Carefully constructed in Tourneur’s typical style – akin, as Chris Fujiwara put it, to a Chinese-box structure – this first in the series What Do You Think? (Tourneur directed the third as well) plays on one of his favorite themes: the attempt to rationalize a series of extraordinary things that happen to the main character.Read More »
Synopsis
Fresh out of journalism school, fledgling reporter Betty Bryant badgers city editor Joyce into giving her a job on the paper. Informed that human interest stories pop up several times a day at the emergency squad station, Betty heads in that direction, where she meets rookie Pete Barton, “Chesty” Miller and Pete’s brother Dan, with whom she falls in love. Meanwhile, Slade Wiley, an unscrupulous contractor, has won the bid on a contract to build the underwater Newford Tunnel. Discovering that his low bid is causing him to lose large amounts of money, Wiley conspires with underworld leader Nick Buller to detonate a series of explosions that will panic the stockholders into selling their shares at ridiculously low prices, thus enabling Wiley to gain control of the stock. Reasoning that Betty’s publicity would assist their plans, Wiley and Buller keep in close contact with her and allow her access to the construction site. Read More »
This is the third film based on a story by Lajos Biro and Jules G. Furthman. The first two were silent films, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Whispering Chorus in 1918, and The Way of All Flesh in 1927. In this melodrama, Paul Kriza (Akim Tamiroff), a respectable bank cashier, leaves his wife Anna (Gladys George) and their children to seek greater fortunes in the big city. But instead of making his mark, he makes a mess of his prospects, and he ends up destitute. Ashamed to face his family, he remains in the city, and is presumed to be dead.Read More »
Plot Synopsis:
Former juvenile star William Henry is the all-grown-up hero of Federal Man. Henry is cast as a government agent who dogs the trail of illegal narcotics peddlers. This requires several trips south of the US-Mexico border and back again. Scenes of startlingly vivid violence are counterpointed with prosaic shots of the scientific paraphernalia used by modern-day crime fighters (“modern,” of course, by 1950 standards). Though leading lady Pamela Blake is ill-served by her bland dialogue, veteran utility player George Eldredge enjoys one of the largest assignments of his career as the slimy gang leader. Like many crime films of the era, Federal Man adopts a documentary approach to its scripted scenes.
by Haal EricksonRead More »