In den Klauen des Satans

Emilio Fernandez is best remembered for "La Red" (1953) ,the follow- up to "Cuando Levanta La Niebla" a psychological thriller which recalls the American works of the forties (Siodmak,Lang,Tourneur,Hitchcock);its screenplay is not unlike Patricia Highsmith's "the talented Mister Ripley" and William Irish's "I married a dead man" .Its originality is the brother/false sister relationship : the man knows he can make love to her,but the woman ,although repelled by incest , is attracted by this sibling who left home before she was born and thus could never consider him a big brother.More than him,her behavior is downright ambiguous ,since she does not know Pablo's trick.

Thanks to cameraman Gabriel Figueroa,many scenes are successful ,principally in the first part in the hospital and in the last moments in the maleficent house.The poisoning is successfully directed,using close-ups (bottles, door handles).In the final in the house ,Figueroa works with his camera like a painter with shadow and light.

Unlike the great American directors' works I mention above , the film often seems to drag on ,and if it were not enough ,cabaret acts get in the way as pure filler.

Artur De Cordova gives a tormented performance of a neurotic man .

A note about the score :in the hospital,Fernandez uses a lugubrious spooky music.In the house ,Pablo plays again and again Chopin 's "sadness" which ,coincidence,inspired Serge Gainsbourg 's "Inceste De Citron ".