Lang's masterly gangster thriller, distantly based on the story of
Bonnie and Clyde, is one of his greatest films. Shot with unforgiving
harshness in greys and blacks, animated by fog and rain, it dramatises
the hopelessness and misery of the Depression with unmatched
intensity. Compared to most 1930s gangster pics, sentimentality and
special pleading are kept to a minimum, and Lang's camera watches
implacably as the fatalistic tragedy unfolds. The action set pieces
are extraordinarily tense, and Fonda and Sidney give career-best
performances.
