A much under-rated film, this story of the problematic love affair
between two reformed convicts is the upbeat flip side to the desolation
of Fury and You Only Live Once. Lang made the film under the influence of
Brecht, and the piece incorporates didactic songs by Kurt Weill, while
Sidney's climactic lecture on the financial prospects of crime
(complete with blackboard and chalk) is among the cinema's most
genuinely Brechtian scenes. Probably the only Lang film to suggest a
talent for comedy, it displays a bleakly quirky sense of humour, and its
unexpected shifts in mood and style remain wholly captivating. An
offbeat delight.
