Fury (1936)

Fury (1936)

A film that is about exceptions and is not quite exceptional by itself, though it's really good, and really interesting at every turn. And if you find the DVD that has the Bogdanovich commentary, that's actually eye opening just for all the Fritz Lang portions where he comments on it (from interviews in 1965). It should be noted that a lynching is any killing by a mob outside the law. The burning here seems to qualify (though there is no hanging). The culpability of everyone in the mob makes the courtroom case a large affair, the central event. Lang is an "important" director, a great director for sure even if for just a handful of actually great films (more than most directors). Like "Metropolis" and "M" in Germany, and "Scarlet Street" and "The Big Heat" in the U.S. This is his first Hollywood film, and an oddity for MGM (it was more suited to Warner Bros.). It stars Spencer Tracy, which is probably a slight mistake because he can play the nice guy (for the first part of the movie) but not as well the truly angry man (for most of the movie). The theme here is important in a lot of ways. It is about the mob killings of anyone, including Blacks, though that isn't at all introduced here (and that's to Hollywood's predictable shame, I think). But it's also about the growing "lynching" mobs of Jews and others in Germany, which Lang had to flee (his mother was Jewish, though was converted to Catholicism). And to how ordinary people can become complicit in revenge and unjust violence. I watched this not only for Lang, whom I admire, but also the reknowned cinematographer Joe Ruttenberg, who has such a tightly packed sense of framing, every scene has no waste. There is no fancy moving camera and little truly expressionist tilting or Germanic excess, though it's continually dramatic with layers of space and objects as it procedes. There are some special effects toward the end when Tracy is hallucinating (this gives nothing away) and the psychological impact here is compelling...and makes you wish there was more of it. Bogdanovich, for some reason, makes no mention of him at all. I said the movie is not exceptional and this is in the more normal sense of story, development, acting. It is certainly a really good film. It has courtroom scenes that are solid, it has behind the scenes interactions that bolster the individual drama of Tracy and his fiancé, Katherine, played by Sylvia Sydney, who is wonderfully sympathetic. It's important, in a way, for being an early example (possibly the earliest?) of using on-the-scene footage revealing the facts of a crime. (A news photographer happened to be filming the riot, and his footage acted the same way movies and videos have more recently in evidence for crimes.) The thing that Lang adds here really nicely is the underlying romantic drama. Here it twists around the misuse of the word, memento (and momentum)...for which you'll have to see the movie to find out. And it ends with a predictable personal and narrative twist. With the new museum devoted to lynchings in the South, this movie has a new, subtle significance. Tolerate the courtroom stuff and get into the really dramatic parts, which are great filming.

Fmovies: A compelling "message picture" with good performances from both Sylvia Sidney and Spencer Tracy and deft direction from Fritz Lang. 'Fury' is tautly dramatic and not without lessons for a modern audience, but it still falls just a little short of masterpiece status.

This was Lang's first American film, the studios were presumably in fierce competition to sign him to a contract and seems clear that MGM was quite proud of itself and thought they could safely fit the Austrian master into their mold while also revisiting some of his past successes. 'Fury' is by no means a remake of 'M' but it does share some key themes. However, the style is a marked departure from the director's German work and the Hollywood treatment keeps this film from being as compelling as its older brother.

Hailing from the Midwest as I do, the Hooterville Junction take on small-town America rankled with me a bit. Gossipy housewives and self-important businessmen are played for laughs and then suddenly turn into a howling mob bent on the death of a man against whom the "evidence" is literally peanuts. It's a serious matter, as we're later reminded by the prosecutor's speech about the number of lynchings in America's then recent history, it should never have been treated lightly.

Do watch it though, and keep an eye out for a very familiar Cairn terrier. Also, early on when Joe and Katherine are looking at bedroom furniture there's a distinct chuckle at the expense of the Hays Code (which was enforced starting in '34).

The hard worker Joseph "Joe" Wilson (Spencer Tracy) and the teacher Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney) are in love with each other, but they do not have enough money to get married. Katherine gets a better job in Washington and together with Joe, they save money to get married one year later. Joe quits his job in the factory and uses his savings to buy a gas station, working with his brothers Charlie (Frank Albertson) and Tom (George Walcott). He makes enough money to get married with Katherine and buys a car. While driving with his dog Rainbow to meet his fiancée, Joe is stopped in Strand by the redneck Deputy "Bugs" Meyers (Walter Brennan) as suspect of kidnapping a boy in the Peabody Case. When they find peanuts in his pocket and a five-dollar bill in his pocket with the numeration of the money paid for ransom, Joe is arrested in jail for investigation.

"Bugs" Meyers makes a comment in the barbershop about the prisoner and sooner the gossip is spread in the little town. As a tale never loses in the telling, Joe is accused by the population of kidnapper and they try to invade the police station to lynch him. For political reason, Governor Burt (Howard Hickman) does not send the National Guard to help Sheriff Tad Hummel to protect Joe and the Police Station is burnt down by the vigilantes. Katherine witnesses the action and has a breakdown.

