Gordon Macrae has been in a veteran's hospital since the War, while doctors operate on his spine again and again. His only visitor is Edmond O'Brien; they talk about going into ranching, but even though Macrae seems up and fine now, the doctors tell O'Brien that ranching is out. O'Brien leaves; a mysterious woman visits Macrae after he gets a sleeping pill; and when he is finally released, he's picked up by police captain Ed Begley. O'Brien is suspected in the murder of a gambler.
It's got all the earmarks of a classic film noir: the camerawork, the film noir, the fever-dream sequences, the flashbacks and the femme fatale. Film editor Thomas Reilly makes some odd choices, but director Vincent Sherman has a sure hand and gives everyone a moment or two in the center of the screen. Maybe it's to throw suspicion on each of them -- except for Ida Moore, who offers an important clue -- but that's part of the mystery game.
As to the question I posed in the title of this review, yes you can. But it's hard and rarely done. Certainly Carl Guthrie's excellent noir photography makes extensive use of them.... and lampshades.
It's got all the earmarks of a classic film noir: the camerawork, the film noir, the fever-dream sequences, the flashbacks and the femme fatale. Film editor Thomas Reilly makes some odd choices, but director Vincent Sherman has a sure hand and gives everyone a moment or two in the center of the screen. Maybe it's to throw suspicion on each of them -- except for Ida Moore, who offers an important clue -- but that's part of the mystery game.
As to the question I posed in the title of this review, yes you can. But it's hard and rarely done. Certainly Carl Guthrie's excellent noir photography makes extensive use of them.... and lampshades.