Le destructeur

Sadly, it is probably best to draw a discreet veil over most of G. W. Pabst's films from the 1950's. This melodrama based upon Dit Hans Emil's 'Hear and See' is certainly an improvement on his two previous cinematic aberrations made in Italy, the most 'interesting' of which is set in a monastic retreat whilst the other, of which the less said the better, takes place in a lunatic asylum.

Ina Kahr is on trial for the murder of her husband and refuses to speak in her defence. Faced with the death penalty she reveals to her father and defence lawyer what led her to it.......

Curt Jurgens is excellent here as the faithless, philandering husband who prefers to dine a la carte rather than be content with the set menu at home. Ina is played by Elisabeth Mueller, an immensely appealing actress whose performance in this won her a role opposite Robert Taylor in 'The Power and the Prize' but for whom the promise of Hollywood stardom failed to materialise.

There are at least glimpses here of the old Pabstian magic, the script is literate and his legendary simpatico with his players is very much in evidence. Suffice to say this is a far cry from his films of the previous three decades but let us give thanks for those and accept that the form of even the best directors invariably tails off as they decline into the vale of years.