There were some good moments, but it just seemed like a run-of-the-mill melodrama. I guess I expected something darker since most of Fritz's films are extremely dark. Barbara Stanwyck is probably the highlight of the movie, with the Marilyn Monroe character and her beaux's relationship coming in close second.
shareI've been trying to watch all the Fritz Lang movies available at my library and I have to say I liked this one as much as any of the others. It doesn't provide the artistic set opportunities that Metropolis and Destiny/Der Mude Tod offered by nature of their plots, but a lot of the directing was still pretty solid, and the actors delivered terrific performances. The shots of the raging sea and of the moonlit cloudy sky were amazing; there's some great use of visual metaphor throughout. The sea clashing against the rocks is the most obvious, but there are other ones I can't recall, having only seen the movie twice (although there's a really quick, nice shot of a statue of a saint [I think] looking out over the water, where the fishermen's boats are). Also, as a vegan, I found the opening fishing and cannery sequences somewhat horrifying, and think Lang was trying to get across the bleak nature of the work (especially at the part where you see the cans coming down the chute one after another, wham, wham, wham, wham). There are a couple of neat things you notice if you pay close attention; one of them I noticed was the uncle cheating in the checkers scene with Papa--he jumps over two pieces at once, which I'm pretty sure is an illegal move (it's been years since I've played checkers); it really makes the uncle even more of a despicable character, and contributes to the viewer's understanding of his generally unscrupulous nature. Above all, I liked the ending a lot; it made me want to be a better boyfriend.
sharei agree. is a good film, but something is missing...
i don't know what it is...but missing.
btw barbara and marilyn give really good performances.
Oddly enough this is one of the Langs I enjoyed the most. Seen 22 from him and I would put this in my top 3 Langs. It's also rather high on my top 250. What a masterpiece!
Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyleshare
[deleted]
What are your favorites from him? It's not that I'm looking to get into Fritz Lang, it's just that I'm always interested in what other fans think.
black and white movies were better
I thought that this was one of the weaker efforts by Fritz Lang. And it wasn't helped by a dumb script by Clifford Odets and some egregious scenery chewing by Barbara Stanwyck. I thought Marilyn Monroe was great in this. Paul Douglas, poor guy, great actor, was mis-utilized in this. I thought that Robert Ryan was very well-suited to his role, but he was under utilized.
Some of the Fritz Lang films I like, off the top of my head, there's actually lots of them that I like, but the ones I remember right now as liking a lot were:
Ministry of Fear - - really great!!!! This is a favorite of mine!! Another WWII plot involving insidious Nazi spies operating in London.
Hangmen Also Die - - pretty darned good!! Based more or less on true events in Czechoslovakia during WWII when the infamous Gestapo head was assassinated there.
Fury (1936) - - with Spencer Tracy as a wrongly accused man who was the victim of a lynch mob that didn't quite succeed in lynching him. Great study of the ugly side of human nature and mob rule, which must have echoed his feelings about what was happening in his native Germany at the time.
Man Hunt I really liked a lot. George Sanders was chilling as the Nazi.
The Blue Gardenia is another real stinker!!! I can't believe Fritz Lang made this!! One of the worst films I've ever seen. Ann Baxter helps to ruin it.
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was very weak. I was very surprised that it was a Fritz Lang film.
The Big Heat was okay, definitely not great. Lee Marvin was GREAT in his small role! Truly frightening.
Run-of-the-mill melodramas are not as sharply written and outstandingly acted as Clash By Night. Sure it sometimes got a bit overwrought and message in the end was laid on pretty thick, but generally the handling of its subject rings true and feels authentic. Lang´s talents as an extraordinary visual stylist also help a great deal as the regularly employed astray shots of raging sea and drifting clouds are very effective as they establish mood and work as sort of metaphors. Also, the more I see of Stanwyck the more I´m impressed with her - definitely one of the finest classic Hollywood actresses. Another very solid work by Lang - been checking out a lot of his stuff lately and out of The Woman In The Window, Scarlet Street, The Big Heat and now this, none has disappointed. 7,5-8/10.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Sharply written? The reason the OP finds this movie boring is the same reason I do: poor writing. It takes an hour before enough tension builds up to grab your interest, and by that point it's almost too late. Something with "clash" in the title better deliver a ton of clashing, and all we get for the first 2/3 of the movie is people walking back and forth from a fish factory or a movie theater or yammering in the backyard doing laundry. Gee, that's thrilling.
I like Fritz Lang but he sure could phone it in sometimes. The best I could say about this one is that I've seen worse by him. The only reason the movie is interesting is not because of Lang, but because his cinematographer was one of the all-time greats, and Stanwyck and Ryan and MM do what they usually do. Paul Douglas as a leading man - ugh. Worse is watching this beast kiss someone. Geez.
No, the "clash" in the title is in singular so there´s no reason to expect a "ton of clashing". Although, admittedly, the "clash" we finally do get to see, hardly lives up to the promise. The ending´s the weakest part of the film.
The dialogue as well as characters though are indeed mostly well written and it seems the actual problem is that you expected it to be a different kind of film to begin with. Seeing as it´s adapted from a Clifford Odets´ play, I don´t get why though.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
The ending is extremely and abrupt and disappointing. While I think the dialogue was very well written, I found it overwritten – with speechifying taking the place of subtlety and nuance. This is obviously adapted from a stage play, and I think it would be much more effective in the theater. It's a decent film, but Fritz Lang and company have all done better.
sharei would agree that people born with golden spoon in their mouth and born without a heart and soul would find film like this very boring.
sharethe weakest Fritz Lang movie i've seen so far, usually you find good writing in his movies, but this one felt like a bad stage play to me
i usually enjoy Stanwyck, but she was chewing the scenery in this one
so many movies, so little time