Yes, I meant to publish this Thursday since I watched the following films in the wee a.m. hours. But I found myself preoccupied with computer-related activities, so I decided to hold this over until today in order to be a little more prepared.

I watched This Gun For Hire (1942) early Thursday morning—an early noir that cemented actor Alan Ladd as a bona fide box-office star. Based on the novel A Gun For Sale by Graham Greene, Ladd plays Philip Raven, a cold-blooded hit man hired by the daintily urbane Willard Gates (the unforgettable Laird Cregar) to kill blackmailer Albert Baker (Frank Ferguson)—only Gates double-crosses Raven by paying him off with “hot” money, forcing the killer to take it on the lam. He crosses paths with entertainer Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), who persuades him to get the goods on both Gates and Gates’ boss Alvin Brewster (Tully Marshall)—a chemical company magnate suspected by the government of shady wartime activities.

Ladd was not a particularly tall actor (5’5”), which is why the equally diminutive Lake (5’2 ½”) made the perfect leading lady—they would later go on to appear together in The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946) and Saigon (1948). Directed by Frank Tuttle and scripted by Albert Maltz & W.R. Burnett, this crackerjack thriller features a powerhouse supporting cast including Robert Preston (he shares star billing with Lake), Marc Lawrence, Olin Howlin, Pamela Blake, Victor Killian and Roger Imhof.

Next up—The Big Clock (1948), a particular favorite of mine adapted from the novel by Kenneth Fearing. (Fearing’s novel was later re-adapted for the 1987 thriller No Way Out starring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman and Sean Young. It is to be avoided at all costs.) Ray Milland is George Stroud, crusading editor of Crimeways magazine who can’t escape from under the thumb of the autocratic publisher Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton). Stroud makes the mistake of going pubbing with Janoth’s mistress (Rita Johnson) and when Janoth kills her in a fit of jealousy, he has Stroud and his staff investigate the murder for the magazine—while his lackey Steve Hagan (George Macready) frames Stroud for the crime. The Big Clock is often overlooked, which is a shame—it benefits enormously from a good script (by Jonathan Latimer), taut direction by John Farrow (father of Mia; Mia’s ma Maureen O’Sullivan is on hand here as Milland’s spouse) and a superb supporting cast including Elsa Lanchester (who steals the picture as an eccentric bohemian artist), Lloyd Corrigan, Harry Morgan (effective as Laughton’s silently sinister henchman), Dan Tobin, Richard Webb, Elaine Riley and Luis Van Rooten.

I get a tremendous kick out of Milland’s character in Clock, by the way—he’s a former newspaper editor from my beloved West Virginia (in the film, he keeps trying to get away for a honeymoon to Wheeling). And while I think Laughton is tremendous in his role, I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to see Orson Welles have a crack at it—combining his publishing skills from Citizen Kane and his clock obsession from The Stranger. This DVD also contains (and I was praying it would) the film’s original trailer, which ties in the movie with “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills”—Suspense. The radio program’s own Anton M. Leader (producer-director) appears alongside Milland in the preview.

Finally, I got another opportunity to enjoy the wonderfulness that is Criss Cross (1949)—another overlooked noir starring the triple-threat trio of Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea. Burt’s back in town and his ex-wife Yvonne is trying to hook up with him; they still have a thing for each other but she ups and marries the slimy Duryea, then complains about how he mistreats her. (Wouldn’t you sort of expect that from Duryea? She must not have seen The Woman in the Window or Scarlet Street.) So Burt hatches a scheme to rob the armored car company he works for, planning to double-cross Dan and run off with De Carlo—bad mistake. Lancaster demonstrates in this film why he was an essential noir icon (The Killers, Brute Force) while De Carlo shows off her stuff (she was quite a dish) in a steamy rhumba number (her partner is an unbilled Tony Curtis!) designed to seduce the Burtster (director Robert Siodmak did a similar scene in his 1944 film Phantom Lady). And Duryea? I would eat rocks for that man; he's simply one of my all-time favorites. The screenplay was written by Daniel Fuchs (from Don Tracy’s novel) and features Stephen McNally, Tom Pedi, Percy Helton, Alan Napier, Richard Long, Meg Randall and Joan Miller in support. Director Steven Soderbergh remade this one in 1995 as Underneath (with Peter Gallagher and Alison Elliott) and while it’s worth a look, you’d be a complete sap to prefer it over the original. (Criss Cross also has one of the most delightfully fatalistic endings of any noir.)
11:21:19 AM    comment []  trackback []  

What the !@#$% is a plog?

I had to go over to Amazon.com this morning in search of a book I’ve been looking for and I discovered this in place of the usual “This-is-what-we-recommend-you-buy”:

Ivan's Plog Beta (What is a Plog?)

My Life was released today; We thought you'd be interested because you bought Gunsmoke: A Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series With a Comprehensive Episode-By-Episode Guide to Both the Radio and Television Series.

Amazon.com: An exhaustive, soul-searching memoir, Bill Clinton's My Life is a refreshingly candid look at the former president as a son, brother, teacher, father, husband, and public figure. Clinton painstakingly outlines the history behind his greatest successes and failures, including his dedication to educational and economic reform, his war against a "vast right-wing operation" determined to destroy him, and the "morally indefensible" acts for which he was nearly impeached. My Life is autobiography as therapy--a personal history written by a man trying to face and banish his private demons.... read more.

 

I’m not entirely certain how they made the leap from the Gunsmoke book to My Life, unless they figured: “Well, both books are pretty honkin’ big.” (My Dad reserved a copy of the Clinton tome at Books-a-Million and as he was going to pick it up, he asked me if I needed anything. I responded with: “No…but do you need any help carrying it home?”)

They’ve also recommended The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on the basis of my buying The Looney Tunes Golden Collection. Whatever those people are smoking, I want a hit off of it.
11:21:00 AM    comment []  trackback []