A blistering, explosive film noir, with a fascinating approach to gender roles and a brilliant undercurrent of atomic paranoia. In a way, it's the quintessential '50s American film, in that it tackles the two prominent themes that defined the decade - women and the bomb.

Ford is terrific as the not-quite-an-anti-hero, as is Gloria Graham as the not-quite-a-femme-fatale. Indeed, the whole film is not-quite-a-film-noir, but that only makes it more intriguing. Bannion, Ford's character, is only turned into a violent, vengeful figure by the actions of the villains, and, in fact, he's not really the lonesome, isolated figure that populates these stories. He gets helps from cops, from civilians, from war veterans (slyly referring to the post-war disillusionment that so often frequents these stories), and he's hardly a dark figure. When he goes home at night, he takes off his badge and gun and plays with his daughter. It's a much more down-to-earth character, and it's refreshing in this mythic genre.

What really makes this film, though, is the not-so-subtle fear of nuclear power that runs throughout the film. From the constant reference to burns of all kind (cigarette and especially coffee), to the pseudo-atomic blast that kills Bannion's wife, and even to the crippled old lady working at the "Victory" junkyard that helps him. All of these symbols stand for an implicit paranoia about atomic power, and further locate the film as very much of its time and place. This can be tied to its gendered approach, as well; the men are all violent, explosive bombs waiting to go off, and the women suffer because of it - most notably Debbie, as her boyfriend, Vince (Lee Marvin in a fantastically nasty role), throws hot coffee on her, causing scarring that look suspiciously like radiation burns. It's a brilliantly multi-layered film.

It's probably not as great, overall, as Out of the Past, but it's certainly right up there. It's also Fritz Lang's best work (that I've seen). Terrific stuff.

textbook. would pair nicely with one of Shack's more formal analyses.

Déjà vu. I like your signature, by the way.

I don't remember what it looks like. testing.

what a fucking disappointment this was from lang. utterly generic and has none of his visual style whatsoever. is this typical of his american stuff?

Want a cup of coffee?

I bewitch Inny Binny so that she might get killed during an earth quake... in lava...