Ministry of Fear
With Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond .
US, 1944, 35mm, black & white, 86 min.
Print source: Universal
Based on a novel by Graham Greene, Lang's rarely screened Ministry of Fear is the most stylized of Fritz Lang's American films, an Expressionist tour de force that uses extraordinary shadows and chiaroscuro lighting to channel the paranoia of a cruelly victimized man, just released from an asylum in England, into a vision of the menacing and intrigue-fueled world that awaits him. Ray Milland proves himself once again to be one of Paramount's most versatile stars by making palpable the angst and cold sweat of a man trapped in a nightmare, propelled by dark forces he somehow instinctively understands. One of several of Lang's films to explore wartime espionage themes, Ministry of Fear remains a thrilling and genuinely frightening evocation of London under siege.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Artists and Models
Ministry of Fear
One-Eyed Jacks
Double Indemnity
The Conversation
The Lost Weekend
The Desperate Hours
Seconds
Island of Lost Souls
Chinatown
Hail the Conquering Hero
Citizen’s Band
Dark City
Days of Heaven
