(FILM NOIR) The Clay Pigeon - 1949 ***

A man wakes from a coma in hospital to discover he has been court marshaled and accused of treason against his former inmates at a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Desperate to prove his innocence he turns up at his best friend's house, unaware that he has been accused of his murder. His wife, after initially wanting to get him arrested, decides to give him the benefit of the doubt and goes with him to search for the true murderers of her husband.
It's not a bad film, but not one of the stronger film noirs.

(NOIR) A Woman's Secret - 1949 ***

Susan (Gloria Grahame) lies on the floor shot. Marian (Maureen O'Hara) is found leaning over her with a gun. But is the story as black and white as it seems (did you see what i did there with the black and white...?)
Actually it's not. We discover that Susan is the young protegee of Marian, a popular singer who loses her voice and is desperate to find a replacement. It's a tiny bit like 'All About Eve' but with singing instead of acting. Luke (Melvyn Douglas) is her piano player, and to be honest he's my favourite character (and actor) in the film. He has enough gusto to keep it going, without stepping on the two lead actresses toes. When Susan becomes popular herself, (and appears to catch the eye of Luke, this makes Marian rather jealous. She wants a replacement, but not at the cost of her relationship or career. O'Hara isn't a bad actress, but I've never been particularly into her work, and although Gloria Grahame is the typical femme fatale in noir, she didn't appear to be at her best either.
Worth a watch though, although as one critic remarked - 'There's too much unintended mystery about A Woman's Secret for it to be anything but spotty entertainment'. Sadly I think that might be right.

(NOIR) The Big Bluff - 1955 ***

For a 'typical film noir' The Big Bluff  is quite good. Produced by Billy Wilder's overlooked (and much less talented) brother W. Lee Wilder might've given it a bit of credit. Alas it did not. And acting-wise it was rather shoddy, which spoilt it tremendously.
After a chance meeting and quick marriage, a wealthy fortune hunter hopes to cash in on his terminally ill wife's inheritance, but when he discovers that the 'last holiday' they are taking together is actually improving her health considerably, he and his lover have to resort to other startling tactics to get the money.
I like how the idea of 'The Big Bluff' is actually the bluff of the marriage and the relationship which the would-be killer has to keep up the pretence of for a lot longer that originally hoped.
Apart from that however, it's predictable and not very strong.

(NOIR) C-Man - 1949 *

Very poor Noir with Dean Jagger, who plays an Agent on the trail of the murderers of his best friend and boss. It's badly acted, (laughable in places) and incredibly fake. In some scenes Jagger quite obviously fake punches his assailants and the sound is added later. Added to which the quality is horrendous. It's not on par with other noirs I have seen and it's a pity that it doesn't have a higher respect for itself.

(NOIR) They Made Me A Killer - 1946 **

This was a really dire film. The quality was awful which didn't help, but there were no credible or standout performances at all.
A young woman sets out to prove a man has been wrongly convicted of armed robbery and murder. In the process she puts her own life at risk from the violent gang who did perform the task.
Miss this.

Behind Green Lights - 1946 ** 1/2

I was so surprised by this film, mostly because Carole Landis's acting is awful! There is no describing that she was a beautiful woman and her death was tragic, but she performed like a piece of wood.
William Gargan plays a cop in charge of investigating the murder of a well known blackmailer, who's body is found full of bullets on the sidewalk next to the station.
After seeing the name of a would be mayor's daughter in his address book, she is brought in for questioning, as well as the estranged wife of the blackmailer and her new beau.
It was quite a slow story, and not one of my favourites.

I, Anna - 2012 ***

Quite a decent thriller, and I suppose it does have 'film noir' qualities about it, but parts of the film lagged, and I was a tad disappointed with Charlotte Rampling's performance (especially as she is usually brilliant). Gabriel Byrne plays a troubled DI who is covering the case of a man murdered in his flat. By chance, he becomes enthralled by Anna, a mysterious and lonely woman who seems to know more about the murder than she lets on. Is she involved?
Quite a good experience, but certain things just didn't hold my interest.

