Reviews

This film tries to be "Film Noir" but just doesn't make it.

When I started watching it I could have sworn it was from the late 30's or early 40's, partly due to the poor quality print. When I realized that it was from the late 40's I was shocked.

The plot is actually quite good until the end, which was a dreadful anticlimax.

There are two main problems with this film, one is the obviously very poor direction, the other is that Brian Donlevy's character is far to mild mannered.

Brian Donlevy was a great actor, strong willed and forceful. Check out "Beau Geste". In this film, even though he starts out to be a businessman who doesn't take no for an answer, he turns out to be a wimp. Poor writing.

A wimp is not what is needed in the second half of this film and wimps do not belong in film noir.

Charles Coburn was a fine actor and could be gruff when he needed to be. This role called for a hardened detective, instead he acts like Shirley Temple's kindly grandfather. Poor direction.

Ella Raines and Helen Walker did a good job, though I think Ella's character should have gotten stronger and nastier after she found out that her husband was alive and her lover was dead. Again, poor direction.

Anna May Wong should have quit when sound came in.

I believe Mae Marsh to have been a good "sound" actress but she never got a chance to prove it. She had all but retired from acting until the stock market crash wiped her out. She doesn't seem to have wanted to be an actress and was relegated to uncredited mother roles when she had to return to make money. Mae did a good job in this role as in the other small parts that I have seen her in.

Now back to the biggest problem with this film, the ending.

Brian Donlevy's lawyer tells his wife that he can prove that she is guilty. Charges are dropped against him, brought against her, The End.

The writer seems to have been late for an engagement and just hammered out a quick end.

This could have been a great film with some touching up of the script and a better director.

This film gets its high rating just because W.C. Fields is in it.

The problem is that he isn't in much of it.

He only had a couple of funny bits, and they weren't all that funny.

Poor writing and direction is the problem.

W.C. could be great, this film didn't give him a chance.

Another problem is that the pace of the film is very slow and comic timing doesn't seem to have been invented yet.

Ben Turpin never served a purpose except for the fact that he was cross eyed, Ha Ha Ha very funny, NOT.

Jack Oakie and Hugh Herbert also turn in uncharacteristically dull performances.

When all of these people are deadly dull the problem must be the writing and direction.

I have been watching Doctor Who for 25 years. I have seen every episode including the recons and I must say that the new doctor who series stinks!

The old doctors acted out of a sense of duty to the universe. The new doctor acts out of a need for jollies.

The doctor didn't regenerate, he degenerated into toilet humor, which is a sign of desperation.

If your show is so bad that you must resort to jokes about farting to get a juvenile to chuckle, then you need to scrap the entire project.

Why is he always grinning like an idiot?

The time lapse photography is completely out of place .

The music is all wrong.

I don't blame the actors as they don't have much control over anything.

It's too bad that Billie Piper was chosen for this role due to the fact that she can be portrayed in the publicity shots as a porn star, another sign of desperation.

I am sure every 3 legged boy out there is happy about that.

It is to her credit that she doesn't act like one.

Christopher ecclestons doctor simply has no class.

The biggest problem is the fact that the stories are so shallow. The doctor has yet to do much of anything.

So far I have seen the first 3 episodes and the solutions are; 1. Let someone else throw the antiplastic. 2. Stand there while cassandra dries up and explodes. 3. Let someone else turn up the gas. 4. Simplistic and boring.

No investigation, no theory, no plan, no sparring with the enemy, no nothing.

A decent Doctor Who story cannot be told in 45 minutes, they need to make them all 2 part stories.

The new Doctor Who better get better fast!

P.S. I just started watching episode 4, 13 minutes into it the farting starts. I turned it off. I'll try again when I am less disgusted. What's next, is the doctor going to ask rose to pull his finger?

P.S.S. I just read that eccleston quit. What a LOSER!