monsieurhulot

I could not stop laughing with the horrendous dialog, campy acting, and the never ending fist fight scenes. This will have to go down as the "Plan Nine from Outer Space" of film noir. Some of memorable lines include "Thats not marshmallows coming out of that gun" and "Take that mitt off your mutt" and "I hope you get your hope." In the very long fight scenes, the good guy always keeps his hat on. In what must be a first, a man passes out by simply being pushed into a swimming pool. As expected, the plot is nearly impossible to follow, but it won't matter as the film is a total gas from start to finish. The first and last of the Daniel J. Turner Detective film series.

Not sure if this strictly a noir film as it runs as a mystery as well. Some evidences of film noir would be the dramatic cinematography, a character that is somewhat of a Femme Fatale, a feeling of hopelessness in the current status quo, and of course, the criminal element that pervades most scenes. Against it being noir would be that this film is not about the average man, but a well to do artist. Also, the fate angle doesn't seem quite pronounced here. The acting is great throughout with special kudos for Francis Lederer and his creepy accent. The cinematography is uniformly superb. Of course, any film shot by John Alton is special. This is a rare film and currently only shown at film festivals. Hopefully it will show up on DVD someday.

This has it all with a great setting, Los Angeles in the late forties, a one of a kind cinematographer at the apex of his career, John Alton, and a superb cast of film noir actors, John Payne, Sonny Tufts, and Percy Helton (Mr. Squeaky Voice). Some of most imaginative and evocative lighted scenes in film history are extant here. Don't miss this one. The scenes in the Army Surplus warehouse are simply stunning. There apparently is a lot discourse about Sonny Tufts comedic overacting, I did not notice it and thought he was perfect for the part. John Payne plays the subdued ex gangster with amnesia with perfect restraint. Its also funny that people with amnesia in such films never seem to think of asking someone who they are. They try to take the long road and figure it out indirectly.