1941-1950

  • Earl McEvoy – The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)

    USA1941-1950Earl McEvoyFilm NoirThriller

    Synopsis:
    A married team of diamond smugglers enter New York to fence their purloined gems unaware that the wife is carrying the highly contagious, deadly smallpox virus. The crooks ensconce themselves in a hotel without realizing that the wife’s every move is being monitored by a Treasury agent. The husband directs her to stay put while he goes off on business. Actually he is going out to tryst with his conniving sister-in-law. Back in the room, the wife feels ill and so creeps out to see a doctor.Read More »

  • Rudolph Maté – Union Station (1950)

    USA1941-1950Film NoirRudolph MatéThriller

    Synopsis:
    Union Station is a tense crime thriller in the tradition of The Naked City that unfolds in Los Angeles. William Holden plays railroad worker Lt. William Calhoun. Calhoun goes into action when Lorna Murchison (Allene Roberts), the sightless daughter of millionaire Henry Murchison (Herbert Heyes), is kidnapped by ruthless Joe Beacon (Lyle Bettger). The abduction is witnessed by Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson), Murchison’s secretary. Using the handful of clues provided by Joyce, Calhoun and his associate, Inspector Donnelly (Barry Fitzgerald) do their best to second-guess the kidnapper.Read More »

  • Elia Kazan – Panic in the Streets [+commentary] (1950)

    1941-1950CrimeElia KazanFilm NoirUSA

    Synopsis:
    Filmed entirely on location in New Orleans, Panic in the Streets stars Richard Widmark as a city medical officer, racing against time to stop a plague epidemic. The carrier was an illegal alien, who has been murdered by criminals Jack Palance and Zero Mostel. At first facing opposition from rule-bound police captain Paul Douglas, Widmark is finally able to work hand-in-glove with Douglas in tracking down Palance and Mostel, who have themselves become plague carriers. Read More »

  • Jules Dassin – Brute Force (1947)

    1941-1950250 Quintessential Film NoirsCrimeFilm NoirJules DassinUSA

    William K Everson writes:
    Brute Force was touted as being by far the toughest and most violent prison film Hollywood had ever made. Many European censors felt the same way and scenes were shortened for overseas release. Actually, the violence is essentially surface violence, and earlier prison films had been rougher in a psychological sense. Nevertheless, with all of those noir icons in the cast and behind the camera (especially Miklos Rosza’s music) the film made a welcome break in the increasingly formularized cycle of big-city crime noir films. Read More »

  • Charles Vidor – Gilda (1946)

    1941-1950Charles VidorDramaFilm NoirUSA

    Synopsis:
    Johnny Farrell has just arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is making a living cheating in gambling, primarily in informal street games. He begins a more stable life when, upon a chance meeting, he convinces Ballin Mundson, the violent and less than scrupulous owner of the local illegal casino, to hire him on the premise that it is better for Ballin to have the “enemy” on his side. Besides the casino, which the local authorities are aware of, Ballin is involved in an international illegal tungsten cartel. Johnny quickly rises to be Ballin’s trusted right hand man. Read More »

  • Henry Hathaway – Call Northside 777 (1948)

    1941-1950250 Quintessential Film NoirsClassicsFilm NoirHenry HathawayUSA

    Synopsis:
    When a woman places an ad in the Chicago Times offering a $5,000 reward for information that will exonerate her son, the newspaper assigns reporter P.J. McNeal to look into the case. He learns that eleven years earlier, Frank Wiecek was convicted of killing an on duty police officer in a speakeasy and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. McNeal is quite skeptical as to his innocence and only slowly comes to realize that there was a miscarriage of justice. The real question is whether he can find evidence that would convince the pardon board and obtain Wiecek’s release.Read More »

  • John Huston – In This Our Life (1942)

    Drama1941-1950ClassicsJohn HustonUSA

    Synopsis:
    A young woman, Stanley Timberlake, dumps her fiance, Craig Fleming, and runs off with her sister Roy’s husband, Peter Kingsmill. They marry, settle in Baltimore, and Stanley ultimately drives Peter to drink and suicide. Stanley returns home to Richmond only to learn that her sister Roy and old flame Craig have fallen in love and plan to marry. The jealous and selfish Stanley attempts to win back Craig’s affections, but her true character is revealed when, rather than take the rap herself, she attempts to pin a hit and run accident on the young black clerk, Parry Clay, who works in Craig’s law office.Read More »

  • Chetan Anand – Neecha Nagar (1946)

    1941-1950Chetan AnandClassicsIndia

    IMDB says:
    The films takes an expressionist look at the gulf between the rich and poor in the society. The film centers on a wealthy and capacious landlord, Sarkar (Rafi Peer) who lives in a palatial estate high up on a mountain while the poor toil and starve in the valley below. The villagers of ‘Neecha Nagar’ harbor hate for Sarkar and their hatred is fueled even more by the fact that Sarkar plans to direct all the sewage into the village in order to make way for his housing project. The villagers protest this move with their head, Balraj (Rafiq Anwar) leading a movement against Sarkar’s plan. Sarkar’s daughter Maya (Uma Anand) joins the movement against her father and falls in love with Balraj. With the sewage flowing through the village, epidemic starts to spread and the lives of the villagers comes under threat. Can poor people of ‘Neecha Nagar’ survive the greed and wickedness of the rich? Can Sarkar and his malicious ways be put to an end?Read More »

  • Edgar Neville – Domingo de carnaval AKA Carnival Sunday (1945)

    1941-1950CrimeDramaEdgar NevilleSpainSpanish cinema under Franco

    The same morning that carnival begins, a serene finds in Madrid the corpse of a rich and greedy lender who has been murdered. The main suspect is a seller of watches that owed much money ​​to the old woman, but her daughter, not content with the arrest of his father, begins to investigate on their own …Read More »

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