Reviews

I watched REIGN OF TERROR, aka, THE BLACK BOOK last night and I just loved it! It's one of the most unusual films I have come across and an equally strange hybrid of genres or sub-genres. The great Anthony Mann takes a film that would probably play mostly as a colorful, sweeping, epic piece dealing with the French revolution and turns it, with the help of cinematographer John Alton, into a dark, shadowy and claustrophobic film noir/adventure/spy/suspense tale period piece featuring excellent performances from a cast that includes Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart and Arlene Dahl. The plot is pretty simple actually, Cummings plays an operative of the newly formed republic who infiltrates the inner circle of dictator wannabe Basehart. You see, Basehart thinks Cummings is a regional tyrant as bad as he is called the "butcher of Strasbourg" and he wants Cummings to find his black book which contains the names of friend and foe alike who will eventually be lead to execution once Basehart becomes dictator. However, if the book falls into the hands of his enemies, Basehart is dead meat. Cummings is assisted in his quest by the lovely Dahl. Even though the plot may be thin, the suspense and action are on high as danger and one confrontation after another awaits around every dark, gloomy and shadowy Parisian corner. The look of the film is outstanding. Atmospheric, gritty and dark with shadows everywhere in the great noir tradition. Mann's camera is everywhere as we receive his trademark high angle shots, low angle moments and jarring and disjointed facial close-ups. A truly unique and highly entertaining film with a look and feel that just has to be experienced. I loved it and would recommend it highly to anyone with even the slightest interest in the work of the wonderful Anthony Mann.

Watched this film recently and I really loved it! Entertaining throughout and with solid performances from a cast that consists of Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson, Rory Calhoun and Allene Roberts. The movie is very odd but incredibly atmospheric and at times, a bit spooky. Robinson and Anderson play a brother and sister who have adopted Roberts and have raised her as their own on their farm all the time concealing a dark secret that lays hidden in the red house beyond the woods. Robinson will go to whatever means he has to in order to protect the secret and that includes hiring Calhoun to scare away trespassers with his handy scope rifle. Young McCallister is hired by Robinson to help on the farm and soon proceeds to try and unravel the mystery with the help of Roberts. Excellent direction from Delmer Daves who pumps up the atmopshere with lots of whistling wind, creepy shots of the woods and terrific use of shadows. A mention also must be made regarding the great score by Miklós Rózsa which fits every scene perfectly and creates the right amount of eerieness at the right times. The ending is quite haunting also. A very good film that has become a quick favorite of mine and one I'll definitely be watching again.

Watched this movie a while ago and although I thought the film was unintentionally funny in several parts and that there were a lot of bizare and outlandish happenings, I found it oddly compelling and pretty entertaining. On the plus side was the cool first person camera work. Though it was also seen in LADY IN THE LAKE, this type of filming always interests me. The San Francisco locations also gave the film a nice air of authenticity. The biggest plus of course is the Bogart/Becall team. The chemistry and the heat is quite obvious and Bogie comes off as charming while Becall sizzles with her "innocent" sexiness. Some things just had me shaking my head in amazement though and chuckling a little to myself. I mean, Bogart just gets into this cab and right away, the cabbie knows people because he studies faces and immediately he knows Bogart is the prison escapee even though his face is completely covered in darkness!! And just like that, the cabbie happens to know this doctor who performs facelifts and on and on it went. I mean, Bogie just happened to get into the right cab at the right time in a huge metropolis! Timing is everything I guess. And how about the cop at the diner? Just because Bogart didn't realize a certain race track was closed and because he wasn't wearing a raincoat, he was automatically a suspect who needed to go down to headquarters even though he looked nothing like his old self??? Wow! And don't get me started on Bogie's final confrontation with Agnes Moorehead! Anyway, there was still something about the film that kept me entertained and interested to the end but all in all, DARK PASSAGE in not a great film and I prefer something like THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT to this one.

I watched REIGN OF TERROR, aka, THE BLACK BOOK a while back and I just loved it! It's one of the most unusual films I have come across and an equally strange hybrid of genres or sub-genres. The great Anthony Mann takes a film that would probably play mostly as a colorful, sweeping, epic piece dealing with the French revolution and turns it, with the help of cinematographer John Alton, into a dark, shadowy and claustrophobic film noir/adventure/spy/suspense tale period piece featuring excellent performances from a cast that includes Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart and Arlene Dahl. The plot is pretty simple actually, Cummings plays an operative of the newly formed republic who infiltrates the inner circle of dictator wannabe Basehart. You see, Basehart thinks Cummings is a regional tyrant as bad as he is called the "butcher of Strasbourg" and he wants Cummings to find his black book which contains the names of friend and foe alike who will eventually be lead to execution once Basehart becomes dictator. However, if the book falls into the hands of his enemies, Basehart is dead meat. Cummings is assisted in his quest by the lovely Dahl. Even though the plot may be thin, the suspense and action are on high as danger and one confrontation after another awaits around every dark, gloomy and shadowy Parisian corner. The look of the film is outstanding. Atmospheric, gritty and dark with shadows everywhere in the great noir tradition. Mann's camera is everywhere as we receive his trademark high angle shots, low angle moments and jarring and disjointed facial close-ups. A truly unique and highly entertaining film with a look and feel that just has to be experienced. I loved it and would recommend it highly to anyone with even the slightest interest in the work of the wonderful Anthony Mann.

Had a chance to check out this "B" quickie the other night and didn't think it was anything special. With it's 57 minute running time, fairly bland characters and familiar plot, it felt more like an episode of some 1950's anthology series as opposed to a movie. Basically, Ellen Drew plays a woman who marries a mobster (Regis Toomey) without knowing it and becomes innocently implicated in a murder her husband commits. The authorities are after her so jilted love, Robert Lowery, a park ranger, hides her away in a cabin on a remote mountain-top because he correctly believes she is innocent. The gangster husband followed them and now holds his wife hostage in the cabin. Not really much action here until the end when a car chase ensues around the twisting roads of the the mountain but that's really about it. Lot's of corny dialogue and weak attempts at comic relief by Eddie Quillan as Lowery's partner. Probably the best thing about the movie are some of the outdoor location shots utilized by Director William A. Berke that gave the film a nice atmosphere. All in all, it's probably a film that should be passed up unless your an absolute hard core crime film nitwit like I am.

A dreadfully boring, dull and lifeless "crime" film that was originally released in the UK as MURDER IN SOHO in 1939 and then released in the States as MURDER IN THE NIGHT in 1940. I watched this last night and even at about only 70 minutes, the film dragged and nearly had me nodding off a couple of times. The film stars Jack La Rue as this big time night club owner and "criminal" who wants only things that the finer parts of life can offer. La Rue actually comes off as likable and is hard to take seriously as a gangster. As a matter of fact, if you look quickly at him from time to time, he resembles Ricky Ricardo! Sandra Storme gives a horrid performance as the new night club act who's help is requested by Scotland Yard to help put an end to La Rue's "criminal reign". A total of four gunshots are fired in the film and there is absolutely no action. Instead you get nearly 70 minutes of hokey dialogue, song and dance and terrible stabs at comedic relief. All in all, a pretty awful movie.