The Dark Corner (1946)

After 'Laura' became a box office hit in 1944, 20th Century Fox wanted to cash in on its success. One of the movies they hoped would continue the profitable streak was 1946's 'The Dark Corner', and it did prove to be a successful movie. The movie was based on a story by Leo Rosten which appeared as a serial in 'Good Housekeeping' magazine in 1945 (under the pseudonym Leonard Q. Ross). 'The Dark Corner' is a far darker and more typical noir movie than the more stylish & upper-class 'Laura' however, but there's a clear connection between the two due to the character played by Clifton Webb, which I'll get into later on. The screenplay was penned by Jay Dratler, who also worked on 'Laura's screenplay, and Bernard Schoenfeld ('Phantom Lady', 'Macao'). The movie was directed by Henry Hathaway, with Joseph MacDonald handling the cinematography. They also worked together on a couple of other noirs including 'Call Northside 777' and 'Niagara'. Cyril Mockridge ('Nightmare Alley', 'Where The Sidewalk Ends') did the (sparse) musical score.

Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) is a private detective in NYC, with Kathleen Stewart (Lucille Ball) as his secretary. One day they notice a man in a white suit (William Bendix) is tailing them. Galt sets up a trap for the guy, who uses a lifted wallet to pretend he's a Fred Foss, and after some violent coercion 'Foss' explains a guy named Jardine hired him to tail Galt. Tony Jardine (Kurt Kreuger) was Galt's old partner in a small lawfirm back in San Fransisco, who did some blackmailing of rich married women on the side and who framed Galt for manslaughter after Galt threatened to expose him. After doing a 2 year stretch in prison, Galt relocated to NYC to start a new life/career. Jardine in the meantime has also moved to NYC and is having an affair with Mari Cathcart (Cathy Downs), the wife of wealthy art collector and gallery owner Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb). Galt however had no idea about Jardine moving to NYC, and tries to figure out why Jardine wants him tailed. Unfortunately for him, Jardine ends up dead in Galt's apartment, with Galt drugged and the poker used to bash in Jardine's head in his hand. Now Galt has to try and figure out what's going on, who's behind it all, why he's used as a patsy and how to clear his name.

'Listen... If you don't wanna lose that stardust look in your eyes, get going while the door's still open. If you stick around here, you'll get grafters, shysters, two-bit thugs and maybe worse... Maybe me.'
'I like those odds. I'll take them.'

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out from the synopsis above what's broadly going on in this movie, and it's not hard to figure out fairly early on in the movie either. But it does not matter too much, because a lot of this information is not revealed to Galt until much later in the movie, so it's still interesting to follow Galt around, and seeing him and Kathleen chasing leads that end up going nowhere. What's great however, is that small and seemingly insignificant things become events that help move the plot forward later on in the movie. When Galt corners 'Foss' in his office, 'Foss' accidentally spills ink over Galt's hand, which Galt wipes off on 'Foss's white suit. This ink stain returns later on in the movie to provide a lead to Galt, the same with a hanger attached to 'Foss's keys. There is also an innocent little girl with a penny-whistle who lives in the same building as 'Foss'. Essentially, the story feels much more convoluted than it really is, but the attention to detail and small things that turn out to be important, or seemingly so in any case, aids a lot in the enjoyment of the unfolding of the plot.

As far as noir actors go, Mark Stevens is underrated in my opinion. I enjoyed him in 'Time Table', but also for instance in 'The Street With No Name'. He was never seen as a lead actor who could draw in an audience however, which might explain why he's billed fourth behind Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb and William Bendix, despite being the movie's protagonist. There's a very nice write-up on him here, with more information on his life and acting career. Here he plays a seemingly typical noir private detective, but with a twist. Where Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe etc are pretty tough to the core, Bradford Galt talks the hard-boiled talk, but doesn't always walk the hard-boiled walk. He's prone to breaking down and feeling lost, desperate, when things get tough or he hits another brick wall. Galt is much more vulnerable than Spade or Marlowe, and Stevens plays him pretty well here, even if he comes off as a dead ringer for Alan Ladd appearance-wise at times. Some critics have judged Bradford Galt as being 'whiny', but I found it to be pretty cool, it makes for a nice change from the usual tough-guy detective. Galt/Stevens explains his vulnerable, lost side pretty well in a great quote, which would never have been said in this 'what the hell is going on, what's happening to me?!' way by Spade or Marlowe:

'I feel all dead inside. I'm backed up in a dark corner and I don't know who's hitting me.'

