By David in TN
Friday, October 11, 2019 at 3:34:00 P.M. EDT
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET is Fritz Lang's Clash by Night (1952). The cast is loaded: Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, J. Carroll Naish, Keith Andes.
Film Noir Guide: “A top-notch cast brings new life to this screen version of Clifford Odets’ failed Broadway play. Stanwyck plays a world-weary woman who returns to her fishing community after a decade of big-city disillusionment. A bulky, big-hearted fisherman (Douglas) quickly falls in love with her. During their courtship, Douglas makes the mistake of introducing her to his buddy (Ryan), an embittered mysogynist, who spends his free time hitting the bottle and worrying about his faithless stripper wife. Stanwyck, who is looking for ‘a man who isn’t mean and doesn’t hate women,’ takes an instant dislike to Ryan, and when she becomes aware of the sexual tension between them, she agrees to marry the dumbfounded Douglas, who can’t believe his good luck.
“After Ryan’s wife divorces him, he makes his move on Stanwyck, who by now is bored with playing housewife and mother. Andes is Stanwyck’s brother, unenthusiastic about her return, especially since his gorgeous steady (Monroe) is an admirer of Stanwyck’s daring and independence. Veteran character actor Naish plays Douglas’ moocher uncle. Stanwyck is good as the faithless but guilt-stricken wife, as is Douglas as the overly trusting and quick-to-forgive cuckold. But the film belongs to Ryan, as Douglas’ cynical ‘friend.’ Fans who prefer a dash of crime with their noir might not enjoy this soap opera.”
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TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:15 am and 10 am ET is This Gun For Hire (1942). This film was Alan Ladd's first big role and was the first teaming of Ladd with Veronica Lake. It stars Ladd, Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Mark Lawrence, directed by Frank Tuttle.
Film Noir Guide: "Ladd is a cat-loving hit man who's out to get the client who betrayed him by paying him in marked bills. Cregar, delightfully despicable as Ladd's double-crossing client, works for a chemical company that's selling secrets to the Japanese. Veteran baddy Lawrence plays his goon. Because of her connection to Cregar, nightclub performer Lake is approached by a U.S. Senator, who convinces her to work undercover to help prove that Cregar and his boss are traitors. Her mission is so top secret that she can't even tell her detective boyfriend (Preston) about it. On the train to Los Angeles, she's taken hostage by Ladd and soon discovers that there's a dark, Freudian reason for his descent into murder and self-destruction. This Gun For Hire, the film that made Alan Ladd a star, was the first of seven films starring the fabulous Ladd-Lake team (including two other films noirs, The Glass Key and The Blue Dahlia). Actor James Cagney directed a 1957 remake entitled Short Cut to Hell."
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