Crime

  • Edward Ludwig – Her Husband Lies (1937)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaEdward LudwigUSA

    Brief Synopsis
    J. Ward Thomas of Park Avenue leads a double life as an investment broker and as notorious gambler Spade Martin, despite the protests of his beautiful wife Natalie, a nightclub singer who retired when they married. Spade’s younger brother “Chick” wires Spade from Seattle that he has quit gambling for a job in real estate and is about to marry a nice girl named Betty. Relieved to find his kid brother is straight, Spade sends him $10,000 cash as a wedding present. When a woman posing as a pregnant wife comes to Spade for a loan, Spade gives it to her. Later, when Steve Burdick, the woman’s supposed husband, brags in a bar that he made a fool of Spade, Spade’s hit man, Trigger, kills Burdick. Tired of Spade’s gambling, Natalie books a return engagement at Cafe Nocturne, telling him that she is a singer rather than a wife now. Read More »

  • François Truffaut – Vivement dimanche! AKA AKA Confidentially Yours (1983)

    1981-1990CrimeFilm NoirFranceFrançois Truffaut

    Quote:
    French director Francois Truffaut’s newest film is a tribute to American film noir. It is based on a 1962 novel by Charles Williams that blends mystery and comedy genres. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays Julien, a real estate agent who finds himself under suspicion for the murder of a friend. When his wife is killed shortly afterwards, Julien goes into hiding.
    Barbara (Fanny Ardant), his feisty secretary who secretly loves him despite his penchant for beautiful blondes, volunteers to help clear his name. Donning a trench coat appropriate for the challenge at hand, she sallies forth on her own investigation. She soon discovers confusing clues and meets sinister figures, including a pimp, a movie-house cashier, a priest, and a smooth talking lawyer.Read More »

  • Claude Autant-Lara – L’Auberge Rouge AKA The Red Inn (1951)

    1951-1960Claude Autant-LaraComedyCrimeFrance

    An innkeeper and his wife have a second career involving the robbery and murder of stagecoach travellers staying at their isolated inn. And it’s up to a monk to stop the mayhem…Read More »

  • Félix Rotaeta – El placer de matar AKA The Killer (1988)

    1981-1990CrimeFélix RotaetaSpainThriller

    The story of two men with very different lives but united for the pleasure of killing.Read More »

  • Julian Goldberger – Trans (1998)

    1991-2000CrimeDramaJulian GoldbergerUSA

    Ryan Kazinski, 16, is in juvenile detention in Fort Myers, Florida. He gets away one day, and the world is all before him: where should he go, what should he do? Should he try to find his mom? Should he head for Colorado, where he’s daydreamed about life in the woods. He has a younger brother, so under cover of night, Ryan visits him. At night, Ryan is on the streets where there are other youth at loose ends, including one who wants Ryan to help with a burglary. The police are looking for him as well. Where might a 16-year-old of limited experience, with no money, imagine he could be safe?Read More »

  • Claude Chabrol – Les liens de sang AKA Blood relatives (1977)

    1971-1980Claude ChabrolCrimeDramaFrance

    Synopsis:
    Making a rare visit to Canada, Claude Chabrol cowrote and directed the low-pressure psychological melodrama Blood Relatives (Les Liens de sang). Donald Sutherland and Donald Pleasence head the cast in this story of the aftermath of a brutal murder. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, was apparently raped before she died, leading Carella (Sutherland) to believe that she was killed by a sex maniac. Pedophile Doniac (Pleasence) tops the suspect list, but don’t be too sure. The truth is much “closer to home” than anyone realizes at first. Lisa Langlois, who made something of a career of Canadian scare flicks, makes her screen debut in Blood Relatives; also appearing, is Chabrol’s wife Stephane Audran. Blood Relatives was based on a novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), of 87th Precinct fame; the film was released in the US in 1981, three years after its completion.Synopsis:

    Making a rare visit to Canada, Claude Chabrol cowrote and directed the low-pressure psychological melodrama Blood Relatives (Les Liens de sang). Donald Sutherland and Donald Pleasence head the cast in this story of the aftermath of a brutal murder. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, was apparently raped before she died, leading Carella (Sutherland) to believe that she was killed by a sex maniac. Pedophile Doniac (Pleasence) tops the suspect list, but don’t be too sure. The truth is much “closer to home” than anyone realizes at first. Lisa Langlois, who made something of a career of Canadian scare flicks, makes her screen debut in Blood Relatives; also appearing, is Chabrol’s wife Stephane Audran. Blood Relatives was based on a novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), of 87th Precinct fame; the film was released in the US in 1981, three years after its completion.Read More »

  • Yasuzô Masumura – Gurentai junjyôha AKA Band of Pure-Hearted Hoodlums (1963)

    1961-1970CrimeDramaJapanYasuzô Masumura

    Quote:
    A youthful and exciting version of Shinji Fujiwara’s original work of the same name, drawn by popular stars of the time. One day, thugs Ginnosuke (Kojiro Hongo), Matsu (Jun Fujimaki), and Yutaka (Jotaro Chinaba), who live hand-to-mouth, move into the Nakamura-za troupe, whose leader has died, in order to make money by selling it. The newly formed Nakamura-za, with Ginnosuke as its chairman, begins its activities, but the three members put aside their initial plans to make money and focus solely on acting.Read More »

  • Abel Ferrara – King of New York (1990)

    1981-1990Abel FerraraCrimeThrillerUSA

    Quote:
    After completing a lengthy prison sentence, one-time drug kingpin Frank White returns to New York intent on reestablishing his empire and making things as they were before he left. Others of course have taken over the business during his absence but that clearly isn’t going to stop White. While he is gunning down the opposition, he decides he’s going to give away the money he’ll make to modernize the hospital in his old neighborhood. Drug dealers aren’t the only thing he has to worry about however: a group of rogue cops decide they are going to take him down.Read More »

  • John Huckert – Hard (1998)

    1991-2000CrimeDramaJohn HuckertUSA

    When a series of brutal killings of young male hustlers awakens the police to the threat of a serial killer, rookie detective Raymond Fates (Noel Palomaria) and his seasoned partner detective Tom Ellis (Charles Lanyer) battle an intolerant police department that is indifferent to these “misdemeanor killings.Read More »

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