One of my favorite relaxing pastimes is watching old movies. Occasionally, I'll post about one I like. Here's the first on this blog: The Damned Don't Cry is (at this point) my second favorite Joan Crawford movie. Number one will have to wait for another day, but this one really was good. Kind of a Mephistopheles rags-to-riches story - with a price to pay in the end. Now, I don't stand for men hitting women, but one significant scene in the movie involves just that. REVIEWS: Noir of the Week did a great revi…
This was a decent little suburban-noir, starring one of my favorites - Loretta Young! Here's a nice synopsis from Amazon: As the delusional George Jones (Barry Sullivan) struggles to recover from a crippling heart attack, he begins to believe his wife, Ellen (Loretta Young), and friend, Dr. Grahame (Bruce Cowling), are planning to kill him in order to be together. George decides to write the authorities about his wife's supposed murder plot. But when he really does die, of health complications, the innocent Ellen realizes that she …
This is a great, sexy little noir starring one of my favorite actors - Ida Lupino! And oh dear Lord - DO NOT confuse this with Patrick Swayze's movie of the same name, that's be a tragedy! Amazon has a good synopsis: At a seedy nightclub and bowling alley near the Canadian border, owner Jefty Robbins (Richard Widmark) is in love with his new cabaret singer, Lily Stevens (Ida Lupino), who only has eyes for Jefty's best friend, bar manager Pete Morgan (Cornel Wilde). Although he tries to keep his distance, Pete soon falls for L…
What's not to like about this movie? It's fun, sentimental without being schmaltzy, and for me is one of those comfort movies I watch even when it's not Christmastime! From Amazon: While recovering in a hospital, war hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) grows familiar with the "Diary of a Housewife" column written by Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck). Jeff's nurse arranges with Elizabeth's publisher, Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet), for Jeff to spend the holiday at Elizabeth's bucolic Connecticut f…
This was a decent movie, kinda of a Maltese Falcon on the high seas! From Amazon: When disgraced American military officer Rick Leland (Humphrey Bogart) boards a Japanese ship, he is apparently willing to turn his back on his country to become a mercenary. On the vessel, Leland meets a mysterious professor named Dr. Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet) and the beautiful Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor). Soon Lorenz shows an interest in Leland and recruits him for a dangerous mission. As Lorenz pulls Leland into a web of international espionage, the tru…
From Amazon: A recently married heiress, Ruth Stanton (Jeanne Crain), embarks on a honeymoon cruise with her new husband, John Bowman (Carl Betz). However, shortly after getting on board, John disappears. None of the crew remember seeing him, and the ship's manifest has Ruth registered alone and under her maiden name. Ruth wanders the boat in search of John, but soon the captain and crew believe Ruth must be crazy. Only kindly Dr. Manning (Michael Rennie) takes her seriously and helps unravel the mystery. I'm writing this retrospec…
I love Film Noir...(for cryin'-out-loud, look at the name of this blog) and this is one of the best! Cornel Wilde stars as a cop determined to take down Mr. Brown (doesn't that remind you of Reservoir Dogs?), a bookkeeper (played by Richard Conte ) for an absent crime boss, now running the outfit himself. Our vixen Susan ( Jean Wallace ), a sad-eyed moll caught between the two antagonists, "realizes she’s in over her head, and doesn’t see any way out except suicide. She attempts it in one of the film’s early scenes, then sp…
It Will Be the Talk of YOUR Town! The Talk of the Town is a surprisingly fun, and funny, movie! I don't know why it surprised me, certainly Jean Arthur and Cary Grant had great comedy resumes. Nonetheless it was such a pleasant surprise. A human side to law Here's a little synopsis from Leonard Maltin on TCM , "fugitive Grant hides out with unsuspecting professor Colman and landlady Arthur, and tries to convince legal-minded Colman there's a human side to all laws." Doesn't sound particularly funny but - s…
As a big fan of Ida Lupino , I really enjoyed this movie! From Wikipedia : Down on her luck, Agnes Langley is hired by Lorna Gale ( Mary Shipp ) to replace the "missing" Jennifer as caretaker for the Gale family's currently unoccupied Southern California estate. Agnes is immediately affected by the mysterious house and, after she finds a diary apparently belonging to Jennifer, becomes obsessed with determining the cause of the woman's "disappearance". REVIEWS: Mark, over at the Where Danger Lives …