I recently went on a bing of watching several of the
1940-1950's
hard-boiled movies I have been collecting. Here is a brief
take on some
of them:
Murder, My Sweet (DIck Powell) The best Marlowe film ever. I
love The
Big Sleep and Bogart, but this is just great.
Atmosphere,
characterization, etc. just first-class. Not to be missed.
How could
this lie on my shelves for 3 years unseen?
Double Indemnity (Fred Mc Murray) The plot is old for the
1990s and well
known, but what great chemistry and passion the 3 main
characters bring
to this! Another must-watch.
The Postman Always Rings Twice This borders perirously
between greatness
and trashiness continuously; the 4 main characters carry it;
the tragedy
and pathos of it all is moving and the ending is just
brilliantly
handled. I will have to rewatch this soon to better
appreciate some key
points.
Kiss Me, Deadly (Ralph Meeker) This is not a Mike Hammer
movie even with
Mike Hammer, Velda, and Pat on it. Once you realize this, it
is
interesting with not a moment of boredom in it. Yet it is
not, as a
whole, satisfying. Worth watching, still.
The Big Clock (Ray Milland, Charles Laughton) Incredibly
effective; just
go and watch it. Makes me want to re-read the book, which I
had over 25
years ago and dissapointed me then.
Finally, not hard -boiled but classical detective, I just
loved
re-seeing Green for Danger (Alistair Sim), a top class
adaptation of
Christianna Brand's top class detective story.
Maybe I will discuss others in the future.
Enrique
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