DARK PASSAGE. Warner Bros., 1947. Humphrey Bogar, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead, Tom D’Andrea. Screenplay by Delmer Daves, based on a novel by David Goodis. Director: Delmer Daves.
A girl with money unaccountably helps a convict escape San Quentin, then gives him shelter while he is recovering from plastic surgery. Although he was convicted of killing his wife, she is convinced he got a raw deal.
What a team Bogart and Bacall made! When she looks at him in that special way she had, the screen nearly melts. The story here doesn’t match the magnitude of the stars, but it’s no slouch, especially when Bogart’s *evidence* goes tumbling out the window.
BLOOD WORK. Warner Bros., 2002. Clint Eastwood, Jeff Daniels, Anjelica Huston, Wanda De Jesus. Based on the novel by Michael Connelly. Directed by Clint Eastwood.
Clint Eastwood directs, and stars in, Blood Work, a rather captivating police procedural from the aughts. Based on the book by Michael Connelly, the film features Eastwood as a retired FBI agent who returns to work under highly unusual conditions. After suffering a heart attack a couple years ago while chasing the Code Killer, Terry McCaleb (Eastwood) is recovering from a heart transplant and living a slow-paced life on his boat in the Long Beach harbor.
All that changes when Graciella Rivers (Wanda De Jesus) comes to him with a request: find the person who murdered her sister, Gloria. McCaleb is perplexed. Why him? He’s retired. Only when he’s told that he is the recipient of Rivers’ heart does he decide to take the case.
He’s retired, of course. So all of this police work on his part is unofficial and puts him at loggerheads with the LAPD and with his physician (Anjelica Huston), who thinks he’s putting his life at risk. Still, McCaleb is determined to see this through to the very end. It’s only when he begins to dig deeper that he realizes that the Code Killer, his long time nemesis, may be back and playing a deadly game with him.
Because McCaleb doesn’t drive, he has to rely upon his neighbor, Jasper “Buddy” Noone (Jeff Daniels) to ferry him around town while he conducts his unofficial investigation. The chemistry between these two leads is solid, with Daniels really leaning into the role of a boat bum with too much time on his hands.
Aside from being a police procedural, Blood Work is very much a character study of a man at the end of his career who realizes that he has a lot of unfinished business to tend to. There’s a whole subplot about McCaleb’s guilt and belief that he is undeserving of the heart he has been gifted and his sorrow that there is a kid on a heart transplant waiting list, but it never adds up to very much.
As it turns out, however, the heart transplant itself becomes the key to unlocking not only Gloria’s murder, but the dark machinations of the Code Killer. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, even if it was slow in the beginning. The direction is lean and to the point, something for which Eastwood is known.
BANK ALARM. Grand National Pictures, 1937. Conrad Nagel, Eleanor Hunt, Vince Barnett, Wheeler Oakman, Nat Carr. Directed by Louis J. Gasnier.
Bank Alarm is a perfectly average crime film. Although considerably dated, it nevertheless tells a somewhat compelling story about a federal agent’s quest to uproot a bank robbing outfit in 1930s Los Angeles. G-Man Alan O’Connor (Conrad Nagel), with his girlfriend/assistant Bobbie Reynolds (Eleanor Hunt), begins his investigation when a lower ranking member of the criminal outfit is killed in prison.
Little does O’Connor know that his sleuthing will eventually lead to his sister’s new boyfriend, screenwriter Jerry Turner (Frank Milan). Turner has been working in cahoots with local crime boss, nightclub owner Joe Karlotti (Wheeler Oakman).
There’s nothing particularly special about this film. With a running time of around an hour, it doesn’t waste the viewer’s time with extraneous material. That said, there’s not much here to overly recommend. If you watch it, you probably won’t love it and you probably won’t hate it. It is what it is. Just a largely forgotten B-movie that most people, I suspect, have never heard of, let along seen.
BLUE STEEL. MGM, 1990. Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Pena), Louise Fletcher. Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Sleek and stylish, Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel features Jamie Lee Curtis as Megan Turner, a rookie New York City cop who is being stalked by Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), a psychologically disturbed commodities trader.
After witnessing Turner shoot a suspect in a supermarket holdup, Hunt absconds with the suspect’s weapon and begins using it on unsuspecting New Yorkers, leaving Megan’s name on bullet casings. There’s no rationale given for his actions, really, other than that he is a “thrill killer” and is obsessed with Turner. Simply put, he’s doing it because he can – which is often the scariest thing of all.
Much of the movie focuses on Hunt’s romantic pursuit of Turner which eventually turns sour once he reveals himself to be a complete psychopath and implies he is the man behind the killings. Problem is: there’s no real concrete and compelling evidence that he’s the thrill killer stalking New York. So Turner and her newfound partner Detective Nick Mann (Clancy Brown) have to find a way to stop Hunt before he kills again.
