A jealous husband. A murder. An unlucky shmuck. A forbidden love affair. And of course, a femme fatale. Perhaps not one of the most prominent or acclaimed films of its genre, but Fritz Lang’s Human Desire is no doubt the epitome of a film noir. In this, love turns into hate as simmering jealousy comes to explode, lies and secrets are the only source of communication between characters, and no one can trust anyone, no matter how hard they try.

Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford) is a Korean War vet, freshly returned to the states and handsome as ever. He takes up his old job as a railroad train engineer, his old residence in a rented room of family friends, quickly reintegrating in the quaint small town. But of course, this familiarity and comfort doesn’t last, for Warren or for us.

Applying a rather interesting structure for the first third of the film, after we are introduced to Warren for a rather extended period of time, the film abruptly shifts to another story. We meet our femme fatale, Vicki Buckley (Gloria Grahame), and her hot-headed, jealous husband Carl (Broderick Crawford). Carl blew his cool at work – the same railyard that Jeff works at – and gets himself fired. He comes home with the news and starts pleading with Vicki to ask her powerful “friend” of the past, John Owens (Grandon Rhodes), to help get him his job back. Vicki resists, but ultimately relents to Carl’s desperate cries. But after her afternoon with Owens in what Carl sees to be too long for just a quick visit, Carl surmises unfaithfulness. A claim that Vicki adamantly denies. Regardless, Carl eyes to rid the man who he thinks made Vicki an unfaithful wife.

On a train is where the stories of Warren and Vicki meet. Vicki, forced into being an accomplice to Carl’s vindictive plan, witnesses Carl’s savage act of jealousy be carried out in Owen’s train car in front of her horrified eyes. Stunned, she tries to carefully flee the crime scene per Carl’s orders, but Warren, stationed in the hallway smoking, is getting in the way. Rather than hiding, she’s forced to interact with him. And this is where their doomed love story begins.

Later, a trial is held for Owens’s murder, with Warren as a witness. But rather than giving up Vicki and Carl, Warren opts for the other option: lie and strike up a passionate love affair with the attractive Vicki under the nose of her murdering husband in a small town. What could go wrong?

Human Desire doesn’t particularly excel in any of the signature facets of the noir genre, but the tension between the characters’ selfish and animalistic acts is strongly potent throughout. And that is embodied by Grahame’s movie-saving performance as the unreadable Vicki. You spend the whole picture sympathizing with her and her situation, surrounded by a triangle of brutish and borderline infantile men who never cease to use her up. But there is also a lingering mystery about her that never seems to go away. Is she really that helpless, or is it all part of the plan. Even when her motivations are revealed in a heated monologue in the end, you are still never sure what is really the truth.

Human Desire has a good foundation, but there are things about it that probably could have used a little more time and thought. It’s brooding, but not always brooding enough. It’s juicy and passionate, but they don’t always feel earned. And rarely do I say this, but this is probably a film that would have benefited if it was actually a little bit longer to really help establish a darker and moodier atmosphere that noirs really need. But all in all, it’s got all of the things you love about film noir, and with Lang’s notoriously expert vision for darkness, this film is a lot better than it would be if someone less capable would have handled it.

Human Desire is now available on Blu Ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. 

Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray - August 16, 2022
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Region-free playback

Legendary director Fritz Lang (Metropolis), cinema’s “Master of Darkness,” reunites with his stars of The Big Heat, Glenn Ford (Gilda) and Gloria Grahame (Naked Alibi), for this pitch-black film noir based on Émile Zola’s La Bête humaine. Korean War vet Jeff Warren (Ford) returns to his job as a railroad engineer, and quickly succumbs to his boss’s wife, Vicki Buckley (played with frank, unvarnished carnality by Grahame). Thus begins a tangled web of suspicion, sex and murder involving Vicki and her brutish husband Carl (Broderick Crawford, All the King’s Men). Adapted by Alfred Hayes (Clash by Night) and shot by Burnett Guffey (Bonnie and Clyde), Lang’s spellbinding masterpiece evokes a powerful emotional landscape of greed, jealousy, and Human Desire.

Video

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the new 1080p transfer of Human Desire is pretty good. Other than some slight, noticeable flickering, there are no imperfections or age-related issues that are too problematic. The greyscale is healthy and well-balanced and the grain is pleasing. Perhaps the shadows are not as dark as they could’ve been for a noir picture, but overall, the film looks clean and healthy.

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack is practically perfect and the best it could be for a film of this age. The dialogue, sound effects, and music all come in sharp and clear. No imperfections were noticeable or problematic.

Supplements:

While extras are very sparse, what is included – a very endearing little talk by Emily Mortimer discussing her adoration for the film and some old trailers for multiple films – is a treat none the less. Perhaps there could have been more, like a commentary from a film historian, but alas…no commentary included.

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

• Terror and Desire: Actress Emily Mortimer on Human Desire
• Trailers

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 91 mins
Director: Fritz Lang
Writer: Alfred Hayes; Émile Zola
Cast: Glenn Ford; Gloria Grahame; Broderick Crawford
Genre: Drama | Noir
Tagline: A rarity on the screen... a RAW slice of life!
Memorable Movie Quote: "All women are alike. They just got different faces so that the men can tell them apart."
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Official Site: https://kinolorber.com/product/human-desire-special-edition
Release Date: November 3, 1954
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 11, 2023
Synopsis: Korean War vet Jeff Warren (Ford) returns to his job as a railroad engineer, and quickly succumbs to his boss’s wife, Vicki Buckley (played with frank, unvarnished carnality by Grahame). Thus begins a tangled web of suspicion, sex and murder involving Vicki and her brutish husband Carl (Broderick Crawford, All the King’s Men).