Methinks Mr. Maxwell attributes too much to Lang
Has he never read the Graham Greene entertainment?!
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MovieChat Forums > Ministry of Fear (1945) Discussion > Methinks Mr. Maxwell attributes too much...
Someone else made the comment that without Lang's direction, the movie would have been crap. That's going too far as Greene's "entertainment" is a superior thriller to Household's Rogue Male, (which Lang made as Manhunt.) Even a hack couldn't ruin the basic fascination of Greene's story, but whereas another director would have perhaps made it very boring, Lang's style elevated the work almost to the level of the movies Hitchcock was doing in the 40s. To really appreciate how much Lang brought to the project, you need to have seen his films Spione, the early Mabuse films, and M. Considering his stamp is so indelibly on the work, despite the fact he had to fight the writer/producer (and perhaps Milland) on everything, it's really a remarkable validation of the "auteur" concept.
shareI agree with ya fully lang's style did elevate this movie to the hitchcock statis...if youve seen Saboteur (1942) you would see the similarities...and who doesn't love the hiding of the microfiche in the cake...
shareI kept thinking "39 Steps" as I watched this... but then (haha ha) I haven't watched Hitchcock's movie, just read the book. And I haven't read Greene's book, just seen this.
shareNo one seems to know or care what a great collector of fart records Lang was and he played them at most of his parties.
Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.
Yes, thanks for bringing that up Flutchman. I understand that was ultimately what ruined his career in Hollywood.
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>> I understand that was ultimately what ruined his career in Hollywood.
I should have thought those records might have enhanced his career in Hollywood.
Who is Mr. Maxwell? I don't seem to see him in here.
Robert Osborne said that Seton Miller degraded the film with his script.
I'm not knowledgeable about Lang's work, but I thought that the dialogue lacked in places, which resulted in odd dead spots. Also, Ray Milland seemed possibly a little off. My imagination?
I certainly recognize the good parts, and have seen the film probably six times.
I write adaptations as a hobby, and I wish for actors like these, and everybody else as well. I like British thrillers, Ambler, Greene, etc.
You shouldn't force the pace in this type of film, but keep a brisk pace, or it will be just another self-indulgent wasted production. Compare the original Dr. Zhivago with the remake. Take today's crop of thespians, directors too, stuff them into a time machine, and send them off to live in London during the Blitz. That'll learn 'em!
People don't got no structure today.
The Brits are the finest filmmakers in the world. There, I said it. And, they can still do it. Look at The King's Speech. But, there has been over indulgence and suchlike creeping in at times. Consider Christopher Fowler's two aging guys.
I drool at it, but at least when they do engage someone to adapt it, I sure hope he's got the right spirit.
Maybe I'll just get a copy of Greene's Ministry of Fear. The book, I mean.
Can't hurt to give it a go. I'll put the script in a time capsule, perhaps.
Minor retort: I think few cinephiles think the Brits the greatest filmmakers, far from it. Their approach is generally linear, as if they have never progressed beyond their excellent fiction of centuries past. I personally agree with you on a similar point, however, which is their television product, which is FAR SUPERIOR in my mind to their cinema and to anyone else's television. Am as of this date experiencing Wolf Hall on pbs, which is knocking me out of my chair for its quiet wit and layer upon layer of its alost unspoken character motivations which can be best discerned by its author's use of SILENCE while the actors seemingly "do" nothing. Absolute sheer brilliance that makes me think the best television is still finding a hungry and appreciative audience despite being surrounded by the dreck most everwhere watches.
And i thought The King's Speech was garbage, FAR below the best the Brits do on the telly.
~ Native Angeleno
VERY importantly to Lang as auteur of this film (Greene was but the literary author) is the one you didn't mention, The Testament of Dr Mabuse, which is extremely chilling and the only attempt by a German or anyone in England, France or Hollywood to address the behavior of the Nazis immediately before they got into power, and which is the reason Lang fled Germany for France, first, and then Hollywood, to be the auteur who chose to do as many anti-Hitler films as he could in the years before the US got into WW2 and during. He is the only filmmaker i know of who filmed a fictional assassination attempt on Hitler before Quentin Tarentino also did it some 60 years later. Graham Greene is one of the few at the top of stories and screenplays---The Third Man is my personal favorite film, Carol Reed was the auteur on that one---while Fritz Lang remains no less than one of the best and greatest 15 or so directors OF ALL TIME.
~ Native Angeleno