Private detective Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is hired by rich invalid Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to find her degenerate and neurotic husband who disappeared a day ago. Helping, or hindering, his investigation is Sampsonâs spoiled daughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin), the family pilot (Robert Wagner), and Sampson’s lawyer (Arthur Hill). The trail passes by an aging
Rage in Heaven (1941)
Philip Monrell (Robert Montgomery) is the charming son of a wealthy steel family and good friends with the good natured playboy Ward Andrews (George Sanders). Well, thatâs how it appears. Actually Philip is a paranoid psychopath who is jealous of Ward and recently escaped from an insane asylum. The pair visits Philipâs sickly mother who
Out of the Past (1947)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Private detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) is hired by dim-witted, hulking, ex-con Moose (Mike Mazurki) to find âhis Velma.â Heâs also hired for a one night body guard job that ends up with his client dead, the killing somehow connected to a stolen jade necklace belonging to the Grayle family: ingĂ©nue daughter Ann (Anne Shirley),
Dead Reckoning (1947)
Capt. Rip Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) and his buddy Sgt Johnny Drake (William Prince) are headed to Washington DC to receive a pair of medals when Johnny jumps a different train to avoid the publicity. Rip follows and quickly discovers Johnny had enlisted under a false name as he was on the run from a murderer
Donât Bother to Knock (1952)
Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) is an angry, crude man, dumped by Lynn, his hotel singer girlfriend (Anne Bancroft). Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe) is the troubledâvery troubledâniece of Eddie, the elevator operator (Elisha Cook Jr.). Eddie arranges for Nell to babysit a wealthy couple’s daughter at the hotel as they attend a banquet downstairs. Jed hits
The Killers (1946)
A pair of killers (Charles McGraw, William Conrad) show up in a small town diner with plans to kill the Swede (Burt Lancaster). Things are delayed as they terrorize the three people there, but eventually they get their man, who does not resist. Jim Reardon (Edmond OâBrien), an insurance investigator, takes the case because the
The Big Sleep (1946)
A Few Thoughts Carmen: âYouâre not very tall are you? Marlowe âWell, I try to be.â There, less than three minutes into the film, and itâs clear that something special is going on. This is no cheap detective thriller. This is art. Normally, a review would include some general plot synopsis at this point, but
D.O.A. (1950)
Frank Bigelow (Edmond OâBrien) is a rather bland businessman with commitment issues and a very clingy girlfriend, Paula (Pamela Britton)âreally, really clingy. He heads to San Francisco for a sudden vacation. After a night of wild partying, he discovers heâs been poisoned by a âluminousâ substance and has between a day and a week to
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) returns from the war with his two buddies (William Bendix & Hugh Beaumont), one of whom has a brain injury. His sleazy drunken wife, Helen (Doris Dowling) has been carrying on an open affair with Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva) a wealthy criminal, and admits to killing their child in a
Crossfire (1947)
Two soldiers murder Samuels (Sam Levene), a Jewish man. While police captain Finlay (Robert Young) is in the apartment of the victim, Montgomery (Robert Ryan), show up. Heâs one of a group of recently returned servicemen that had met the victim the night before. His story sets the police after Mitchell (George Cooper), the most
Double Indemnity (1944)
What is often missed about Double Indemnity is that it is a comedy, a dark, twisted, comedy. The world of most Film Noirs is an extreme version of our worldâeverything has been kicked up a notch. Billy Wilder just took it up an additional “notch.” Itâs a parody of Film Noir made while Film Noir was