Dead Reckoning (1947)

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

Don’t Bother to Knock (1952)

Don’t 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 troubled—very troubled—niece 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)

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 O’Brien), an insurance investigator, takes the case because the

The Big Sleep (1946)

The Big Sleep (1946)

A Few Thoughts Carmen: “You’re not very tall are you? Marlowe “Well, I try to be.” There, less than three minutes into the film, and it’s 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)

D.O.A. (1950)

Frank Bigelow (Edmond O’Brien) is a rather bland businessman with commitment issues and a very clingy girlfriend, Paula (Pamela Britton)—really, really clingy. He heads to San Francisco for a sudden vacation. After a night of wild partying, he discovers he’s been poisoned by a “luminous” substance and has between a day and a week to

The Blue Dahlia (1946)

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)

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. He’s 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)

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 world–everything has been kicked up a notch. Billy Wilder just took it up an additional “notch.”  It’s a parody of Film Noir made while Film Noir was

The Naked City (1948)

The Naked City (1948)

A beautiful blonde model is murdered in her New York apartment. Lt. Dan Muldoon (Berry Fitzgerald) and detective Jimmy Halloran (Dan Taylor) are put on the case. It will lead to a string of jewelry robberies and to the nearly pathologically untruthful Frank Niles (Howard Duff) and his snooty fiancée Ruth Morrison (Dorothy Hart). Critics

Satan Met a Lady (1936)

Satan Met a Lady (1936)

In this lighthearted version of The Maltese Falcon, con artist Ted Shayne (Warren William in the Spade role) was just kicked out of town so drums up some business for his old partner Ames (Porter Hall in the Archer role) and then rejoins his detective agency in another city. He, of course, hits on secretary

Brighton Rock (1948)

Brighton Rock (1948)

Seventeen-year-old psychopath Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) runs a cheap protection racket in Brighton with his gang of Dallow (William Hartnell), Cubitt (Nigel Stock), and Spicer (Wylie Watson). He kills a reporter, and it is ruled a suicide, but Ida (Hermione Baddeley), a performer the reporter met briefly, doesn’t believe it and sets out to prove

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

In a town ruled by the wealthy Ivers family, on a stormy night, run-away Martha Ivers is brought back to her domineering aunt. The night ends with the aunt dead, tough kid Sam gone, and weak kid Walter at Martha’s side. Years later, Sam (Van Heflin) passes through town and meets recent parolee, Toni Marachek