Theodore Sparkuhl Films Noir
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22 titles
- DirectorArthur RobisonStarsLya De PuttiLars HansonWarwick WardIn 1920s Ireland, an IRA man betrays his best friend to the police, mistakenly believing him to be his mistress's lover.
- DirectorAugusto GeninaMarc AllégretStarsDanièle ParolaPierre BatcheffLouis ZellasA bank employee who stole money at work falls in the hands of a dangerous escaped convict whose girlfriend is going to help him out of this mess.
- DirectorCarl FroelichAugusto GeninaStarsDanièle ParolaHans Adalbert SchlettowPierre BatcheffA bank employee who stole money at work falls in the hands of a dangerous escaped convict whose girlfriend is going to help him out of this mess.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMichel SimonJanie MarèseGeorges FlamantMaurice Legrand, a meek cashier married to a nagging wife, has a secret passion: he's a Sunday painter. He falls in love with Lulu, a young woman dominated by Dédé, the pimp who she works for. Dédé pushes Lulu into a relationship with him.
- DirectorAlexander HallGeorge SomnesStarsClive BrookGeorge RaftHelen VinsonElegant Colin Grant and his associates are successful jewelry thieves, even unmasked to their victims, their perfect alibis making it impossible for the Comissioner police to arrest them. Things are running smoothly until Nick Mason enters the scene--and flirts with Colin's love interest.
- DirectorEdward SedgwickStarsWalter ConnollyPaul LukasGertrude MichaelFather Brown is trying to stop a known theft taking 10 diamonds and showing he is wrong in the eyes of god.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsRichard BarthelmessJoe MorrisonGertrude MichaelA detective who has "four hours to kill" before delivering his prisoner, an escaped killer, spends the time in the lobby of a Broadway theater where a musical is playing. The film focuses on the relationship between the two men, and also among various characters in the theater audience, staff, and cast.
- DirectorAlfred SantellStarsBarbara StanwyckJoel McCreaLloyd NolanIn his first film, young Dr. Kildare helps a female ex-con find her child.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsAnna May WongAkim TamiroffGail PatrickA gangster tries to fix things so that he can marry a rich society woman.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsMary CarlisleLloyd NolanRoscoe KarnsA federal agent goes after a hijacking ring that uses beautiful women to help it hijack the rigs of unsuspecting truckers.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsAkim TamiroffGladys GeorgeWilliam HenryPaul Kriza is a cashier of a bank in a small town, the happy husband of Anna, and the father of four children. He is sent to New York to deliver some securities for the bank. There, he is tagged as easy prey by a con-game gang, and gang accomplice Mary Brown proves that he certainly is. The next morning he wakes up to discover that he has been robbed of the securities, and when he confronts the gang, he is hit on the head and taken out to be left on a railroad track. He comes to and struggles with the henchman--who is killed when a train roars by. Paul escapes, but his watch is found and he is reported as the dead man. But he cannot return home.
- DirectorJames P. HoganStarsRalph BellamyBlanche YurkaJ. Carrol NaishMobster Ma Webster rules her clan with an iron hand, taking charge of all their robberies despite the protests of George Frost, the only member of her gang who is not her son. On Christmas Eve, Ma, George, and her sons Eddie, Charlie, and Tom, rob the Centre City bank, but are warned to get out of town by her other son Bert, who disdains their criminal activity and is studying to be a lawyer. Ma and the gang go on a crime spree across the states, receiving $300,000 in ransom for kidnapping, and additional cash from various robberies. Aware that the serial numbers on the ransom money have been recorded by federal agents, they arrange with fellow crook Pan to trade the money $100,000 in unmarked bills, but take the bills and kill him instead, They are unaware, however, that the police have found a list of the serial numbers for all Pan's bills in his coat pocket. Federal agents Scott Langham and Ross Waring are put on the case, and trace the Websters to a Southern town, where Ma is posing as a socialite. The Websters elude the police, but are forced to live meagerly while hiding out in cheap hotels. By the next Christmas, Ma returns to Centre City to visit Bert's baby boy. While she is out, her boys hold up a store, but Charlie is killed and Tom is arrested. Bert represents Tom at his extradition trial, and convinces him to plead guilty and return willingly to the city of the kidnapping. When George wants to go his own way, Ma and Eddie kill him, then hire Stitch Torey to get Tom away from the police. Their attempt fails, however, and most of Torey's gang perish. After a year, Ma and Eddie have developed a low profile while Eddie works at a cannery to support them, and Ma becomes neighborly. Unknown to Ma, Eddie arranges a hideout for some robbers he hopes to join up with and gives them a case of canned food, but the criminals' car crashes and the police get Eddie's fingerprints from the cans. On Christmas Eve, federal agents attempt to arrest Ma and Eddie, who respond with gunfire. In the hail of bullets, Eddie is killed and Ma is finally arrested.
