‘Human Desire‘, made in 1954, is one of the few screen adaptations of Émile Zola’s novel ‘La Bête humaine’ and one of about 15 films made by Fritz Lang between 1950 and 1950, in the final, American phase of his career as a director. The other famous adaptation is the 1938 one by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin. Interestingly, both versions are quite distant from Émile Zola’s novel. Fritz Lang and screenwriter Alfred Hayes chose to Americanize the story and film it in the ‘film noir’ style. And yet, paradoxically, Émile Zola’s book is much richer in extreme scenes, twists and turns and suspense than the two classic movies made after it. French cinema in 1938 and American cinema in 1954 could not afford to bring to the screens what Zola had written and published in 1890? Perhaps the time has come for a new screen adaptation? In an ideal world, this would have been material for Stanley Kubrick, but that collaboration is no longer possible. Until then, however, this Lang film from 1954 also offers enough reasons to be watched or re-watched.
The main departure from the book story and characters is how the character named in the original novel Jacques Lantier is seen. Only the profession – locomotive engineer – is the same as in the book. In ‘Human Desire‘ his name is Jeff Warren and he’s back from the army (Japan or maybe even the Korean War), apparently without too much trauma, happy to pick up with his life where he left off three years before. His co-worker on the locomotive has a daughter and she could be (and wishes to be) a good match for him. In the same depot of a large railway company also works Carl Buckley, a problematic and drunken employee, who is also violent in his marriage with his much younger wife Vicki. Jeff falls under Vicki’s net, and they begin a hopeless relationship, complicated by the fact that the Buckley’s are involved in a murder that happened on the train. The manipulative Vicki will try to get Jeff to kill Carl in order to get rid of him and run away together. The dilemma is now the ex-soldier’s.
The title change is both significant and appropriate to the way this script rewrites the plot of Zola’s novel. Jeff is not a ‘human beast’ but a normative man, perhaps even a little too nice to the point of being boring, whose main motivation to hook up with Vicki is related to carnal desire for the young and beautiful woman. Glenn Ford is perfect in the role as Fritz Lang saw it, but Émile Zola wouldn’t have recognized him. Vicki, on the other hand, finds an excellent performer in Gloria Grahame, an attractive and expressive actress that I confess I did not know, with an air of perverse innocence. Broderick Crawford is also very suitable in the role of the deceived and criminal husband, a role that adds to the rich gallery of ‘bad guys’ in Fritz Lang‘s films. The cinematography is impeccable, with numerous scenes shot from and on trains (director of photography Burnett Guffey) and dramatic music (created by Daniele Amfitheatrof) enhancing the visuals. From a technical point of view, Fritz Lang had reached full maturity and was mastering all the secrets of the trade. His ‘film noir’ version of Zola’s novel is interesting and can still be watched today, almost seven decades after the film was made. Even the film’s lows deserve discussion.