Joe is presumed dead but out of the blue he appears at his brothers' apartment seeking justice. He had learnt that in accordance with the laws, Lynch Law is murder in the first degree and his brothers open a case against twenty-two dwellers of Strand. The prosecutor Mr. Adams accepts the case and Katherine Grant is the prime witness. Joe's revenge is set in motion.

"Fury" tells the heartbreaking story of dehumanization of a good man and hard worker that believes in the justice and loves his country through the imprisonment and subsequent lynching by despicable people moved by gossip. Fritz Lang makes another excellent feature in his first American work, and I enjoyed the gossip sequence that ends in a brood of hens.

The story is engaging with a great revenge of the bitter Joe. I would love to see the twenty-two defendants going to the gallows, but the moralist conclusion works perfectly in the story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Fúria" ("Fury")

Fury fmovies. Horribly melodramatic, but psychologically complex, well-directed and excellently edited. Spencer Tracy is an innocent man assumed guilty by a mob and "lynched." Making this 1936 film still-timely are the growth of the mob and its trial, conviction and execution of Tracy based only on speculation and emotion instead of on evidence and reason. Also, the line, "I will remind the jury of the easy habit of putting on foreigners events that disturb our conscience" comments on a tendency that still exists today (just listen to talk radio here in Massachusetts!). The story touches on many issues - morality, humanity, patriotism, law, politics, media, etc - and, as such, raises many issues for discussion. Teachers might consider showing this film in class as a start-point into exploration of today's issues. Spencer Tracy gives an appropriately melodramatic performance, but Edward Ellis as the town sheriff gives the best (albeit small) performance. For entertainment value, I'd give this film 6/10; but for fans of any of the stars, the director, or for advocates of civil rights and justice, this film is worth about 8/10; finally, as a tool for teachers, 10/10.

Fritz Lang's first US film is arguably the best he made there,containing elements of his most celebrated film,M,though this time here the mentality of mob violence does not have a genuinely evil monster (so brilliantly portrayed in M by Peter Lorre) as it's point of retribution,but a decent,ordinary man in the shape of an equally superb Spencer Tracy.The first reel or so of FURY is somewhat dull,with Tracy and his fiancé Sylvia Sidney struggling to raise money for their wedding in what seems a straight-forward domestic story.But the film soon gets into gear when Tracy is mistaken for a kidnapper and held in a small town jail,and is lynched by most of the town's population,led by waster and bad boy Bruce Cabot.Or it seems he is lynched......Tracy somehow escapes,and totally hardened by the experience,is determined on exacting revenge against the perpetrators.

The film wasn't a particular critical or box-office triumph in it's day,maybe because it told some unpalatable truths in aspects of American life at the time.While not necessarily Hollywood's best-loved or most effective leading man,Tracy was arguably it's best actor from a technical viewpoint,and his performance is outstanding here.His transformation from an innocuous everyman to vicious criminal is totally convincing.After he makes his way back home to his brother's apartment,his speech detailing his ordeal and his thirst for vengeance is a quite brilliant piece of screen acting.Tracy had this and other memorable big screen monologues to his credit in a distinguished career (watch other fine examples in such films as STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE,STATE OF THE UNION,INHERIT THE WIND and GUESS WHO'S COMING HOME TO DINNER),and there were few,if any,that could equal him in similar circumstances.There are no forced histrionics,no exaggerated hand or facial gestures,no bellowing out of words,just a careful and believable building up of rage until he explodes on the final word he comes to.......,DEATH!

Aside from Tracy's excellence,the film is at it's most effective in the setting up and brief aftermath of the lynching itself.Lang's penchant for Germanic expressionism and moody lighting is very effective here,especially in the scene where the converging of the mob on the police station is represented by a subjective tracking shot,a remarkably powerful scene which is the film's highpoint.

The film goes slightly downhill in the courtroom sequence,which although has interesting elements (the use of newsreel footage as evidence),tends to get over-melodramatic and obviously contrived(Tracy's peanut habit and word misspelling are not too convincing plot devices),and Lang was reportedly very opposed to the somewhat sappy ending tagged on by MGM(as Hollywood's moral code demanded in the 30's).That aside,fine support performances(Ms Sidney,Walter Brennan,Edward Ellis,Walter Abel,etc.),a good musical score(Franz Waxman),stylish visuals(Joesph Ruttenberg)and bravura direction by Lang still make FURY,despite dated elements,a powerful and effective essay on lynch mob rule seven decades later,which most of it's contemporaries can certainly not boast.

RATING:7 and a half out of 10

Tracy is fantastic as salt-of-the-earth whose soul is incinerated by fiery destruction of lynch mob. In the wake of the kidnaping of the Lindbergh baby, this was an especially emotional topic in 1936. Tracy's performance is riveting and even more-worthy of the Oscar than his Oscar winning performance that year in Captains Courageous.

Sylvia Sydney is excellent as Tracy's love interest, and Frank Albertson is superb as his hard-edged brother. Edward Ellis (title star of the Thin Man) does a good turn as the reasonable Sheriff. And Walter Brennan does an excellent job as a deputy. There are also two contrastingly poignant scenes in bars. Overall, score a home run for Fritz Lang in his first US film.