Filmed on location in gritty New York City, the movie works very well in delivering all the goods you would expect in a police procedural. Silver, in particular, is great in this. His portrayal of an everyman on the brink of complete psychological collapse is something to behold.
While his character’s antics may seem implausible, they are nevertheless grounded in reality, something that couldn’t be said for Halloween (1978), another movie in which Curtis finds herself stalked and forced to take desperate measures to fight back. Final assessment: Blue Steel is a suspenseful, compelling, and over the top thrill ride.
THE SOUND OF FURY. United Artists, 1950. Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson, Lloyd Bridges, Katherine Locke, Adele Jergens. Director: Cyril Endfield.
There’s a lot going on in The Sound of Fury (also released as Try and Get Me!), a film adapted by screenwriter Jo Pagano from his novel, The Condemned (1947), which itself was based on real life kidnapping case which ended in a public lynching. Directed by Cy Endfield (Zulu), the movie begins with a street preacher passionately bellowing about something. I forget what exactly, but it probably had something to do with repenting.
Which would make sense given the themes of the film; namely, crime, guilt and punishment. Indeed, one can argue that those themes permeate this film noir from beginning to end, with each main character’s arc reflecting these thematic aspects (or lack thereof) throughout the overall narrative.
The story is as follows. Down and out Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) has moved from Boston to California in search of a better life for himself and his growing family. Things are, to put it mildly, not going well financially for him. A chance meeting with low-level criminal Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges) in a bowling alley changes things dramatically. Initially, the two knock off gas stations and the like. But then they move onto kidnapping and murder, choosing the son of a wealthy citizen as their target.
It doesn’t take long for guilt to overcome Tyler, who believes he is being watched by God. Slocum, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have much remorse. The contrast between the guilt-ridden Tyler and his sociopathic accomplice couldn’t be more pronounced. Even after the men are captured by law enforcement, the divide between the two criminals remains poignant.
At the same time that all this is happening, local news columnist Gil Stanton (Richard Carlson) is using his position to incite rage against the two suspects. His vitriol is so strong that even the local sheriff worries that Tyler and Slocum might not get a fair trial. As it turns out, he’s right.
This is where the movie shifts tonally from film noir territory to a morality play about the rights of the accused, mob violence, and the like. It’s a notable departure from the gritty first half of the film and is, in my opinion, less effective. Grating at times, even.
That said, where the movie goes next is a return to film noir. There’s a harrowing scene of a mob storming the courthouse, freeing the two men, and then dragging them out into the street for a lynching. When that happens, it is Stanton’s chance to feel guilt. He rightfully recognizes how his overwrought yellow journalism columns contributed to this act of mob justice.
Overall, I appreciated this film and particularly liked Lovejoy’s transformation from model citizen to accessory to murder. I’ have always believed he has been underappreciated as an actor. Here, he’s great as an everyman who gets in way over his head. The cinematography by Guy Roe (Armored Car Robbery) is standard noir fare. Nothing spectacular, but solid enough.
Recommended, but with the caveat that not everyone will appreciate the morality play aspect of the film, particularly given how notable a departure it is from the film’s beginning.
DETOUR. PRC, 1946. Tom Neal, Ann Savage , Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald, Tim Ryan. Screenplay by Martin Goldsmith, based on his own novel. Director: Edgar Ulmer.
Fate laughs at a nightclub pianist, hitch-hiking to Los Angeles to see his girl friend. The man who picks him up dies in a strange accident, and when he takes the other man’s money and identity, the events that follow are unstoppable.
Ann Savage plays the girl that Neal picks up in turn, and she knows he is not who he says he is.Neal is under her constant thumb from then on – willingly or not, we are not quite sure. A low budget film that makes a much larger impact than you might expect.
THE DARK PAST. Columbia Pictures, 1948. William Holden, Nina Foch, Lee J. Cobb, Adele Jergens, Stephen Dunne, Lois Maxwell, Berry Kroeger, Steven Geray. Director: Rudolph Maté
You might think that, with the title The Dark Past, that this Columbia production was a film noir. And, in some ways, you’d be correct. But overall, this feature is way too optimistic about human nature to be considered a proper noir.
Let me explain.
Lee J. Cobb portrays Dr. Andrew Collins, a college professor/psychiatrist whose family home is invaded by notorious outlaw Al Walker (William Holden) and his crew. Over the course of a stormy evening, Collins takes the angst-ridden Walker on as a veritable patient.
Apparently the distraught and criminally-minded Walker has been having a recurrent nightmare that is slowly driving him to the brink of insanity. Collins, who seems to believe many criminals can be “cured,” breaks down the symbolism of the dream and helps Walker break from his murderous ways. That’s the gist of The Dark Past.
