 |
| this movie was also released as "Baby Face Killers" which makes no sense and is hilarious |
Watched: 09/23/2021
Format: BluRay
Viewing: Second
Decade: 1950's
Director: Don Siegel
I'd see this one before, one of the films from The Filmmakers, the producing company founded by Ida Lupino and her husband at the time. Lupino had co-written the film, and co-stars in what I find an interesting role as a down-on-her-luck lounge singer who happens to be a witness valuable to two detectives (Steve Cochrane and Howard Duff) as they seek a murderer who has fled to LA and is now passing bills known to have been stolen in a murder/ robbery.
It's a cheaper film, so it's smaller and occasionally falls into the trap of letting scenes linger on so we can make the necessary 80 minute feature run-time. And there's a whole scene at the beginning that seems like a favor to Steve Cochrane so he can tear apart a set and do some cool action sequence stuff (there's not a ton of action, otherwise).
But, I do like the set-up quite a bit. Cochrane as the morally-shakey cop, Huff as the cop with a wife (Dorothy Malone in platinum hair) and kid who wants to be the one with the straight moral compass - who are assigned to track down the mysterious NY criminals. Along the way they meet Lupino and eventually track down the criminal - and all that cash.
Cochrane believes he needs money if he's going to keep Lupino, and Huff... is conflicted. If the movie has a slow mid-section, it has some great moments of punctuation.
Anyway, it's got some pure noir baked in, and something of an accidental femme fatale.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep it friendly. Comment moderation is now on (which means your comment will not automagically appear). Your comment will be reviewed and published if it is reasonable. if it is not published, please do some self-reflection.