His first two American works were very dark and realistic (not to mention box office flops) so Fritz Lang set out to make "You and Me", a homage to "The 3 Penny Opera". Lang had admired Bertolt Brecht in his Berlin days and the working class spirit of the play hovered over the movie. Kurt Weill even wrote two songs - "You Can't Get Something for Nothing" and "My Good for Nothing Man" and between those themes the film made a case for the decent treatment of ex convicts and parolees who, at the time, were denied basic rights and even forbidden to marry.
Hollywood's pinup girl for the Proletariat - beautiful Sylvia Sidney and Lang's muse at this time (she had the female lead in his three American movies to date) plays Helen, a sympathetic clerk in a large department store. Some peculiar scenes are set - a toy salesman (Roscoe Karnes) tough talks a child (Baby Jane Quigley) into buying a toy she doesn't want, another (George E. Stone) scares a customer with his safe cracking talk and Helen allows a shoplifter to walk free. It all becomes clear when you realise that most of the sales people are either ex cons or on parole and have been hired by benevolent store owner Mr. Morris (Harry Carey). There is even romance in the air between Helen and tough guy sporting goods salesman Joe (gorgeous George Raft). "There isn't a racket I don't know" - he could be talking crime, instead he is trying to sell a tennis racquet!!!
Joe is going to California because his feelings for Helen are so strong but her feelings are stronger and she proposes!!! But Helen has a secret - she has also been in prison and her furtiveness in trying to keep her past a secret is making Joe extremely jealous. This is not your run of the mill gangster movie. It takes off on odd tangents, especially during a Christmas celebration for a group of ex cons, who reminisce about the good old days in prison, first wistfully, then longingly. "I know we had chicken once a year inside and now we can have it whenever we want, but it sure was nice to look forward to"!!! They begin a rhythmic chant "Stick With the Mob" which includes different codes tapped out on pipes and in a crazy way recalls the convict scenes in "M", as well as at the end when Joe enlists all his convict mates to scour the city looking for Helen.
Joe finds out at this party that Helen is a parolee and he feels betrayed. He is more than happy to agree to do a job for Mick (gruff old Barton Maclaine), an associate from Joe's criminal past who hangs around the store hoping to coax him back into his bad ways. They plan to rob Morris's store but Gimpy (Warren Hymer) warns Helen - she in turn tells Morris and when the crooks show up there is a posse waiting for them. Not to hand them over to the police but for Helen to give them a lecture on why crime doesn't pay. My very favourite part in the movie - Helen drops her "sweet and sincere" persona and with the help of a blackboard, some chalk and mathematical calculations shows them why, instead of pocketing over $1,000 for their share, they would be lucky to see $100!!! Of course the gangsters are then sold on Helen - but not Joe who now adds "stool pigeon" to his list of grievances about Helen and also belittles her which the gang are not too happy about!!!
Even though it wasn't a success, Lang did try to put a lighter spin into a theme that meant a lot to him - the spiritual bond of a criminal brotherhood which has stronger links than the law.
Hollywood's pinup girl for the Proletariat - beautiful Sylvia Sidney and Lang's muse at this time (she had the female lead in his three American movies to date) plays Helen, a sympathetic clerk in a large department store. Some peculiar scenes are set - a toy salesman (Roscoe Karnes) tough talks a child (Baby Jane Quigley) into buying a toy she doesn't want, another (George E. Stone) scares a customer with his safe cracking talk and Helen allows a shoplifter to walk free. It all becomes clear when you realise that most of the sales people are either ex cons or on parole and have been hired by benevolent store owner Mr. Morris (Harry Carey). There is even romance in the air between Helen and tough guy sporting goods salesman Joe (gorgeous George Raft). "There isn't a racket I don't know" - he could be talking crime, instead he is trying to sell a tennis racquet!!!
Joe is going to California because his feelings for Helen are so strong but her feelings are stronger and she proposes!!! But Helen has a secret - she has also been in prison and her furtiveness in trying to keep her past a secret is making Joe extremely jealous. This is not your run of the mill gangster movie. It takes off on odd tangents, especially during a Christmas celebration for a group of ex cons, who reminisce about the good old days in prison, first wistfully, then longingly. "I know we had chicken once a year inside and now we can have it whenever we want, but it sure was nice to look forward to"!!! They begin a rhythmic chant "Stick With the Mob" which includes different codes tapped out on pipes and in a crazy way recalls the convict scenes in "M", as well as at the end when Joe enlists all his convict mates to scour the city looking for Helen.
Joe finds out at this party that Helen is a parolee and he feels betrayed. He is more than happy to agree to do a job for Mick (gruff old Barton Maclaine), an associate from Joe's criminal past who hangs around the store hoping to coax him back into his bad ways. They plan to rob Morris's store but Gimpy (Warren Hymer) warns Helen - she in turn tells Morris and when the crooks show up there is a posse waiting for them. Not to hand them over to the police but for Helen to give them a lecture on why crime doesn't pay. My very favourite part in the movie - Helen drops her "sweet and sincere" persona and with the help of a blackboard, some chalk and mathematical calculations shows them why, instead of pocketing over $1,000 for their share, they would be lucky to see $100!!! Of course the gangsters are then sold on Helen - but not Joe who now adds "stool pigeon" to his list of grievances about Helen and also belittles her which the gang are not too happy about!!!
Even though it wasn't a success, Lang did try to put a lighter spin into a theme that meant a lot to him - the spiritual bond of a criminal brotherhood which has stronger links than the law.