By David in TN
friday, july 28, 2023 at 7:31:00 p.m. edt
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Anthony Mann's Desperate (1947) with Steve Brodie, Audrey Long, Raymond Burr, Douglas Fowley, Jason Robards Sr.
Film Noir Guide: “Newlywed truck driver Brodie unwittingly becomes involved in a warehouse robbery after being hired by mobster Burr to do a hauling job. During the robbery, Brodie alerts a passing patrolman, who is killed in a shootout with Burr's brother. Brodie gets away but Burr's brother is caught by the cops.
“Burr tries to get the trucker to take the rap by threatening his pregnant wife (Long), so Brodie and Long go on the lam. Unfortunately for them, Burr, whose brother has been sentenced to death, has hired a shady P.I. to find them. Robards plays a crafty detective who uses brodie as bait, hoping to reel in Burr and his gang.
“This is director Mann's first film noir and it’s as hard-boiled and violent as they come. Brodie is excellent as the hapless war hero whose main concern is for his wife and newborn child. Burr, as usual, is a terrific villain.”
David in TN: This is a recycled entry, previously shown on Noir Alley in 2018. A very good one. Raymond Burr in one of his best “Heavy” roles. As a bonus Saturday night before Desperate, TCM shows Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944) at 8 p.m. ET and Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat (1981) at 10 p.m.
On Monday at 11 a.m. ET TCM shows The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). This is the ultimate film noir. The protagonist (John Garfield) sees the sexiest woman he’s ever seen (Lana Turner) at the beginning. At the end, he’s about to be strapped into the gas chamber at San Quentin.
Friday, July 28, 2023
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That's a Who's Who of people I've never heard of:Steve Brodie,Audrey Long,Douglas Fowler.Good plot though--it sounds like.
--GRA
TCM's Film Noir of the Week is on hiatus during the month of August. This Summer Under the Stars Month. Each day a different performer is featured.
This Monday, Robert Ryan films are shown, Among others: Act of Violence, The Naked Spur, Billy Budd, The Set-Up. Oddly Crossfire and Bad Day at Black Rock aren't among them.
Robert Ryan was a left-winger who specialized in playing bigoted characters, as in Crossfire, Bad Day at Black rock, etc.
On Monday Night-Early Tuesday Morning at 12:45 a.m. ET TCM has a rare showing of Executive Action (1973) by hack director David Miller. This is a fantasy of Hollywood leftists. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Will Geer, Lloyd Gough play a group of right-wing conspirators who carry out the "plot to kill JFK."
I think it was Ryan's last film. It was the kind of role he relished.
Something I neglected to mention about Executive Action. The screenplay was written by Communist Donald Trumbo, Mark Lane, and Donald Freed.
Lane was the main purveyor of the "conspiracy." Freed also wrote a book called Killing Time which claimed O.J. Simpson was "innocent" and that Ron Goldman was the target due to being a drug dealer. Sound familiar?
Post a Comment