Crime

  • Lewis Seiler – Dust Be My Destiny (1939)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaLewis SeilerUSA

    Synopsis:
    An ex-con (John Garfield) embittered about being wrongly imprisoned is picked up for train-hopping and sent to a work farm, where he falls in love with the stepdaughter (Priscilla Lane) of a cruel foreman (Stanley Ridges) who dies shortly after a fight. On the lam, the falsely accused couple live a low-key life thanks to the generosity of a deli owner (Henry Armetta) who hires them, and later the owner of a newspaper (Alan Hale) who hires Garfield as a photographer — but the murder allegation continues to haunt them, and Garfield is convinced he’ll never get an even break.Read More »

  • Georges Franju – Nuits rouges AKA Shadowman (1974)

    1971-1980AdventureCrimeFranceGeorges Franju

    The butler of the writer Maxime de Borrego goes to the store of an old lady and tells that his boss probably knows the location of the Templars treasure, expecting to receive a reward. The old lady is actually the ruthless criminal The Man without a Face, the master of disguise that wears a red mask. He tortures and kills Maxime without getting any answer about the location of the treasure. Maxime’s nephew, the sailor Paul de Borrego, returns from a trip and teams up with his girlfriend, her best friend, with Inspector Sorbier and his team trying to arrest the evil criminal. But The Man without a Face uses a sort of human zombies created his insane doctor and his gorgeous assistant that wears a mask and outfits similar to the Catwoman to lure the police and achieve his intent.Read More »

  • Kôsaku Yamashita – Gokudo no onna-tachi: Saigo no tatakai AKA Yakuza Ladies: The Final Battle (1990)

    1981-1990CrimeDramaJapanKôsaku Yamashita

    Two wives of gangsters come together to avenge the deaths of their men.Read More »

  • Robert F. Hill – A Face in the Fog (1936)

    1931-1940CrimeMysteryRobert F. HillUSA

    Cast members of a show at the Alden theatre are being terrorized by a hunchback killer known as the Fiend, using frozen bullets, and two have been killed. Newspaper reporters Jean Monroe, drama editor, and Frank Gordon, accompanied by a dumb photographer, Elmer are on the story. Jean receives a note from Ted Wallington, the star of the play,”Satan’s Bride”, to meet him. From him, she learns the note was a fake, the lights go out and the Fiend strikes again as Wallington slumps to the floor dead. Peter Fortune, the author of the show, who has helped the police solve previous cases, agrees to assist on this case, but insists on working alone. Read More »

  • John Hayes – Sweet Trash (1970)

    1961-1970CrimeExploitationJohn HayesUSA

    Down on his luck alcoholic longshoreman Michael Joseph Donovan (Duncan McLeod) finds himself in deep trouble after he racks up a huge debt to some vicious local mobsters. Donovan decides to go on the run, which only compounds the severity of his already dire situation. While on the lam Donovan has surreal encounters with various lusty ladies and colorful eccentrics from the slummy neighborhood he resides in.Read More »

  • Lambert Hillyer – Girl from Rio (1939)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaLambert HillyerUSA

    Quote:
    This is a fun one, nothing very unexpected and definitely no ‘film noir,’ but if you are into a decently acted torch-songstress adventure this is a good pick. Marquita is an up-and-comer on the Rio club scene but has to back-burner her career for a trip up to New York (where nobody’s heard of her) in order to clear her dancer brother of a murder frame-up.Read More »

  • Hal Roach – The Housekeeper’s Daughter (1939)

    1931-1940ComedyCrimeHal RoachScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis
    A gangster’s moll runs home to mother, with reporters and amateur detectives hot on her tail. Cast: Joan Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, William Gargan, Victor Mature.Read More »

  • Mika Kaurismäki – Highway Society (2000)

    1991-2000ComedyCrimeFinlandMika Kaurismäki

    Quote:
    Acclaimed Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki helms this deadpan, oddball road movie. Jack Bogart (Kai Wiesinger) is a dodgy car mechanic living in the backwaters of Germany. His motto is “Live for the moment; that’s all that counts,” and, indeed, for a moment he hooked up with an older Korean woman (Francisca Tu), until a couple of thugs he had previously swindled, Bruno (Hannes Hellmann) and doltish Popo, pay him a visit. Jack promptly hits the road along with bitchy Verena (Michaela Rosen) and her saucy spoiled daughter Elisabeth (Marie Zielcke). The latter falls for Jack, much to his consternation, and soon she is tagging along all the way to Finland.Read More »

  • S. Sylvan Simon – The Nurse from Brooklyn (1938)

    Drama1931-1940CrimeS. Sylvan SimonUSA

    A nurse’s younger brother is caught in a shootout between a criminal gang and the police, and he is shot and killed. The officer who is accused of shooting the man knows that he didn’t do it, and sets out to find the real killer and clear his own name.Read More »

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