Starring: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki, Miles Mander, Douglas Walton, Donald Douglas, Ralf Harolde, esther Howard
Tagline: A night of murder the police won't let him forget! The only key to his safety... a woman's face he can't remember!
Plot: After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe
is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? Yeah.
Is it me or is this a little too complicated for its own good? I dig the flick and it's fun. The dialogue, acting and such is right where you want it to be for a noir crime picture but sometimes it feels like a copout when all the information you need to figure out what's going on isn't given until the massive exposition dump near the end. Sometime it works great like in THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) and sometimes it feels like cheating as in this movie. Maybe I'm getting too worked up about it. I don't know. Dick Powell is always fun to watch but I do like my noir detectives to be on the darker side than wise-cracking. Moose (played by 6'5" Mike Mazurki) was a tough and fun character. It's still a fun ride despite my bitching about being in the dark until the end.
Starring: Matthew Sweet (host), Sheri Chinen Biesen, Neil Brand, Sarah Churchwell, Roger Deakins, John Mathieson, George Pelecanos, Paul Schrader, Adrian Wootton
Plot: Documentary that shows the characteristic traits of film noir and their historical context.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Nah.
This near one-hour BBC documentary does a great job at condensing the style and what makes a film noir movie a good primer for someone who has little to no knowledge of the genre. The language used (from writer/host Matthew Sweet) is often in the style of the films their discussing which adds to the fun. There are the usual clips from the greatest hits of the genre and the standard bases covered from the dialogue, to lighting/shadows, music, bad news broads, doomed heroes and so on. For longtime fans of the genre, you've probably seen everything discussed but if not, it's definitely worth checking out.
Tagline: Time Was Running Out For Johnny O'Clock ... and so were his women!
Plot: New York gambling house operator Johnny O'Clock is junior partner in a
posh casino with Guido Marchettis and Chuck Blayden, a crooked cop. But
Blayden is trying to cut into the casino's profits and warns Johnny not
to interfere with his intention of becoming Marchettis' full partner.
Blayden ends his relationship with coat check girl Harriet Hobson, then
disappears. Later, Harriet is found dead in her apartment, apparently
from suicide. Police Inspector Koch begins an investigation.He questions
Johnny, Harriet's sister Nancy, who is infatuated with Johnny, and
Johnny's associate, Charlie. When Blayden's body turns up in a nearby
river, and when it is learned that Harriet death wasn't suicide but
murder by poison, Johnny and Marchettis become prime suspects in both
cases.To make matters worse, Pete Marchettis discovers that his wife
Nelle is having an affair with Johnny. Out of jealousy, he sends hired
gunmen to kill Johnny in a drive-by shooting while Johnny is driving
Nancy to the airport. Johnny, now certain that Marchettis has betrayed
him, goes to the casino to end their business partnership.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Johnny O'Clock wouldn't be in this mess if he hadn't been squirelling around with all those dames. He's one troubled dude. Is that why he's such a brooding downer? I don't think I saw him smile or laugh once. Powell does a fine job but for my money, it was Cobb who stole the show as a drab, solid, hardened detective who's out for Johnny and to clean up the criminals. He was great and the picture would've benefited from more of him. But then this is called JOHNNY O'CLOCK and not INSPECTOR KOCH. And while I'm thinking about it, That's a terrible last name. Drinking game: take a shot every time someone says his last name and you'll be hammered in twenty minutes. It's so bad with the number and frequency that it calls attention to itself, hurting the picture for anyone who picks up on (and it's easy to notice and not stop noticing).
The writing has your standard 40s crime dialogue and for the most part it's good. It's when it gets into the melodrama with the broads is when it goes south, and there's enough of it to realize Rossen and Holmes were weak on writing female characters. That's also where the picture shifts halfway in to deal with Johnny's relationships with his women and it starts to drag. Until then, they'd done a nice job with the pacing of that first third only to crawl from that point on until the finish line was in sight. The ending isn't a winner either with it's odd mix of emotions. Johnny's a criminal but he's also the nicest and most charming of all the criminals in the picture so Inspector Koch gets his man but he's not really sore at Johnny, hinting that he'll put in a good word so his punishment won't be so bad. It was just a little too happy for my taste.