Lucille Ball plays Galt's secretary Kathleen Stewart as a witty and motherly type. She's both falling for Galt, and he for her, as well as taking care of him in a motherly fashion. Kathleen helps Galt get back on his feet when Galt succumbs to another bout of sulking and feeling like nothing's working out. It's an uncommon male-female dynamic in film noir and it works very well here, due to Ball and Stevens's acting. Lucille Ball was still several years away from her iconic role in 'I Love Lucy', and would appear in another noir, 'Lured' in 1947. But her face is instantly recognizable and she has this infectious bubbly vibe, without her character becoming an out-of-place comedic type. She's a pleasant surprise here. Lucille Ball would afterwards speak about this movie and her experience filming it in not-so-kind words, but it doesn't show in her performance, which is highly enjoyable. She was on loan from MGM at the time as she was trying to get out of her MGM contract, and she also had a less-than-stellar experience working with Henry Hathaway on this movie, neither of which probably helped her feel good about doing this movie.

Bendix is always solid in noirs ('The Blue Dahlia', 'The Web'), where he predominantly played a somewhat boorish/brutish guy usually on the wrong side of the law or if he was good guy like in 'The Web' there's still something sinister/crooked about him, and that's the kind of character he plays here as well. He would become famous as Chester Riley in the comedy series 'The Life Of Riley' but he was a much more versatile actor than that, and his noirs prove it. With his big frame and oaf-ish look he could play a mean tough guy as well as a loveable teddybear-like guy. There's a funny exchange between him/Foss and Clifton Webb/Henry Cathcart where the differences between the characters' backgrounds are like fire & water. Foss is a man from the street and Cathcart is a sophisticated, educated man and their respective diction reflects this. Cathcart doesn't speak or understand Foss's language, such as 'crusto-busto' which means 'a flop'. But when they talk to Galt on the phone, it becomes even funnier when Cathcart whispers instructions to Foss who relays them to Galt:

Cathcart: 'Tell him you need $200 to leave town.'
Foss: 'I need 2 yards, powder money.'

Small details like that in the script really work in a movie's favor as mentioned before, and it does so here as well. Making sure people speak in a manner that is in line with the character's background, makes a movie more realistic.

Clifton Webb essentially plays Waldo Lydecker, his role from 'Laura', here. Again he plays a smug and wealthy debonair, and again he plays a character who's obsessed by a younger woman, and again there's a painting involved with a portrait of this younger person. In this case the painting only resembles the younger woman, Mira, and is a not direct portrait of her, but the resemblances between both Cathcart and Lydecker are too apparent to ignore. Clifton Webb seemed to be made for these roles, and he's great here again. He doesn't dish out as many memorable put-downs and comebacks here as in 'Laura' tho, but he gets his fair share of quote-able lines still. His obsession, and here also his wife, Mari, played by Cathy Downs, doesn't electrify the screen nearly as much as Gene Tierney does in 'Laura' however. Mari is fairly demure, even though she has an affair with Jardine, she's not made out to be a femme fatale type of woman. She comes across as someone who's not particularly happy in her marriage to Cathcart, but who's also not resentful towards him. She's the least interesting character/part of this movie for me, even when Cathcart explains his reason for loving Mari when showing the portrait to some wealthy clients, with her present, she doesn't seem upset or in any way emotionally invested in it. I think a more sultry actress/character would've worked better in adding another edge to the movie. Ella Raines came to my mind as I was watching this movie.

The movie's look is pure noir, MacDonald did a really good job here. There are a ton of dark shadows and contrast-rich shots, and the movie is beautiful to look at in all its visual chiaroscuro noirness. Almost every shot is lighted in a great, but also effective and meaningful manner that works within the story. 'The Dark Corner' can definitely be used as a great example of 'the noir look' if one wants to show people what noir looks like, it's got a ton of great chiaroscuro shots. The main problem this movie has, is that it reminds too much of better noirs, of the classics. The references to 'Laura' have already been mention ad nauseum, but Galt's office and the way shadows are used within it, also remind of Spade's office in 'The Maltese Falcon'. The lack of a real femme fatale also doesn't help. 'The Dark Corner' is not a movie that belongs in the top echelon of the classic noirs, but it's on the second rung, looking up. It is a well-made noir that has almost everything a truly classic noir needs, and it's a treat to watch. It probably is a bit under-rated and deserves more credit in my opinion. Highly recommended.

