. It dates the film beautifully.
- 48:48 Check out that doorbell!
- 50:19 Neale is trying to furtively check out Bellane’s purse. When he finally retrieves her gun, she was already completely aware of it.
- 58:01 This shot [the bookseller is about to take a call from Dr. Forrester (Alan Napier)] is all noir. It begins with a high angle peek through staircase posts, down on the door through which the bookseller enters. Cut to Neale and Bellane’s reaction and then a medium-close on the phone call. Dramatic filmmaking.
- 1:16:09 Fantastic mirror shot.
- 1:20:05 Rain never looked better. Check out the lighting.
- 1:24:39 Young scores a single, sharp chord to the elevator light.
- 1:26:47 This process shot is hardly saved by the corny dialogue:
- “I’ve always dreamed of having a church wedding. We’ll have music, flowers and a big cake …”
- “Cake?!”
Film Rating (0-60):
50
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Glenn Kenny. Sort of an apology to the apologists. Look folks, this is no masterpiece — especially considering some of Lang’s other works.
Commentary
None, unfortunately.
Video interview
Average trailer for an average film.
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