Clash by Night: Fritz Lang

Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure if Fritz Lang's Clash by Night is a film noir or a straight drama.  It has your standard black and white photography, a fiery femme fatale, and crazed emotions.  But really, Clash by Night feels more like an over-wrought melodrama.  It stars Barbara Stanwyck as Mae Doyle, an independent young woman who returns to her home in Monterey, California after a decade-long affair with a married politician on the East Coast.  Once back in Monterey, she becomes embroiled in a devastating love triangle with Jerry, a well-intentioned yet unsophisticated fisherman, and Earl, a bitter young man with a low opinion on women.  She marries Jerry for a sense of security, yet finds herself increasingly drawn to Earl.  Eventually, she has Jerry's child.  But even her maternal duties can't stop her feelings for the dangerous and nasty Earl.  It all comes down to an emotional climax where Jerry confronts Mae and Earl after discovering their affair.  I won't spoil the ending, but it's uncharacteristically positive for a later work by Fritz Lang.  And here's where the film feels less like a film noir and more like a melodrama: everything falls nicely in place at the end and nobody really suffers anything except for Earl.  There is no cynicism, no bite, no poison in this film.  Oh, Mae is a firebrand who drinks whiskey at 9:00 AM at the start of the film.  But by the end she is pacified into a traditional 1950s woman's subservient role.  Clash by Night is a decent film with some herculean performances...but it feels like an orphan.  It's too dark for a melodrama, yet simultaneously too light for a film noir.

6/10