Starring: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Baylor, Darryl Hickman, Kevin O'Morrison, James Edwards
Tagline: I Want a Man... Not a Human Punching Bag!
Plot: Because aging boxer Bill Thompson always lost his past fights, his
corrupt manager, without telling Thompson, takes bribes from a betting
gangster, to ensure Thompson's pre-arranged dive-loss in the next match.
My rating: 8.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes!
This is one of the great ones. Robert Wise masterfully sucks you into the picture from start to finish. This picture moves so smoothly that it's over before you know. The flow of this flick is remarkable. The performances all around are top notch. Robert Ryan (as Stoker) is so sympathetic, it hurts and you really feel for Julie (Audrey Totter) in a way that's genuine. These actors aren't playing roles, they ARE their characters. Even the secondary and tertiary roles are solid and from a lot of familiar faces. The first thirty-five minutes sets the picture up. You get the big fight for the next twenty. Then it's the aftermath for the last fifteen. And that soft fade out. Nice. The Warner Bros. DVD has a commentary track with Wise & Martin Scorcese. For as many times as I've seen this, I can't believe I haven't listened to it yet. I should get on it.
Starring: Vittorio Gassman, Gloria Grahame, Ann Robinson, Douglas Spencer, Robin Raymond, Jerry Paris, Elizabeth Slifer, Richard Reeves, Joe Turkel, Jack Teagarden, Shorty Rogers, 'Snub' Pollard
Tagline: It's a 10-Hour Manhunt Through the Jazz-Joints and Sin-Spots of New York!
Plot: Peter, a WW II 'displaced person' about to be deported jumps ship in New
York harbor in an effort to find an ex-G.I named Tom whom he helped
during the war and can prove Peter's right to legal entry in the United
States. It is a race against time for if he can't find Tom within 24
hours and prove his case, he will be branded a fugitive and will be
permanently disqualified for U.S. citizenship.
My rating: 6.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
All but the last twenty minutes are very good and suspenseful. And that's a shame. Gassman (as Peter) does a great job showing his internal pain and struggle. He's most convincing. Once he escapes the ship, he's in NYC and soon in Times Square where he marvels at the sights (as do we, which is great seeing NYC from more than 60 years ago. He pops in and out of hot spots with all kinds of electric activity in the jazz clubs. That was neat. It wasn't until he meets a burlesque dancer, Tanya, that it starts to drift from the thrust of the story. She feels sorry for him, takes him home to rest, meet her mother (who is Hungarian, just like Peter) and spends time giving us more humanity when we'd already had a healthy dose earlier when he spent time with Maggie (who also felt sorry for him and took her home to rest). It feels like more of the same except for the the immigrant family angle. Then it's a race to the finish as he makes his way to the UN building where he somehow makes it inside to the general assembly room for a speech to no one and then onto the roof to kill himself. That final act felt like it needed an overhaul. It's paced well which helps. I didn't find it dull in the least. Plus, as a musician and a fan of the big band era, it was great seeing Jack Teagarden and Shorty Rogers.
Writers: Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman
Composer: Max Steiner
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Peggy Knudsen, Regis Toomey, Charles Waldron, Charles D. Brown, Bob Steele, Elisha Cook Jr., Louis Jean Heydt
Tagline: The type of man she hated . . . was the type she wanted!
Plot: Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the
complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be
love.
My rating: 8/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
For my money, Bogart's THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) was the peak of his detective pictures. THE BIG SLEEP is probably second. It's a good flick that gets a little better with each viewing. I didn't dig it all that much the first time I saw it but I've grown to like it more and more over the years. The cast is great and it's a fun and it's got that great fast talking dialogue that these kids are so good at...and there's some great dialogue in this one. It's a great and convoluted crime thriller even if it's overshadowed by the even better and tighter FALCON. Because of the classic nature of this picture I'm really surprised at how few extras are on the Warner Bros. DVD. All you get is a comparison between the '45 and '46 versions (17 min) and the theatrical trailer.