- DirectorEugene FordeStarsLloyd NolanConstance MooreAlbert DekkerWith the gang business washed up, Rickey Deane, suave first lieutenant to racketeer Chink Moran, and Louie Lanzer, a has-been fighter with itchy fingers, decide to take a peaceful vacation in the country. They are followed by three hard-boiled characters, Fingers, Ziggy and Crusher. Ricky, thinking they are to be rubbed out for deserting Chink, who has been drafted into the Army, stops his car and confronts them. But they merely want to ask Ricky to be their new boss. He declines but promises to call them sometime if the need arises. They are speeding through a Connecticut village and are stopped by yokel Constable Sam Smedley. Judge Paradise, with his daughter Virginia as court clerk, fines them $5.00 each, plus $37 costs - or 30 days in jail. They, while waiting to hear from Jimmy's lawyer, are taken to the cells and are amazed to find the tumbledown jail wide open, with prisoners walking in and out. The door won't lock. The judge explains to Jimmy that Middle Village is unincorporated and broke, its sole income being traffic fines. The town's bonds, for everything from the houses to the village pump, are owned in New York. He also adds that anyone in jail in an unincorporated village is safe from the outside law - Federal,State and City. Ricky, fine paid, hustles back to New York and buys the town bonds for $40,000. Back in Middle Village, Ricky starts the ball rolling; he retains Judge Paradise, sends for Fingers, Ziggy and Crusher, and renovates the jail into a luxurious club. His lawyer then starts a stream of "customers on the lam" who pay $1000 a week for the comfort and protection of the Middle Village Jail. New fire chief Crusher, police chief Ziggy and the others board with Henrietta, a maiden lady with aspirations of becoming a gun moll. She also startles them with her collection of wanted posters, their pictures among them. Louie and Henrietta fall for each other. Virginia, in love with Ricky, tries to talk him into doing big things for the town, such as reopening its one-and-only factory. Ricky agrees when the Army offers a defense contract for shell casings. Meanwhile, Chink has gotten out of the Army and buys Louie's half interest in Middle Village. He tells the "boys" they are suckers for letting Ricky spend the jail "take" on civic improvements and he plans to wreck the factory deal.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsAlbert DekkerSusan HaywardFrances FarmerA mentally unstable man who has been kept in isolation for years escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.
- DirectorRalph MurphyStarsRobert PrestonMartha O'DriscollPhilip MerivaleWhile bombers roar overhead during a practice blackout in a large American West coast city, Robert Draper, is among the prisoners in a police van. The inventor of a new range finder for anti-aircraft guns, he has been sentenced to death for the murder of his co-worker, Tom Manton, on the perjured testimony of night club singer Marie Duval, despite character evidence given in his favor by John Ronnel. Draper escapes when the van is in an accident and seeks refuge in a park, where he runs into telephone operator Mary Jones who decides to help him. They go to a garage where they cut the chain holding Draper's wrists together, and then to a hotel where they register as brother and sister. Draper telephones Ronnel, sure he is the only man who can establish his innocence. Ronnel, however, anonymously, telephones the police and Draper and Mary barely escape. Draper, knowing that Marie has information that can clear him, goes to the club where she works and finds her murdered.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsMacdonald CareyJean PhillipsJ. Carrol NaishNew York City physician, Dr. Timothy Kane, knows Broadway, the Great White Way and all of its characters thoroughly, as does his receptionist, Connie Madigan. A man Kane had sent to prison is now dying, and asks Kane to locate a daughter and give her his fortune. However, others think they have a claim on it, and are out to ensure their claim, usually by foul means.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeBrian DonlevyA crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
- DirectorJack HivelyStarsBurgess MeredithClaire TrevorLouise PlattAfter an accident, a New York man with amnesia finds out the ugly truth about his real identity and past by interacting with people who seem to know him well.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardStarsJames CagneyGrace GeorgeMarjorie MainNewspaper man wanders about and helps older woman save her paper.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsAlan LaddGail RussellWilliam DemarestSalty owes money to Doc Baxter, and he and his pal Smitty have one month to pay up. They get a race horse and a disbarred jockey, Johnny Cates, who must fake his identity to race. Johnny and Salty both fall in love with Barbara Brooks and, to get even, Johnny considers throwing the horse race.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsJames CagneySylvia SidneyPorter HallA dedicated American reporter in 1930s Japan is determined to expose that government's plan for world domination.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsFred MacMurrayHelen WalkerMarjorie MainProfessional pollster Pete Marshall gets more than he bargained for when he heads deep into the Ozarks to investigate the disappearances of several of his colleagues.