Fatal Instinct - 1993 ****

I do love spoofs and parodies and this encapsulates both! Sean Young plays the crazy, bunny boiler femme fatale who becomes obsessed with a lawyer after she has a brief affair with him in the style of 'Fatal Instinct' (which was at it's peak when the film was made). You could actually make a list of every crime/thriller noir that this film makes references to as there are at least 20 in the mix to look out for. Armand Assante is good as the male lead, with a perfect voice for the over-scene narration that was so popular in so many noirs. A funny film, and it tests your knowledge of other famous thriller noirs from cinema history. 

(NOIR) Angel Face - 1952 *

I was so disappointed with this noir which has been on my list of must sees for a long time. Jean Simmons was awful, and the plot was even worse. I felt no empathy for any of the characters, and Robert Mitchum acted like he was doped up. I didn't enjoy this, and I fear it may have put me off film noirs for a while.

(NOIR) The Suspect - 1944 ****

Robert Siodmak is one of my favourite directors. Here he takes a different turn away from his usual  noirs into early 20th century London, where an unhappily married accountant named Philip (played brilliantly by Charles Laughton) meets a beautiful young secretary named Mary, after she comes to him looking for work. Although Philip finds himself falling in love with Mary, he decides to keep the relationship platonic, until his horrible wife Cora starts to suspect what is going on and threatens him with a scandal. Quite soon after this, she falls down the stairs to her death. An accident? Or a deliberate act on Philip's part? The build-up  of tension is brilliant here, and I loved the shift of time period Siodmak has used. Added to which, Laughton is a superb actor.

(NOIR) Edge of the City - 1957 ****

This was a brilliantly captivating film, and I found Sidney Poitier's performance to be totally gripping and heart-breaking.
Cassavetes stars as army deserter Axel, who arrives at the waterside of Manhattan looking for work as a longshoreman. He is lucky enough to find work under a man named Charlie, who turns out to be a vicious, racist bully when he finds out that Axel has become friends with and would rather work for a kind-hearted and decent man named Tommy. Axel decides he would be a lot happier working for Tommy after he starts renting a room close by to him, makes friends with his wife and starts a relationship with the wife's best friend. Charlie on the other hand is not happy with this, and will do anything he can to break up the friendship between the two men.
The film is captivating in many ways, mainly for it's plot content (an interracial friendship which was quite a daring topic for 1950s film) and for Poitier's acting which constantly blows me away in any film I see him in. You come away from the film wishing that if everyone had a friend like Tommy, then the world would be a much happier and serene place.
Watch this.

(NOIR) Woman's Prison - 1955 **** 1/2

I wasn't expecting much from this noir. It's set in a woman's prison for one thing, and I doubted how good the acting would be from the female stars, especially when one of my least favourite actresses Ida Lupino was playing the psychotic prison warden.
I couldn't have been more wrong. The acting was superb in my opinion, with standout performances from Jan Sterling and Cleo Moore (who is one star I will be looking out for in future movies) and you really become involved in the individual stories of each of the convicted women. Very good.

(NOIR) Crime of Passion - 1957 *** 1/2

Barbara Stanwyck is a great actress. Completely unique. Here she plays a newspaper columnist who meets and falls in love with a police detective (Sterling Hayden). She refuses the offer of another job and moves with Hayden after they get married to Los Angeles. However, married life doesn't suit her, and she wishes that her husband would make more strides to move up in the world, instead of simply working for the sake of work. She decides to do whatever she can to push her husband up the ladder, even if it means betraying him. Worth a shot.

