With impeccable detail and merciless wit, John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust presents 1930s Los Angeles as a nightmarish circle in Dante’s Inferno.

Having no emotional center, the film leaves little impression -- only a chill.

John Schlesinger brings West's vision to the screen, monstrosity for monstrosity, sadness for sadness, and makes of it an immensely affecting motion picture.

The most impressive aspect of Schlesinger’s film is its sense of place: the sunny, awesomely relaxed, fetid warmth captured by Conrad Hall’s sumptuous cinematography.