FilmWeViews.com » Film Noir

Too Late for Tears

movieMoll — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:37:31 +0000

When a bag full of cash drops — literally — into her lap, Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott) is hellbent on hanging on to it, no matter who gets hurt. Her husband Alan (Arthur Kennedy) is a sap, and Danny Fuller (Dan Duryea) the thug who claims the money is rightfully his is slimy. However, Lizabeth Scott is so cold and calculating as the femme fatale you end up feeling sorry for both guys. This is hard-boiled film noir with some sharp dialogue — “Don’t ever change, Tiger. I don’t know if I’d like you if you had a heart.” (Danny to Jane). Unfortunately, the DVD quality was less than sharp. (99 min.)

Unrated - 1949

Director:
Byron Haskin

Starring:
Lizabeth Scott
Don DeFore
Dan Duryea
Arthur Kennedy
Kristine Miller
Barry Kelley

Writer:
Roy Huggins (story and screenplay)

Too Late for Tears

GroovyMovieGuy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:30:05 +0000

What do we learn from film noir? Crime and greed don’t pay — especially when there’s a dame involved.
Ill-gotten gains, even though innocently acquired, bring turmoil into the life of Alan Palmer (Arthur Kennedy) and his wife Jane (Lizabeth Scott). A shady character Danny (Dan Duryea), Alan’s sister Cathy (Kristine Miller) and the mysterious Don Blake (Don DeFore) try to unweave the couple’s tangled web — for good and not-so-good reasons.
Watching stupid and greedy people compound mistake after foolish mistake generally ruins a movie for me; however, DeFore manages to up the suspense as the plot thickens. In the end it’s a pretty good flick. (99 min.)

Unrated - 1949

Director:
Byron Haskin

Starring:
Lizabeth Scott
Don DeFore
Dan Duryea
Arthur Kennedy
Kristine Miller
Barry Kelley

Writer:
Roy Huggins (story and screenplay)

Detour

movieMoll — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:23:53 +0000

Never pick up hitchhikers. Al Roberts (Tom Neal) learns this lesson the hard way. Waving his thumb, Al hits the road from New York to California to reunite with his girlfriend. He thinks he’s in the home stretch when he gets picked up by a guy named Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald) who says he’s going all the way to L.A. Haskell promptly drops dead. Because he fears the police would never believe his ride died of natural causes, Al dumps the body and steals the car. Just to prove he’s a good guy, Al picks up a hitch-hiking dame named Vera, spelled with a “V” as in vicious. Vera (Ann Savage) worms the story out of poor Al and sets about blackmailing him. This little film noir earns its cult classic status with some really high quality photography for a low-budget film — and one of the cruelest femme fatales in movie history. (67 min.)

Unrated - 1945

Starring:
Tom Neal
Ann Savage
Claudia Drake
Edmund MacDonald

Director:
Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:
Martin Goldsmith (screenplay and original story)

Detour

GroovyMovieGuy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:22:53 +0000

Dark, gritty, noir. That’s all the good things I can say about this movie.
For some reason “Detour” has developed a cult following. Beats me why.
Everyone makes mistakes — and sometimes they are big ones — but most of us stop at some point. Our leading man makes mistakes, big mistakes, and keeps piling more on. Stupid and weak, I just couldn’t care about him and soon wished him the worst.
W.C. Fields made a movie with the title “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.” Our hero got many more breaks than he deserved.
Watch “Laura,” watch “Kansas City Confidential,” watch “The Stranger.” Don’t watch “Detour” unless you’ve seen every other film noir movie. (67 min.)

Unrated - 1945

Starring:
Tom Neal
Ann Savage
Claudia Drake
Edmund MacDonald

Director:
Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:
Martin Goldsmith (screenplay and original story)

He Walked by Night

movieMoll — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:33:28 +0000

The title sounded like this was going to be a vampire or werewolf movie. It’s actually a police procedural done in pseudo-documentary style, with a behind-the-scenes look at the infancy of CSI. Basehart, who walks by day as well as by night, does good job as cold, calculating criminal with no qualms about killing cops. However, we’re never clued in as to what his ultimate plans are for his clever electronic inventions. Basehart manages to elude the cops in some pretty ingenious ways. Most interestingly, though, is that this movie was obviously the inspiration for the TV series “Dragnet.” It’s done in the same style, with the whole ‘only the names have been changed to protect the innocent’ bit. And Jack Webb, who would become Joe Friday in the series, has a small part as a lab tech. (79 min.)

Unrated - 1948

Starring:
Richard Basehart
Scott Brady
Roy Roberts
Whit Bissell
Jimmy Cardwell
Jack Webb

Director:
Alfred L. Werker

Writers:
Crane Wilbur (story and screenplay)
John C. Higgins (screenplay)
Harry Essex (additional dialogue)

Laura

movieMoll — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:14:53 +0000

Sometimes a movie brings all its elements together perfectly — the cast, the performances, the story, the dialogue, the direction, the lighting, the music, the photography. Film noir classic “Laura” is such a movie. Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) begins to fall in love with Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) as he investigates her murder and gets to know her through interrogations of suspects, via flashbacks. Narrating the first half of the film is Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), a witty and acerbic newspaper columnist who had been Laura’s mentor and confidante. Also under suspicion is Laura’s playboy fiance Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), who has an interesting relationship with Laura’s aunt, Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson). Part murder mystery with intriguing plot twists, and part romantic obsession, the movie is beautifully punctuated by David Raksin’s haunting “Laura’s Theme.” (88 min.)