(NOIR) Lured - 1947 ****

Noirs seem to be getting better the more I see. Excellent. This latest stars Lucille Ball as a gutsy woman out to track down a mysterious man who is murdering young and beautiful girls after meeting them in the personal add columns. One of the girls happens to be her friend and room-mate, so she makes a deal with the police that she will answer and meet every single man advertising in the newspaper. The killer also has a penchant for quoting Baudelaire in the letters that he sends to the police after each disappearance, and usually these notes offer some sort of clue as to the nature of the next murder. George Sanders is his usual caddish and wonderful self. Just seeing him in a film brings a whole new meaning to the word 'class.'

(NOIR) Bewitched - 1945 ***

'Bewitched' is a very strange film. I'm not sure it should really be called a noir, because it has none of the stereotypical points that would make it one. It follows a young girl named Joan, seemingly possessed by a voice in her head that forces her to abandon her home, family and fiance and run away to New York. It controls her actions and tells her what to do. Even when the thing it wants her to do will produce tragic consequences. It's very odd, and I guess it comes across quite well. One of the last scenes is actually quite terrifying.

(NOIR) Sleep, My Love - 1948 **** 1/2

Douglas Sirk, in my opinion is one of the best directors of the 40s/50s. I was also amazed to see that Mary Pickford had produced this which proves how much of a pioneer in all areas of film she was.
Colbert plays a woman named Alison, who wakes up disorientated on a speeding train with no idea of how she got there.
Her husband is panic-stricken on her return and does his best to comfort her. However, he is careful not to talk too much about the bizarre bullet wound in his arm, or his wife's sleepwalking attempts which sometimes lead her out onto the balcony to other people. He gets her to start seeing a psychiatrist but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Thankfully a nice young man named Bruce comes into her life, and notices that things seem to keep happening around Alison, and her husband seems just a bit too saccharine for his own good...
Gripping, exciting, tense and well shot. The pace was fast, but just right, so the story could be followed without too much difficulty.
Hazel Brooks gives a very sultry performance as Daphne - a cross between Jane Russell, Joan Bennett and Gene Tierney in the beautiful women stakes. 

(NOIR) Sudden Fear - 1952 ****

Excellently shot. A film noir through and through. Joan Crawford plays a gullible playwright named Myra who falls in love with sleazy actor Lester whom she originally rejected as the main star of her newest play.
Although believing they are meant to be together, Lester has other plans, hoping to murder her and take her money, with a little help from his old girlfriend Irene, played suitably sourly by Gloria Grahame.
In most ways this is the perfect noir, but although Joan Crawford was very good in her part, I can't help feeling by now that the roles she was choosing at this point should be for younger starlets.

(NOIR) Destination Murder - 1950 **

Another B-Noir, although this time I found it a lot less captivating than 'Slander.' The acting was pretty mediocre and I didn't find the story very good. A young woman tries to find the killer of her father and ends up infiltrating a dodgy world of gangsters and mobsters. There's danger, and I guess quite a few of the typical 'noir' points but it doesn't translate onto screen as well as it should have. 

(NOIR) Follow Me Quietly - 1949 **

Nowhere near as good as 'Slander' this noir, set as part drama and part documentary, follows the police's efforts in vain to catch a serial killer named 'The Judge' who kills anyone he pleases, without rhyme or reason. The detectives construct a faceless dummy to try and help the police with the investigation. Many 'witnesses' who come forward and see the dummy from the back, are definite that the faceless man is the killer, until it is turned around for them to see. Power of suggestion is a terrifying thing.
It's not the cleverest noir, and this sort of idea has already been done over and over again.

(NOIR) Slander - 1957 ****

'Slander' is a very interesting film. Mostly because it covers real events of the time, and also because it touches upon a subject that is sadly still prominent in the entertainment business today - that of rumor and celebrity gossip.
Desperate to get a good story for his gossip magazine, Manley draws on a down-to-earth, decent man named Martin, who has just come into the public's eye as a children's entertainer. Honing in on him, Manley decides that he will do anything to dig up dirt on Martin's past, whatever the consequences. Incredibly well acted for a little known B-Noir. Watch it.