By David in TN
Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 12:05:00 A.M. EST
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Try and Get Me (1950) starring Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges, with Kathleen Ryan and Richard Carlson, and directed by Cy Enfield (aka Endfield).
This is based on the kidnap-murder of the scion of a prominent family in San Jose, California in 1933 named Brooke Hart. The two (guilty) perps were lynched with no punishment for the lynch mob.
Film Noir Guide: “Lovejoy gives his best performance ever as a war veteran whose desperation drives him to team up with a sociopathic petty crook (Bridges). While his pregnant wife and small child think he’s working the night shift at the factory, Lovejoy is really Bridges’ getaway driver in a series of small-time hold-ups. The money helps his family get back on their feet but Lovejoy, way over his head, begins experiencing conscience pangs. He wants out—but only after one last job, the fabled ‘big one’ that will set his family up for life. Naturally, the job turns sour and ends with a murder.
“The community is soon in an uproar about the partners’ latest crime, thanks to irresponsible reporting by an opportunistic journalist (Carlson). Eventually, Lovejoy’s nagging guilt wears him down and results in the pair’s capture. The exciting and thought-provoking climax is one of the best of its kind. A terrified Lovejoy (no heroics here) and a crazed Bridges...well, see for yourself.
“Also known as The Sound of Fury, Try and get Me delivers it all—an exciting story, fine acting, top-notch photography, and a social message you won't soon forget.”
David in TN: Our friend Eddie Muller (at his reddest) will probably wax lachrymose over left-wing director Cy Enfield.
This is the last TCM Noir of the Week for a month. February is devoted to Oscar nominations in movies.
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TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 am ET is Robert Montgomery's Ride the Pink Horse (1947). Montgomery directs and stars along with Thomas Gomez, Wanda Hendrix, Art Smith, Fred Clark, Andrea King, Richard Gaines, with a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer. The Eddie Muller-hosted feature returns after a month's hiatus.
Film Noir Guide: "A tough World War II veteran (Montgomery) seeking the gangster (Clark) responsible for a friend's murder, arrives in a small New Mexico town during the annual festival. When he finds Clark, he picks up where his buddy left off--blackmailing the hood with a copy of the $100,000 check that Clark used to pay off a politician. With a little help from Gomez, the friendly Mexican owner of a carousel, and a strange Indian girl (Hendrix), Montgomery must elude Clark's knife-wielding thugs, who want to retrieve the check without paying him for it. Meanwhile, a middle-aged G-Man (Smith) is tailing the veteran, hoping to get his hands on the evidence that will send Clark to the penitentiary. King plays Clark's scheming moll, and Gaines is his right-hand man. This film is different, exciting, and well-acted, with Gomez giving a standout performance. Montgomery is excellent as the hard-boiled veteran who 'fought a war for three years and got nothing out of it but a dangle of ribbons.'"
Ride the Pink Horse is a favorite of mine. Eddie Muller previously praised Bob Montgomery for keeping the Chicago mob out of Hollywood in the late 30's. Maybe this time Eddie will observe Montgomery, a leading anti-Communist, teamed with several left-wingers to make this film.
Earlier Saturday night, at 8 pm ET, TCM shows The Paper Chase (1973), with John Houseman's famous Oscar-winning performance as an intimidating Harvard Law School professor. Timothy Bottoms plays a student who romances the professor's daughter, played by Lindsay Wagner.
Years ago my brother, who is a lawyer who graduated from the University of Tennessee law school told me the questions Houseman frightens his students with aren't that hard.
Following The Paper Chase (it must be early 70's night) is Love Story (1970). Too me, this is one of the most overrated films of all time. Naturally, it was a big box office hit.
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