8/10

The Chase (1946)

'The Chase' from 1946 is one of several films noirs based on Cornell Woolrich stories, in this case on his novel 'The Black Path Of Fear'. Other films noirs based on his work include 'Deadline At Dawn', 'Black Angel' and 'No Man Of Her Own'. For 'The Chase', Philip Yordan turned the novel into a screenplay. Arthur Ripley directed this movie, he did most of his work, as a director but especially as a screenwriter, in the 20s and 30s. The music was done by Michel Michelet ('Impact', 1951's 'M') and cinematography was handled by Frank Planer ('Criss Cross', 'Champion'), one of the many moviemakers who fled Germany after Hitler came to power and brought the German expressionist movement to Hollywood, which was a major influence on the look and feel of film noir in general.

The rest of this review reveals and discusses the main plot twist of this movie, because it's almost impossible to discuss this unique movie without doing so. Please keep that in mind.

Chuck Scott (Robert Cummings, 'Dial M For Murder', 'The Accused') is a Navy veteran in Florida who's down on his luck, out of a job and out of money. One morning he finds a wallet loaded with money lying on the pavement. After buying himself a big breakfast he returns the wallet to its owner, gangster Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran, 'White Heat', Private Hell 36') who lives in a mansion together with his wife Lorna (Michèle Morgan, 'Passage To Marseille', 'The Fallen Idol') and his side-kick/business associate, the slimy Gino (Peter Lorre, 'M', 'The Maltese Falcon'). Roman appreciates Scott's honesty and hires him as his new chauffeur. Chuck also becomes Lorna's chauffeur for evening trips, usually to the seaside. Lorna is unhappy in her marriage to the violent & ruthless Eddie, and she dreams of escaping to Havana. She asks Chuck if he can help her, and he accepts, as they've slowly grown closer and closer. The next morning, he buys them tickets and in the evening they board the ship to Havana. On the boat they finally admit their feelings for each other. In Havana they end up in a busy nightclub, but it is there that Lorna dies in Chuck's arms with a knife in her back. Nobody saw who did it, and Chuck is interrogated. When Chuck explains he bought a similar, but slightly different, knife that same day, he becomes the police's only suspect, even more so when the shopkeeper confirms he bought the knife that killed Lorna. Chuck manages to escape from the police however, but when he backtracks to the shopkeeper's place later that night, Gino is there, they were on to Lorna and Chuck the entire time! Chuck's been framed for Lorna's murder, and even worse, Gino spots Chuck and kills him... And then Chuck wakes up from a feverish nightmare, it's still the afternoon after he bought the tickets to Havana, he's dizzy and nauseous and doesn't know why he's wearing a chauffeur's uniform or why he's in a room next to the mansion's garage. The whole trip to Havana was nothing but a dream, one which Chuck can't remember either. Chuck calls his Navy shrink, Commander Davidson (Jack Holt) and goes over to see him. Davidson realizes Chuck has had another bout of 'anxiety neurosis' which he suffered from during his time in the Navy and takes him to a bar to have a drink and calm down. There Chuck slowly puts together the pieces of the puzzle and makes his way to the mansion to pick up Lorna to go to Havana after all. But Roman and Gino, sitting in the same club as where Davidson and Chuck are, are made aware of Lorna & Chuck's plans by sheer coincidence and drive off to the harbor to stop them...

The plot of the movie contains the major, and highly unexpected, twist of the whole escape to Havana which culminates in the deaths of both Lorna and Chuck being nothing more than a dream sequence. It turns the movie upside-down, from a fairly straight-forward noir thriller about Chuck and Lorna trying to escape from Eddie Roman's crooked ways with them eventually ending up dead, to a weird amnesia-like noir where Chuck might or might not relive/escape the events in Havana once again. It is a weird, but very intriguing twist, but not exactly the only crazy thing about this movie. Another unique thing is Eddie Roman's car, which has a James Bond-like gadget: it has an extra set of pedals fitted in front of the backseat, so Eddie can take over and control the speed of the car. It provides for a memorable scene where Eddie tests Chuck's nerves, as well as Gino's, trying to overtake a speeding train. Yet another unusual aspect of this movie is the use of repetition, which happens not just with the whole escape to Havana plot which Chuck is set to relive again after waking up. The scene with Eddie taking over the car controls occurs again near the end of the movie, using similar camera angles to emphasize the repetition element. And when Chuck first arrives at the mansion to return Eddie's wallet, Chuck has the exact same conversation twice to the person peering through the door's spyhole, first to the servant, and then to Gino.

While Robert Cummings is better known for playing in more lighthearted movies, he does okay here, although he's a bit bland here as Chuck. Michèle Morgan doesn't convince all that much either as Lorna, she's beautiful but too much of a demure wallflower for me to see how Eddie Roman ever fell for her, nor does she come off as sultry, even though it's clear she's supposed to. Morgan was a far more successful actress in her native France than in the USA, this was the last movie she did in the USA. To her credit, she has only the slightest foreign accent in this movie.

