Fritz Lang's first American film, "Fury," concerns the story of a man whom, falsely accused of a kidnapping and murder, is held in a county jail against his will and is subject to mob justice at the hands of the local community. Such people burn the jail he is in and believe he dies, but he in fact survives and shows up later on during the trail of some of the lynchers, condemning the masses for their behavior while reflecting on his own mistakes. Many scenes, in particular the moment when the mob descends upon the jail, are still very captivating, but they seem to be in opposition to earlier moments in the film, where the happy relationship between Joe and Katherine is shown (aping a more lighthearted comedy in the process). The dramatic shift from carefree entertainment to social commentary, then poses an interesting question - is this shift consistent with the tone of the film? It is my argument that it is not, and through careful examination of the film as well as study of its various meanings and messages, it will hopefully be revealed that the shift detracts from the film's underlying social messages. However powerful such scenes may be, they cannot be fully appreciated without our understanding of the main characters. The change from lighthearted romp to stinging critique is too abrupt to justify, and the social commentary suffers to some extent because of this.