Writers: Dwight V. Babcock, Richard H. Landau, Rupert Hughes
Composer: Darrell Calker
Starring: Cesar Romero, George Brent, Audrey Totter, Tom Drake, Raymond Burr, Raymond Greenleaf, Margia Dean, Don Garner, Alexander Pope, Richard Monahan, Tommy Noonan, Peter Marshall, Jan Kayne, Joi Lansing
Plot: A governor planning to run for U.S. Senate has a secret past that could
prove damaging to his political aspirations: he's a convicted murderer,
and that will come to light if the FBI does an investigative check on
him. He goes to a local crime boss for help. The racketeer arranges for a
low-level FBI employee to take the incriminating file from FBI
headquarters, but then she is conveniently murdered. Two FBI agents
investigating her murder begin to think that something isn't quite
kosher.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
With a cast like this it's hard to resist, especially when you've got a cheesy title like that. Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr plays a good, intimidating heavy and that's alright with me. I loves me some Cesar Romero but he's going by the numbers here and it's not a role he can lay on his wonderful charm. He's just a G-Man with a job to do. This is the second 74 minute movie I've watched in a row but it's more watchable than some bad 80s fantasy (the other flick was RAGEWAR (1984)). FBI GIRL would've benefited from a major studio's involvement, even if it were one of their B-pictures. Still, you've got an interesting cast that does a good job with the material. The story is good enough but there is some padding with the big finale when the Feds are tailing Raymond Burr. It goes on far too long. Before you know it the picture's over and so was I. Go in with low expectations and you'll find yourself with a decent enough time killer and not much time at that.
Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart, Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph, Art Smith, Herbert Heyes, Jack Overman, John Wengraf, Jim Bannon, William Malten, Reed Hadley
Plot: Two US Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? Maybe.
At first this feels like a straight forward procedural and it is but there are moments where it becomes so much more. Some of the shot compositions are fantastic and there's one scene that had me mesmerized. It's where Harrigan (O'Keefe) sees his undercover partner Galvani (Ryder) for the last time. I don't want to spoil it but it's so expertly shot and utterly chilling that you could tell this movie isn't made by by-the-numbers filmmakers. I'm very familiar with Anthony Mann's work as director and he's solid. This flick caught me by surprise and I like it when that happens. The performances along with everything else are good. It's great entertainment disguised as a B-picture. It's narrated by Reed Hadley (uncredited, too. How does that happen when his narration is all over the picture?) who played Zorro in the wonderful serial ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION (1939).
Tagline: When was the last time you invited death into your car?
Plot: Two fishermen pick up a psychotic escaped convict who tells them that he intends to murder them when the ride is over.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
Great flick. It's mean, hard and just plain good. Director Lupino (her only noir as director) does an excellent job of maintaining the tension from start to finish and it's right up to the end, too. The performances are great, especially from William Talman who plays the mad dog killer, Emmett Myers. I especially like how Emmett toyed with his two captives. You might as well have some fun with your victims, right? The supporting cast is great, too. Considering the crime films I've seen from this era, this one is edgier than most and it's that edge that helps place this picture in a much better class of film. This is a strong recommend for fans of the genre. How about that incredible poster? I'm sure that caused a stir back then. The movie is in the public domain so it's easy to find for free.
Tagline: Expose of the $8,000,000,000 gambling syndicate and its hoodlum empire!
Plot: An electronics expert creates a huge bookie broadcast system for his
crime boss, and takes over operations when his boss is murdered. His
greed leads him on a deadly destructive path.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
While Edmond O'Brien does a fine job, his transition from a regular phone company guy to running the numbers racket in L.A. is thin. There's not even a transition in his performance. He goes from regular guy to crime boss (acting-wise). The story is pretty good, too. It's a long film for what it is (an hour and forty minutes) but there's barely any wasted time. Once Mal (O'Brien) is running the show, it's a matter of time before someone tries to knock him down. That's the final act when all hell breaks loose for him. It doesn't help that he gets the fuzz snooping around after he kills a guy. The finale at the Hoover Dam makes for a great location and an interesting chase. I've been there a couple of times since I was a kid and it's neat seeing it again and in this way. There's enough action and crime stuff to keep fans of the genre entertained. I'd be willing to see it again if there weren't hundreds of other crime pictures from this time that I haven't seen.
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor, Frank Conroy, Ted de Corsia, House Jameson, Anne Sargent, Adelaide Klein, Grover Burgess, Tom Pedi, Enid Markey, Mark Hellinger, James Gregory
Plot: New York City film noir about two detectives investigating the death of
an attractive young woman. The apparent suicide turns out to be murder.
