By David in TN
Friday, February 25, 2022 at 9:44:00 P.M. EST
TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is a British film, Cast a Dark Shadow (1957), with Dirk Bogarde, Mona Washbourne, Margaret Lockwood and Kay Walsh.
Film Noir Guide: “Sociopath Bogarde has developed a nice little scam: He marries wealthy widows and murders them for their money.
“His current wife (Washbourne), having fallen for his evil charm, intends to change her will, leaving everything to Bogarde. Believing that she’s planning to disinherit him, he kills her before she can sign the paperwork, and winds up with only the house and no cash.
“Broke, he next weds a saloonkeeper’s street-smart widow (Lockwood), who he thinks is wealthy. The joke is on him when he discovers that she’s a con artist who married HIM for HIS money.
“When Bogarde meets Walsh, an eligible lady with money, it seems that the cycle will start all over. Lockwood, however, isn’t a willing victim.
“This British noir entry is a bit confusing, but Bogarde is terrific as the charismatic (but unlucky) schemer. Sources differ as to the actual date that this film was released. Some say 1955, while others put it at 1957 and 1958. The film itself shows no date in its credits.”
David in TN: To me, Bogarde was always better as a bad guy.
Noir Alley will not be on in March. Maybe this is a good thing, considering Eddie’s selections the last year.
Early Friday Morning at 5 am ET, TCM shows Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1959). Max Von Sydow stars as a land owner in 13th Century Sweden whose daughter goes riding in a forest. She meets three herdsmen who take the opportunity for rape-murder. The killers later take refuge at Von Sydow's house, whereupon he discovers they killed his daughter. Von Sydow then enacts his revenge.
ReplyDeleteThe Virgin Spring is based on a Swedish folk tale and shows something about life in the 13th Century. Wes Craven's Last House on the Left (1972) is supposedly derived from it.
Present day murders of this type are called "random."
TCM's Film Noir of the Week returns this Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:45 and 10 am ET with Andre De Toth's Pitfall (1948) with Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, Byron Barr.
Film Noir Guide: "Powell is a successful insurance agent bored with the American dream--the wife (Wyatt), the kid, the house in the suburbs. A gorgeous model (Scott) comes along and helps him relieve his boredom. The affair doesn't last long because when Scott finds out that Powell is married, she ends it quickly.
What should have been just a once-in-a-lifetime fling turns into Powell's worst nightmare when a shady P.I. (Burr), who has had designs on Scott for some time, decides to make serious trouble for Scott's family. Meanwhile, Scott's jealous boyfriend (Barr), a convict whom Burr has been taunting about his girl's infidelity, is about to be released on parole.
Noir icons Scott, Burr and Powell make this a pleasurable film noir viewing experience."
David In TN: Eddie Mueller is recycling Pitfall.