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Kiss of Death: Tommy Udo- “I won’t give you the peel off a grape.”

Kiss of Death: Tommy Udo- “I won’t give you the peel off a grape.”

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Released: August 1947 Directed by: Henry Hathaway Cast: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes, Howard Smith, Karl Malden, Anthony Ross, Robert Adler, Rollin Bauer, Harry Bellaver, and Mildred Dunnock as Mrs. Rizzo. Spoilers? You betcha! In Kiss of Death, it’s appropriate that we first meet Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) in a New York City Courthouse holding cell. Muttering insults to the guards and befriending fellow cellmate Nick Bianco (Victor Mature). While Nick is tentative, Tommy sees…

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On the Remake Chopping Block: The Night of the Hunter.

On the Remake Chopping Block: The Night of the Hunter.

I recently heard there is going to be a ‘modern day’ remake of Charles Laughton’s 1955 classic, The Night of the Hunter, based on the novel by Davis Grubb. If I had been drinking coffee at the time I would have spit it out. This is yet another example of Hollywood throwing away money on a project that will in no way be better than the original, and a film nobody asked for. Trying to figure out why filmmakers want…

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Crime of Passion: A Film with Two Great Leads, Very Little Spark.

Crime of Passion: A Film with Two Great Leads, Very Little Spark.

Directed by: Gerd Oswald Released: January 1957 Cast: Barabra Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano, Robert Griffin, Dennis Cross, Jay Adler, and Stuart Whitman as Laboratory Technician. First-time viewing. Crime of Passion is a noir film that indeed begins with a crime of passion. Concludes with a crime of passion. But lacks spark, despite the performances of the two leads. Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) is a big time San Francisco columnist who is draw into…

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Gun Crazy: “Thrill Crazy… Kill Crazy… ‘Deadly is the Female.’”

Gun Crazy: “Thrill Crazy… Kill Crazy… ‘Deadly is the Female.’”

Released: January 1950 Dir.: Joseph H. Lewis Cast: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Anabel Shaw, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young, Russ Tamblyn. Right from childhood Bart Tare (John Dall) was crazy about guns. So much so he tried to break into a hardware store to steal a revolver. His attempt failed and earned him 5 years up the river to reform school. Bart learned his lessons the hard way, at the ripe old age of 7 he shot a baby…

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Night and the City: Hollywood Noir Meets British Noir.

Night and the City: Hollywood Noir Meets British Noir.

Released: 1950 Dir.: Jules Dassin First time viewing reaction. When you mix Hollywood Noir with British Noir, add Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, and a healthy dose of Herbert Lom, you get Night and the City. A gripping non-stop story of ambition exceeding one’s grasp. Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a hustler on the loose in London. He works hard and talks fast for what amounts to peanuts, but there is big money to be had in London and that comes…

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The Phenix City Story: Ripped From the Headlines.

The Phenix City Story: Ripped From the Headlines.

Released: 1955 Dir.: Phil Karlson Once upon a time there was a town called Phenix City, located on the Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River, and for a very long time Phenix City was ruled by vice and corruption. Politicians, the police force, lawyers, judges, juries all bought and paid for by the Syndicate. Anyone who apposed the rulers of Phenix City ended up in the river, with a couple of extra holes, cause of death: accidental drowning. It had…

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The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: A Different Take on Neo-Noir.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: A Different Take on Neo-Noir.

Released: 1976 Dir.: John Cassavetes First time viewing reaction and refers to the preferred 1978 edit rather than the 1976 theatrical version. Last night I had my first run in with a John Cassavetes film, not as an actor, but as writer/director. I’ve heard you’re either going to love or hate Cassavetes films, and I have to say, I really liked The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. A unique take on the film noir/neo-noir genres. The film tells the story…

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T-Men: Undercover in the Dangerous World of Counterfeiters.

T-Men: Undercover in the Dangerous World of Counterfeiters.

Released: 1947 Dir.: Anthony Mann While working in home video distribution for 8 years, then another 15 years working at a video store, one thing remained constant; what almost everybody wanted was the newest releases. Anything older than three weeks was completely unacceptable, no matter how good the film was, it was old news. End of story. So, the very thought of something in black and white, from a bygone era, was unthinkable. It’s old, artificial, corny and…boring. Oh, they…

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The Glass Wall: The Little Film That Deserves a Larger Audience.

The Glass Wall: The Little Film That Deserves a Larger Audience.

Released: 1953 Dir.: Maxwell Shane The Glass Wall is a hard-to-find film. I have it in my collection as part of Columbia Pictures Bad Girls of Film Noir Collection Vol. 1, which unfortunately is now also hard to come by, at least in Canada anyway. I found a couple of uploads to YouTube, but the quality was sketchy, and I hesitate to recommend streaming services I don’t recognize. However, The Glass Wall is well worth keeping your eyes peeled for,…

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In a Lonely Place: Overshadowed Bogart Performance.

In a Lonely Place: Overshadowed Bogart Performance.

Released: 1950 Dir.: Nicholas Ray First time viewing reaction. I received a DVD copy of In a Lonely Place the other day for my birthday and completes my collection of essential Humphrey Bogart films. It’s also a film that has eluded me for years, often overshadowed by Bogart’s many other great films. It’s also a film I’ve read very little about, so it came as a great surprise to me what I saw and felt. Bogart plays Dixon Steele, a…

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