Per usual, the villains are the more interesting, and in this case also convincing, characters of this movie. Steve Cochran as Eddie Roman is suave but ruthless and violent. The first time he makes an entrance in the movie he verbally abuses 2 women, a barber and a manicurist, and when the manicurist accidentally scratches his finger, because he moved but she didn't, he gives her a vicious slap around her face. Later on in the movie he demands some perks from a wealthy businessman, and when the man declines, Roman casually invites the man into his wine cellar where the unsuspecting man dies a gruesome death when Roman's huge and beastly dog is set loose on him. Gino is equally callous and ruthless but is much slimier, something Peter Lorre excelled at. His role is pretty small here, but he has a few good oneliners and the typical cigarette dangling from his lips, and Lorre is always a treat in noirs. The relationship between Cochran and Gino is never fully explained in the movie, but it is clear that Cochran is closer to Gino than he is to Lorna, who he sees more as property than as a real person.

The movie, despite being weird and unique in places, is also dark and pure noir. Lorna is the femme fatale here, and the plotlines are as noir as they come. Visually it's also pure noir, there are tons of looming shadows, providing an ominous atmosphere throughout the movie, especially during the dream sequence in Havana. And the use of repetition, sometimes down to using the same camera angles or dialogue as mentioned before, gives the movie an even more creepy & dreamlike atmosphere than the dream sequence already does. The camera and lighting work is well done, with a few great shots and even some nice tracking shots, especially in the nightclub in Havana.

The movie's story is really good and quite clever and the weird aspects of it make it a pretty unique movie. But while Cochran and Lorre are good and convincing, Morgan and especially Cummings are a bit too lightweight to take this movie to the next level. So it's a bit of a frustrating movie as well, because it is also clear this movie had potential to be a lot mmore, with better actors for the protagonists and maybe some more work on the camera work. It's still a good and enjoyable film noir tho, and pretty unique. After re-watching it again I started to appreciate and see the quirkiness and small clues about the dream sequence much more. Definitely one to watch if you're a noir aficionado.

The Killers (1946)

Robert Siodmak's 'The Killers' from 1946 is based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Two hit men drive into a small town looking for a guy named the Swede. They end up in a diner and inquire about him. As it turns out the Swede has dinner there regularly, so they decide to wait for him. After it becomes clear the Swede, who is known as Pete Lunn in town, won't show up that evening, the hit men head for his apartment. One of the people in the diner, Lunn's co-worker Nick Adams, quickly takes a shortcut to Lunn's apartment to warn him. Lunn says that nothing can be done about it, that he made a mistake once and tells his co-worker to leave. The hit men arrive a bit later and unload their guns on Lunn. Only 12 minutes into the movie, this is where Hemingway's story ends and where the movie's second part starts.

After his death, insurance investigator Jim Riordan does a routine check into the Swede's death and the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. He is intrigued by the murder, Nick's recollection of Lunn's final words and a green handkerchief with harps on it that he finds among the Swede's belongings. The beneficiary turns out to be a lady who once rented out a room to Lunn, however she knew him as Ole Anderson, and he was desperate and almost suicidal last time she saw him. Riordan is now deadset on finding out what caused Anderson's death and starts an investigation into Anderson's past and the events that led to his untimely death. He meets up with a childhood friend of Anderson, police officer Sam Lubinsky, and together they start to unravel things, including an unsolved robbery Anderson was involved in, the stolen money which was never recovered, a gorgeous lady called Kitty Collins and all the doublecrossing that took place.

Ole 'the Swede' Anderson (Burt Lancaster in his first role) was a prizefighter once with a pretty girlfriend, Lilly Harmon (Virginia Christine) and a good friend called Sam Lubinsky (Sam Levene). He's force to retire from fighting due to an injury, and turns to crime as a new career, despite Lubinsky being a cop, thus pitting them against each other. At a party that Ole attends with Lilly he meets 'femme fatale' Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner in one of her first major roles), and he falls head over heels for her, something which he doesn't even try to hide from Lilly. Kitty, being the seductress and vixen she so clearly is, doesn't mind pushing the dagger a bit deeper into Lilly's heart when Ole and Lilly are introduced to Kitty and briefly discuss Ole's prizefighting. After Kitty mentions she does not care for watching men fight, Lilly quickly remarks 'I saw all Swede's fights.' obviously trying to show her devotion to Anderson, whom she's in love with. Kitty however has the perfect rebuttal: 'How wonderful of you! I could never bear to see a man I really cared for being hurt.' Kitty is then called away and Ole adds insult to injury by casually and almost absent-mindedly remarking (more to himself than to Lilly): 'She's beautiful.' Auch, that's pretty damn harsh. Obviously Lilly knows the score by now. But Ole becomes even more oblivious to Lilly's presence as Kitty sings a song and Ole is standing close to her, admiring her, leaving Lilly to fend for herself. If this had been a scene from a cartoon, Anderson would have been standing in a pool of his own drool, he's that taken in with Kitty. I have to say, a fair amount of the more 'high end' film noirs feature a scene with one of the main female leads singing a song, which is something I don't really care for. Whether it's Marlene Dietrich in 'Witness For The Prosecution' or Ava Gardner in this movie, I find these songs to be rather dull and boring and not really adding much to the movie. Oh well...

