The Only Bad Fritz Lang Film I've Seen! (Spoilers)

For a Fritz Lang film, this is atrocious. The ending has got to be one of the lamest I've ever seen and frankly insults the viewers intelligence and made no sense. Here are some examples of incredibly poor writing:




A 47 year old Dana Andrews chases and subdues a muscular, 24 year old John Drew Barrymore.

The police never figure out who Rhonda Fleming really is even though she was the victim of attempted murder. She claims to be "Mrs. Smith" in order to conceal her identity and easily fools the police with a woman they would surely need at the killer's trial

Craig Stevens, Ida Lupino, and Rhonda Fleming have a pow wow after Lupino discovers Fleming with Stevens. Later, Stevens accompanied arrogantly walks into the offices and demands to speak with his boss Vincent Price (Fleming's husband in the film) and, from what I can ascertain, gets the job by blackmailing Price (!!??) and getting Lupino a cushy job as a "syndicated columnist". It would have made sense for Stevens to get fired and for Price to divorce his wife.

Later Price hears Andrews criticizing him in a pub and tells him to continue. Andrews finishes his diatribe and calls Price a "small man with a faithless wife" while Price stands there silently.


At the very end, Andrew and his wife are on their honeymoon and his wife reads a news story in which Price has reversed his hiring decisions. Price has now taken the position away from Stevens and sent him around the world for the next two years as a "roving goodwill ambassador" (!!??), Lupino has had her syndicated column taken back and is now Price's "personal assistant" and presumptive mistress and future wife. Andrews, who has already quit the company, is announced as receiving a substantial promotion.


Earlier, Dana Andrews surprised his (then) fiancée by letting her know that he set her up as the target of the serial killer and her reaction to this is not rage or disbelief, but almost cheerful acceptance. (!!??)







This along with the right-wing Fredric Wertham era hysteria against comic books that is so clear in the film (the killer is the fan of a comic called 'The Strangler', things may have worked out better if he like 'Captain America' I guess) just makes this one of Lang's lesser films. The stylistic direction can not compensate for the half baked script and Andrew's lackluster performance. I can only imagine how much better this film would have been with Humphrey Bogart or William Holden in the Andrews role.