Rating: - Lang Battles Nazism
Fritz Lang was one of the greatest directing talents to ever emerge from German cinema. Born in Vienna, he migrated to Berlin following service in World War One and became one of Germany's premier directors.
When Hitler came to power, however, Lang found himself at a potentially deadly crossroad. He was summoned by Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich's infamous Director of Propaganda, and was offered the position of becoming the regime's head of filmmaking.
The sagacious director knew a trap when he saw it. He was aware that the Nazi regime was aware of his opposition ... Read More
Rating: - Ding Dong Bell
Maybe Graham Greene didn't like this movie, but he was like every other author and thought his every word was gold. The movie skips all the dreary insane asylum scenes but one, and goes straight to the heart of things, in the county fair, or fete, a concept which people in the USA probably were saying, "What did he say? Fate?" No, it's a fete, and Milland walks in directly after having been let out of the asylym, hearing the music at the train station while buying a ticket out of Ledbridge. He asks the station agent, "Where's the music coming from?" and when told it's the fete, he asks if he ... Read More
Rating: - Not Perfect, but a Good Wartime Mystery
The background story to "Ministry of Fear" is that Director Fritz Lang did not have complete control over production. This shows and becomes more obvious as MF progresses. As MF opens, lead Ray Milland is released from an asylum. He has done time for the mercy killing of his wife. With time to burn before his train leaves, he wanders into a fair and wins a cake. Inside the cake is a secret message intended for German agents in England. The bad guys realize this and want the cake back. The chase is on! RM escapes a hit on the train! Back in London, Milland hires a private dick but the agents kill ... Read More
Rating: - Someone Left the Cake Out in the Train
Stephen Neal has spent 2 years in an asylum for what was judged as a "mercy killing," and when his sentence is completed, he leaves to find a world gone mad. It is 1944, the height of WWII, and it all starts with a cake. Neal wins a cake at a fair, and while on the train to London, is nearly murdered for it. He is then swept into a world of Nazis, spies, bogus fortune-tellers, and sinister people with aliases. We see the plot unfold from Neal's eyes, and are as perplexed as he is; trying to figure out the meaning as one is watching is a hopeless task.
Rating: - You Have Nothing To "Fear"
Fritz Lang's "Ministry of Fear" disappointed me. I don't think of it as one of the best noir films I've seen. It lacks there eerie feelings you get when you watch "Double Indemnity", "The Big Sleep" or even Milland's "The Big Clock".
The movie was based on a novel by Graham Greene. He is the man responsible for "The Third Man", "The Quite American" and "This Gun For Hire". All three were made into much better films.
Milland stars a Stephen Neal. A man who has just been released from an asylum after two years after being accussed of killing his wife. Once free who goes to ... Read More
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