My rating: 6.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Alright, so this is an OK picture. I liked the NYC outdoor filming. It's always neat seeing everyday life from the past. The story is good. I particularly liked how they emphasized the mundane but important tasks of sheer legwork and the countless hours of manpower it takes to ask hundreds of people lots of questions in the hope of finding that one clue that furthers the investigation. Outside of that, there's some hokey acting going on and the narration is borderline silly sometimes. I've seen lots of these films from the era that did it much better. Hell, some of these folks are acting like it was an early 30s picture. I bring this up because this picture has a highly respected reputation which I just don't understand. The extras on the Criterion DVD would probably enlighten me on the reasons why but I don't have the patience to sit through a commentary among the other extras. It's just not interesting enough to keep digging into it. It is neat seeing James Gregory in his first role. I love that guy.
Writers: Norman Reilly Raine, Leo Katcher, Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou
Composer: Michel Michelet
Starring: David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel,Luther Adler, Steve Brodie, Raymond Burr, Glenn Anders, Norman Lloyd, Jim Backus, William Schallert
Tagline: The most gripping motion picture you've ever seen! "M" has struck again!
Plot: In this Americanization of the 1931 German thriller, both the police and
the criminal underworld stalk a mysterious killer who preys on small
children.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
Maybe it's me but I find it unusual for subjects as dark as this to be covered so seriously when this was made. I've seen gobs of movies from this era so I think I might be right but who knows. Anyway, it's been at least twenty-five years since I saw the Fritz Lang's 1931 classic, so long that I remember only a few key beats. This remake is pretty damn good. It's got the period tough talk you find in crime pictures and it's got an often stark look to it but not as stylish as Lang's. I like the harshness of it all. There are long stretch of no music which work really well. You don't get to see the child murders on screen. Less than halfway into the picture the chase is on and things pick up a little but it's already a briskly-paced flick. The finale with the mob is chilling and passionate. The killer's compelling plea is strong. There are some valid arguments made between he and the alcoholic attorney. I think the original ended differently but it makes no difference, really. This remake is a strong picture on its own. Losey & co. did a masterful job.
Tagline: They tried to draw the line .............. just this side of MURDER!
Plot: A lawyer for a rich elderly industrialist works out a complex
inheritance scam to pass off a con as the industrialist's long-lost son
and claim the huge inheritance.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I like popping in pre-1960 crime/noir pictures without knowing anything about them beforehand. They're rarely ever terrible and I generally dig them more often than not. This one's on the short side (about 75 minutes) and it flies by seemingly faster than that. Brandy (Scott) gets down to business once she starts working the man she's been tracking all over the U.S., Michael (O'Brien). It starts to get serious and dark when she tells him he has to get the tip of his finger amputated before she'll give him the details of the caper. That's a tall order. Once you find out why it makes total sense and it seems like a good play. Like a lot of good plans in these pictures, it doesn't go as expected. I like the tone of the film until Kathy (Moore) enters and brings teenage optimism in to offset the darkness. I could've done with less of her and more of the nastiness in the scheme but it's not something that ruins the film by any stretch. Some might find the ending too optimistic as well. I'm OK with it but it would be neat to see an alternate version that took the plan closer to completion and some folks ending up dead. This is one of four films on the Bad Girls of Film Noir set from Columbia. The extras you get are a 7 minute interview with star Terry Moore (and she doesn't even mention this film until literally halfway in) and trailers for this film and the other film that shares this disc, THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950).
Tagline: Hungrily, he watched her walk down the street...and then he squeezed the trigger!
Plot: A sniper kills young brunettes as the police attempt to grapple with the psychology of the unknown assailant.