Kitty plays a crucial role in Anderson's downfall, as expected. When Anderson's in prison (arrested by Lubinsky no less) she hooks up with Jim Colfax (Albert Dekker) who is the mastermind behind the robbery, which is to take place shortly. After Anderson's out of of prison again he gets asked to join Colfax's gang for the robbery. Kitty is also present when Anderson first meets up with Colfax and the gang. As she lies on the bed and Anderson sits next to it, you can see Kitty delighting over Anderson's uneasiness at her presence. Her claws are still dug deep into him. Kitty Collins is played by Ava Gardner in one of her first major roles, and damn, what a vixen she is! She's stunningly gorgeous in this movie, with a cool demeanor and a look that screams sex (even though this could not be shown or mentioned in too direct a manner at the time, but seductive stares, and veiled innuendos more than made up for it). While Veronica Lake still tops my list of film noir femme fatales, Gardner is definitely up there.

Ole Anderson on the other hand is not the most clever criminal ever. His motives appear fairly basic, greed (for money) and lust (for Kitty). But he's not cold, determined or calculated enough to truly succeed as a criminal, or as Kitty's lover. And his feelings for Kitty (which some might call love, but which I think is more lust-motivated than anything else) definitely get in the way of him seeing that he's being used as a patsy by those around him, including by Kitty. He does eventually figure it out, but by then it is too late and he has no choice but to change identity and disappear to a small town. Burt Lancaster plays him really well. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but Lancaster played Anderson with an almost absent-minded look in his eyes which to me is a good fit for Anderson's character. But the best performances in the movie to me are those of Ava Gardner and especially Edmond O'Brien. His Jim Riordan is exactly the kind of tough and almost hard-boiled character that you'd expect to find in a film noir. He smokes a lot, he addresses women as 'honey' or 'baby' and he's determined to find out what's going on. His lines could have been straight out of a hard-boiled detective story, except he's not a detective or a criminal, he investigates insurance claims. I loved his character and his tenaciousness.

The opening scene is amazing on more than one level. Everything about it is perfect. The two hit men, Al and Max (William Conrad and Charles McGraw), are as tough and hard-boiled as they come. Their faces show hardly any emotion as they spew rapid-fire vitriolic lines at the other people in the diner. Through words they turn the atmosphere at the diner around from pleasant to dark and menacing. While they do eventually show a gun, it is their use of words that truly terrorizes the people present. The shots, especially the outside scenes and those inside Anderson's apartment, are very dark and shadowy, also creating a tense atmosphere. Add to that the awesome soundtrack, scored by Miklós Rózsa. Its tone is as threatening as the scene eventually becomes and really draws you in. Parts of it are repeated again in key parts of the movie. The theme of the soundtrack really adds to the movie here and the overall feel of the movie.

One of the other standout scenes in the movie besides the opening scene is the flashback of the actual robbery of the hat factory. In one long continuous single take we see how the robbery takes place, from the moment the robbers walk through the hat factory gate to the moment they speed away in their cars. I hadn't realized until the scene was almost over that I was still looking at the same take, it is so smooth, captivating and natural-looking. It is one of the many scenes in the movie that shows the expert direction of Siodmak who also directed other notable film noirs and crime movies such as 'Criss Cross' (1949, again with Burt Lancaster), 'The File On Thelma Jordon' (1950) and 'The Spiral Staircase' (1945). I don't know how many takes had to be done for this, or why Siodmak decided to do it like this in the first place, but it works so well. A truly great scene.

It's an awesome, suspenseful and intriguing movie and a perfect introduction into film noir. I know this because it was my own 'formal' introduction into film noir. 'The Killers' was the first film noir I watched because of it being film noir. It's considered one of the great film noirs and it is easy for me to see why. The story, the way it unfolds through flashbacks that build onto each other, all the doublecrossing, Kitty Collins, the way it's filmed... Great, great stuff.

Here's the trailer, which also features the amazing soundtrack: