Friday, October 2, 2020 at 5:58:00 P.M. EDT
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight ET and 10 a.m. ET is Otto Preminger’s Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). A great cast features Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Karl Malden, Craig Stevens, Bert Freed, Neville Brand, screenplay by Ben Hecht.
For a change, Eddie Muller chooses a very good one not previously on Noir Alley. A detective tries to cover up an accidental killing and pin it on a mobster.
Film Noir Guide: “Andrews, a two-fisted police detective warned by his boss to lay off the rough stuff, gets into a brawl with an inebriated murder suspect (Stevens, TV's Peter Gunn) and accidentally kills him. Already self-conscious and ashamed because he's known on both sides of the law as the son of a thief killed by police, Andrews hides the body and tries to frame Merrill, a local hood.
“During the investigation, he meets Stevens’ estranged wife (Tierney) and falls in love with her. When Tierney’s father is arrested by police lieutenant Malden for his son-in-law’s murder, Andrews faces the inevitable choice—do the right thing and go to jail or continue to cover up.
“Freed is Andrews’ understanding partner, who must hock his wife’s jewelry to help his friend assuage his guilt. Andrews is outstanding in one of his best performances, and Merrill is excellent as the murderous hood. Brand gives one of his enjoyable, patented performances as the sadistic thug.”
TCM is showing an anti-Communist Film Noir! On Friday, October 9, at 6:45 pm ET, TCM shows The Woman on Pier 13 (1950) There is an excellent cast with Robert Ryan, Laraine Day, Janis Carter, John Agar, Thomas Gomez, William Talman, directed by Robert Stevenson.
ReplyDeleteFilm Noir Guide: "Ryan, the newly married vice-president of a shipping company, has a secret past: As a young member of the Communist Party, he killed a man during a party-agitated riot. Unfortunately for him, Commies Gomez and Carter(Ryan's former lover) want him back now that he holds such an influential position. They blackmail him into sabotaging labor negotiations with the longshoreman's union, forcing a strike. Ryan's bride (Day) is in the dark about his tainted past and is justifiably confused by his violent mood swings. Her impressionable brother (Agar) falls in love with Commie temptress Carter and begins spouting Party propaganda at union meetings. Carnival worker Talman doubles as a contract killer for the Party. ..., this standard Red hysteria film was produced by billionaire Howard Hughes (see Hughes' other Red films I was a Communist for the FBI and The Whip Hand. Carter is enjoyable as the Party's femme fatale."
You notice Film Noir Guide had to attack the film. On its own terms, The Woman on Pier 13 is a typical RKO product; short (73 minutes) with plenty of plot and action, a good noir-style plot, good acting, Janis Carter was one of the best femme fatales.
Incidentally, Robert Ryan was a very left-wing actor. Usually he played a vicious Bad Guy. This time he's heroic.
On this day, TCM features a series of film noir set in San Francisco starting at 7:45 am ET with Nora Prentiss, followed by Born to Kill, Dark Passage (Bogey and Bacall), Out of the Past, Race Street, Impact, and finally The Woman on Pier 13.
TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:30 am ET and 10 am ET is The Racket (1951), with Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott, William Talman, Ray Collins, William Conrad, Brett King, directed by John Cromwell.
ReplyDeleteFilm Noir Guide: "Ryan gives a seething performance as a hopelessly old-fashioned gangster, a dinosaur who has been ruling his town with an iron fist but who refuses to give in to pressure from the new syndicate boss (known only as the 'old man') and his sophisticated henchmen to tone down the rough stuff and get with the times. Mitchum, an honest cop surrounded by crooked superiors and politicians, is out to nab Ryan and his younger brother (King). Scott is the wily torch singer with matrimonial plans for King, despite Ryan's disapproval. Collins plays a wishy-washy assistant D.A., who's supported by the syndicate in his bid to become mayor, and Conrad is one of the many cops on the syndicate's payroll. Mitchum gives too laid-back of a performance, even for him, but Talman, as Mitchum's gung-ho protege, is excellent."
Notable as pairing RKO's two big stars (Mitchum and Ryan). Also, somewhat unusual for William Talman to be a heroic character.