My rating: 8/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
HOLY SHIT! Great flick! I expected an average crime thriller but this one takes the subject more seriously than most pictures of the era. Something else I didn't expect was a picture about a serial killer, only that term wasn't coined until 2-3 decades later. This dude kills a few broads and not in a shy way. The filmmakers had the balls to show you full on. Nice! The murder of the lounge singer is particularly good as is the man at the end who yells for help. Wow! The dialogue is fast and sharp but not in that noir gumshoe way. With that, the pacing is at times break neck speeds. The way the cops treat the lineup of sex offenders is harsh and says a lot about how naive we as a society were about sexual deviancy and the psychological impact. The performances are solid across the board. I love movies and this is one of those examples of a film that comes out of nowhere and makes an impact. I watch hundreds of films a year and there's a lot of garbage spread out over that year but it's pictures like this that keep me going. It's gems like this that make it all worthwhile. Highly recommended. This is one of six films in the Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics 1. It comes with a commentary from the author Eddie Muller, Martin Scorsese talking about the picture for three minutes and the theatrical trailer. The set is out of print but I highly recommend picking it up. It's a great set and it's great that Columbia went through the trouble of including such worthwhile extras for films most people will live their lives having never hearing of them.
Writers: Howard Dimsdale, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Lee Strasberg, Marvin Borowsky, W. Somerset Maugham
Composer: David Buttolph
Starring: John Hodiak, Nancy Guild, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte, Josephine Hutchinson, Fritz Kortner, Margo Woode, Sheldon Leonard, Lou Nova, Whit Bissell, Jeff Corey, Harry Morgan
Tagline: Meet That Guild Gal...She gives as Good as She Gets!
Plot: George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles,
while trying to track down his old identity, he stumbles onto a 3-year
old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.
My rating: 6/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Ever heard of actor John Hodiak? Me neither. It looks like he was doing a lot of B pictures until his death in '55 at age 41. Judging from this film he probably wasn't likely to work in A films. His acting is pretty stiff. All I have to go off of is this picture. He's not horrible or really all THAT bad but he's somewhat monotone. That could partly due to the role. His co-star and love interest, Nancy Guild, is even worse. She's the Lauren Bacall the studio could get. Fortunately the cast is helped by the addition of Richard Conte and a few familiar faces like Sheldon Leonard, Whit Bissell, Jeff Corey and Harry Morgan. The story isn't too shabby except that it's way too long at almost two hours. It feels even longer with the two stilted leads. The film did a pretty good job at keeping my interest enough to want to know who George Taylor (Hodiak) was and what the hell was going on. It's not rocket science wrapped in mystery but then it is better than your average 40s crime thriller. The 20th Century Fox DVD has some extras in the way of the theatrical trailer, a commentary track with film noir historian Eddie Muller and trailers for THE STREET WITH NO NAME, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and NO WAY OUT.
Writers: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Eric Ambler, Richard Collins, Ben Hecht
Composer: Roy Webb
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Rio, Ruth Warrick, Agnes Moorehead, Jack Durant, Everett Sloane, Eustace Wyatt, Frank Readick, Edgar Barrier, Jack Moss, Stefan Scnabel, Hans Conried, Robert Meltzer, Richard Bennett, Orson Welles
Tagline: Welles and Del Rio together! as Terror Man vs. Leopard Woman--for
possession of a mysterious stranger in the powder-keg Middle East...a
man with a military secret worth more than his love and his life!...It's
menace melodrama thrilled with mighty mystery and suspense...SEE IT!
Plot: A Navy engineer returning to the U.S. with his wife from a conference
finds himself pursued by Nazi agents who are out to kill him. Without a
word to his wife, he flees the hotel the couple is staying in and
boards a ship only to find, after the ship sails, that the agents have
followed him.
My rating: 6.5/10
Will I watch it again? No.
Hmmmm. It's not a bad film by any means but it's not really all that great. It's missing something or a lot of somethings. It starts off with a bang and moves at a nice clip. It's fun watching Howard (Cotten) get whisked away from his wife and somehow end up on a ship without his getting a word out to his wife where he is. I can see how easily it can happen and it was fun seeing Howard get the runaround. We can clearly see what's happening but he's in the middle of it and he's barely has time to make sense of it all. Orson Welles is in it a little and he's a load of fun to watch. What's weird is that there should have been more to the story. It's only 68 minutes long which works to a degree but it would have been nice to stick around longer. Maybe the studio forced the time limit. Maybe there was more to tell but the film makers were restricted. Beats me. I'm certainly happy to have seen it now but it's not something I'll be revisiting. There are far too many other film noirs and thrillers from the forties that I haven't gotten to yet.
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