Supporting cast members include the lovely Nina Foch as Walker’s girlfriend and Adele Jurgens as one of Collins’s houseguests. Truth be told, however, the movie – which is based on a play – centers around the performances of both Cobb and Holden.
Both do well enough with the material, even the psychobabble. But the material simply isn’t that particularly compelling, at least from the vantage point of 2025. Still, I surprisingly somewhat enjoyed watching this movie, perhaps due to the short running time and the commitment that both leads gave to the work.
THE BURGLAR. Columbia Pictures, 1957. Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, Peter Capell, Mickey Shaughnessy. Screenplay by David Goodis, based on his novel of the same name. Director: Paul Wendkos.
Watching it recently. this was the second time that I’ve seen The Burglar, a criminally underappreciated film noir starring Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield. Adapted for the screen by David Goodis, the author of the book upon which the film is based, The Burglar has the always impressive Duryea front and center the majority of the time. He portrays Nat Harbin, the ringleader of a gang of thieves.
After stealing a priceless jewelry necklace from a rich spiritualist, the group must contend with the police, their decision as to where to fence the goods, and their own internal squabbles. Along for the ride with the men is blonde bombshell Gladden (Mansfield), the daughter of a man who took Nat in when he was a young runaway.
Directed by Paul Wendkos, this crime movie reminded me very much of Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956). Much like Kubrick, Wendkos had an eye for faces. Indeed, the movie isn’t so much filmed as it is photographed in beautiful, crisp black and white. Filmed largely on location in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, the movie immerses the viewer into the action. This includes a final sequence in an Atlantic City fun house which is as creepy as it is well executed.
I recommend this sweaty, rough around-the-edges noir highly for those who haven’t yet had the occasion to see it.
711 OCEAN DRIVE. Columbia Pictures, 1950. Edmond O’Brien Edmond O’Brien, Joanne Dru, Otto Kruger, Barry Kelly. Director: Joseph M. Newman
Edmond O’Brien stars in this remarkably average crime drama about the bookmaking racket. He portrays Mal Granger, a telephone company technician who works his way up in the criminal world, eventually becoming a top Syndicate figure on the West Coast. Along the way, he has a rival murdered, steals the rival’s girl (Joanne Dru), and then proceeds to knock off the hitman who he hired in the first place. All the while trying to outwit the Syndicate’s Cleveland-based boss (Otto Kruger).
Tough stuff, with O’Brien giving a solid performance as a man whose heart is increasingly hardened by his chosen line of work. Unfortunately, it takes a long time for the movie to get going. The first half hour or so, especially, is a drag. Too much time is spent on Granger’s ability to rig a telephone system for a low-level bookie, one that would allow said bookie to get near instantaneous results from the track.
This might have been interesting in 1950 – and I say might – but it is a drag now. The movie does perk up in the second and third acts, with the film culminating in a well executed and photographed chase and fight sequence set in and around the Hoover Dam in Nevada.
Overall, 711 Ocean Drive is, as I said previously, average. I just don’t know what the title refers to! It’s never mentioned in the film (as far as I could tell) and it doesn’t seem to indicate anything special, other than possibly Granger’s fictional Malibu address once he becomes a big shot.
THE WINDOW. RKO Radio Pictures, 1949. Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Bobby Driscoll. Based on the story “The Boy Cried Murder” by Cornell Woolrich. Director: Ted Tetzlaff.
Adapted from a short story penned by Cornell Woolrich, The Window is an above average thriller and a suspenseful yarn that holds your attention from beginning to end. With child actor Bobby Driscoll as the glue that holds everything together, the film is never dull or lifeless.
Driscoll, whose adult life was marked by tragedy, portrays Tommy Woodry, an excitable, imaginative young boy living with his working class parents in a modest apartment building in Manhattan. He’s known by both his peers and his parents for telling tall tales, stories about gangsters, Indians, and whatnot. So when he actually does witness a murder, no one believes him. He’s the boy who cried wolf.
Aside from Driscoll, the film benefits from some talented actors. Arthur Kennedy portrays Tommy’s father, a man who is torn between the love he has for his son and his embarrassment at how the boy is seemingly turning into a compulsive liar. The upstairs neighbors, the ones who actually do commit a murder, are portrayed by radio star Paul Stewart and the prolific Ruth Roman. They make a great villainous couple.
There’s a lot to admire in The Window, from the acting to the cinematography and lighting. There’s a shadowy menace to the stairwell in the Woodrys’ apartment building, one that is used to heighten the dangerous situation in which Tommy has found himself. There is also a white knuckle ending that takes place in a nearby condemned building.
This was the second time I’ve had the occasion to watch this movie,and I enjoyed it even more this time. I realized how very much it’s both a Woolrich movie and a New York City one. As much as anything else, this film is about the struggles of postwar life (and death) in the Big Apple.