By David in TN
Friday, May 22, 2020 at 2:51:00 P.M. EDT
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight ET and 10 a.m. ET is Edward Dmytryk’s Cornered (1945). Dick Powell stars along with Walter Slezak, Micheline Cheirel, Morris Carnovsky and Luther Adler.
Film Noir Guide: “A former Canadian flyer and newly released prisoner of war, Powell is searching for the man responsible for his French bride’s death.
“Hellbent on vengeance, he travels to France, Switzerland, and, finally, Argentina, where he encounters French patriots, Vichy collaborators, and Nazi conspirators. His frustrating, grief-inspired mission to find and destroy a man who may not even be alive plays havoc with his intelligence and common sense, causing him to make foolish blunders.
“In the end, though, it’s not his brain but his brawn that pulls him through. Character actor Adler plays a mysterious Nazi collaborator who already longs for the next war when, of course, the outcome will be different. Slezak is just right as the slimy, detestable cad who will work for anyone as long as the price is right.
“Song-and-dance man Powell, who proved in Murder, My Sweet that he could play a tough guy with the best of them, turns in another fine performance and ensured his place in the annals of hard-boiled film noir.”
TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:15 am ET and 10 am ET is A Kiss Before Dying (1956) starring Robert Wagner with Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, and George Macready. Gerd Oswald, who directed many TV shows such as Perry Mason, directed.
ReplyDeleteFilm Noir Guide: "A Korean Ward veteran (Wagner), now a college student, gets his girlfriend (Woodward) pregnant. Knowing that her wealthy daddy )Macready) would disown her if he found out, Wagner decides that the only way to marry into her rich family is to get rid of Woodward and romance her sister (Leith). After making Woodard's death look like a suicide, Wagner ingratiates himself with Macready and Leith but worries when Leith comes to the conclusion that Woodard was murdered. Hunter plays a homicide detective convinced that Leith is on the right track. Astor plays Wagner's mother. The tension-filled script, a horrifying rooftop scene and good performances, especially by Wagner (cast way against type as the handsome psychopath) makes this Technicolor noir a real nail-biter. Remade in 1991 with Matt Dillon and Sean Young."
I wonder what Eddie Muller will do with this one. Will he wax lyrical over the director? Most likely he'll talk up the 1981 drowning death of Wagner's wife, Natalie Wood with Wagner himself and Christopher Walken also present on the boat.
That being said, A Kiss Before Dying is a good thriller-type film.