Simply A Masterpiece

Powerful

An Exercise In Nonsense

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

This is a moderately successful noir film that has some snappy dialog and good performances by Dick Powel, Raymond Burr and Jane Wyatt. But Elizabeth Scott is atrocious. She is given one of the most meaty roles of her career and she gives one of the most wooden and passionless performances I have ever seen by a female actor. There were so many female actors of the time who could have been selected for this role and given much better performances. The standout in the film is Raymond Burr. He is brilliant and manages to act rings around Scott when they are in any scenes together. IT is a well made film and well directed. But Scott is not up to the job. It would be nice if it was remade with a better actor in the starring role.

Right down the middle noir! A very simple tale of jealousy, desire, and longing over a girl who, of course, has a dark side. Played by Lizabeth Scott, the femme fatale delivers stinging lines in the most stylish fashion. Powell is also great and so is the rest of the cast. Some nice scenes indicative of the noir aesthetic with Powell driving home the alienated feeling amidst an unconcerned metropolis backdrop. If you like noir, this is a decent one. You really can't ever go wrong with Scott.

Though many people deem this late 40s film a "film noir" it has only a passing resemblance to the classic noir films. There is a basically good guy (Dick Powell) who is led astray by a woman (Liz Scott) but she's not exactly the femme fatale we expect. There is a bad guy (Raymund Burr) but he is alone and there is not the usual assorted character actors comprising his gang. The star is an insurance agent, but the beat is not the naked city but the bright and shiny suburbs. Even worse, there is no rain, no back streets, very few night shots, and at the end, the hero doesn't get what one comes to expect from a classic film noir. Film noir it ain't, at least not in the classic sense.Director Andre de Toth (1913-2002) is best known for "House of Wax" and his westerns, although he did do a classic film noir ("Crime Wave" in 1954) and many of his films did have noir elements, probably as a result of his European film background. The film does have a film noir cinematographer, Harry J. Wild (1901-61) who shot such classics as "Murder My Sweet" (1944) and "Cornered" (1945), both of which starred Powell.If you're looking for classic film noir, look elsewhere.

The director, Andre de Toth, is perhaps better known for his efforts in American westerns, epic historical dramas and even the occasional war movie. Hence, to come upon a crime thriller directed by Toth in late forties Los Angeles, and which stars Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt and Raymond Burr, surely, I felt, promised a taut human drama.Well, the drama is here, for sure. There is a variety of different criminal acts, including murder. The movie has Powell and Scott, two of my favorite actors of those times. The Los Angeles setting is suitably relevant for a bored, frustrated insurance agent, Johnny Forbes (Powell) who is looking for something other than same-old, same-old, day in, day out ... especially when happily(?) hitched to Sue (Jane Wyatt) and father to Tommy (Jimmy Hunt) for the rest of his sedate, suburban life....That 'something other' finally turns up, after ten story minutes or so, when Johnny meets Mona (Scott) about an insurance claim. One thing predictably leads to another until Johnny and Mona are meeting more often for more than just insurance. Into that mix stalks Mac (Burr), a slimy PI who's intent on ruining Johnny's affair because he's infatuated with Mona. And won't stop until.... Well, that's when Mona's criminal boyfriend, Smiley (Byron Barr) is freed on parole and who, after Mac has whispered a pack of lies to him, sets off, with a gun from Mac, to find Johnny to deliver his brand of rough justice. And Johnny doesn't know any of that until Smiley comes knocking at night on his suburban door....Just how the finale plays out, I leave you to savor for yourself.Powell, aided by one-liner zingers, is in full form throughout; Burr is dramatically creepy and unpleasant; lissome Scott is just so delightfully forlorn; and Wyatt shows her strength when the chips are down. All four are well cast for this story. The breakout acting though, for me, is Byron Barr with his portrayal of the jealous parolee, Smiley; not on screen for much time but he gives a truly riveting performance.As film noir, however, this is not equal to Powell's own Murder My Sweet (1944); his To the ends of the Earth (1948) and certainly not Robert Mitchum's Out of the Past (1947). And I have no quibbles about the production as a whole, except perhaps for a tedious speed boat ride as Johnny and Mona race around the coastline; or was that a metaphor for something a bit racier, maybe? Whatever ... even if the pacing is a bit slow occasionally, this effort is a thoroughly entertaining piece of forties nostalgia I'd be happy seeing again.Recommended for all. Give it 7/10.