Unrated - 1944

Starring:
Gene Tierney
Dana Andrews
Clifton Webb
Vincent Price
Judith Anderson

Director:
Otto Preminger

Writers:
Vera Caspary (novel)
Jay Dratler (screenplay)
Samuel Hoffenstein (screenplay)
Betty Reinhardt (screenplay)

Laura

GroovyMovieGuy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:13:11 +0000

It’s too bad that many people have forgotten what a fine actor Vincent Price was. His performance in the film noir classic “Laura” is outstanding and worthy of one who as a younger man played leading man on Broadway against Helen Hayes.
Clifton Webb received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his supporting actor role. Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews were dead on as the femme fatale and tough detective.
Look for Oleg Cassini’s cameo as himself. He was Gene Tierney’s husband at the time.
The cinematography in “Laura” is a beautiful version of film noir, winning Joseph LaShelle the Best Cinematography (Black and White) Oscar. Other Oscar nominations include Best Art Direction-Interior Direction (Black and White), Best Writing-Screenplay as well as Best Director to Otto Preminger.
The accolades are truly deserved, as this is a noir classic that should not be missed. (88 min.)

Unrated - 1944

Starring:
Gene Tierney
Dana Andrews
Clifton Webb
Vincent Price
Judith Anderson

Director:
Otto Preminger

Writers:
Vera Caspary (novel)
Jay Dratler (screenplay)
Samuel Hoffenstein (screenplay)
Betty Reinhardt (screenplay)

Where the Sidewalk Ends

movieMoll — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:37:40 +0000

In “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” Detective Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) is a cop who thinks he can step on the wrong side of the law to bring the bad guys down. But nothing’s that simple in this taut, atmospheric film noir thriller, directed by Otto Preminger. In Dixon’s attempt to frame sleazy villain Tommy Scalise (Gary Merrill), he inadvertently casts suspicion on kindly cab driver Jiggs Taylor (Tom Tully) — just as he begins to fall in love with Taylor’s beautiful daughter (Gene Tierney). Dana Andrews epitomizes the angry, flawed leading men of the film noir genre, and looks like he was born to wear a fedora and an overcoat. Dixon eventually finds redemption in a bitter-sweet ending. (95 min.)

Unrated - 1950

Starring:
Dana Andrews
Gene Tierney
Gary Merrill
Bert Freed
Tom Tully
Karl Malden
Ruth Donnelly
Craig Stevens

Director:
Otto Preminger

Writers:
Ben Hecht (screenplay)
Victor Trivas (adaptation)
Frank P. Rosenberg (adaptation)
Robert E. Kent (adaptation)
William L. Stuart (novel)

Impact

movieMoll — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:58:25 +0000

Successful businessman Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) is crazy about his beautiful wife Irene (Helen Walker) — and she’s crazy about someone else. Irene and the other man plot to get her husband out of the way so they can enjoy his money without being inconvenienced. The murder doesn’t exactly go as planned. “Impact” is a bit schizophrenic — part film noir, part Mayberry, but both parts are enjoyable to watch. Walker is great as the femme fatale and the San Francisco locales are beautifully shot. Great quote from movie: “In this world, you turn the other cheek, and you get hit with a lug wrench” - Walter Williams. (111 min.)

1949 - Unrated

Starring:
Brian Donlevy
Ella Raines
Charles Coburn
Helen Walker
Anna May Wong
Robert Warwick
Mae Marsh
Tony Barrett

Director:
Arthur Lubin

Writers:
Jay Dratler (story, writer)
Dorothy Davenport (screenwriter)

Woman in the Window

movieMoll — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:40:08 +0000

College professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) commiserates with colleagues that he is past the age for adventure until he meets dream “Woman in the Window” Alice Reed (Joan Bennett), whose portrait he had admired. Drinks with Reed in her apartment propels the professor into a downward spiral of murder and blackmail. Robinson gives an elegant, understated performance and supporting actor Dan Duryea’s portrayal of a sleazy blackmailer is pitch perfect. Not as well-known as some of Fritz Lang’s other film noir thrillers, including “While the City Sleeps” and “The Big Heat,” the director creates with “Woman in the Window” a taut suspense movie with a twist for an ending that some viewers will find clever and others annoying. (99 min.)

Unrated -1944

Starring:
Edward G. Robinson
Joan Bennett
Raymond Massey
Dan Duryea
Edmund Breon
Thomas E. jackson
Dorothy Peterson
Arthur Loft

Director:
Fritz Lang

Writers:
Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)
J.H. Wallis (novel)