Framed (1947) Film Review - Film Noir - Glenn Ford

Plot Summary - Film noir in which out-of-work mining engineer Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford), arrives in town in a runaway truck with no brakes. Going into a local bar, the La Paloma Cafe (with secret gambling club upstairs), he meets beautiful blonde femme fatale/cocktail waitress Paula (Janis Carter). When he gets hauled into court for reckless driving, driving without a license, etc. as a result of the truck accident, Paula bails him out and, soon drunk at the La Paloma, puts him passed out into a hotel room. But it seems our blonde has a scheme of her own, along with married boyfriend/bad guy Stephen Price (Barry Sullivan), vice president of the local bank. The two have formed a plot to embezzle a quarter of a million dollars from the bank, and Paula has been working at the Cafe in order to find a match for Stephen physically - the big plan is to drive a car with his double over a curvy steep cliff, run off together with the cops believing the dead man in the car is Price, then live happily ever after. With the "same height and build" as evil Stephen, our Mike is their man. And so begins the plan, as Paula befriends Mike, then tries to lures him into their evil web!

Review - This is a very entertaining watch, a crime drama with some twists, lots of fun scenes and a - yes - smouldering hot Glenn Ford to look at - um, love his softly spoken manner and dreamy eyes, oh my goodness. Janis Carter gives a well done performance as your typical film noir femme fatale who manipulates men to get what she wants. Very good film. Rating - 9/10 stars

Double Indemnity (1944) Film Review - Barbara Stanwyck

Plot Summary - Classic film noir, directed by Billy Wilder, in which insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) gets mixed up with the ultimate femme fatale, Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), a woman who seduces willing Neff into helping her purchase an accident policy on her husband (without his knowledge) with a plan to bump the husband off and collect the insurance money. Neff (swayed by her perfume and sexy anklet, it seems) agrees to help her and comes up with an elaborate scheme to pull off the murder without getting caught - plus he's included a "double indemnity clause" in the accident policy, which will give Phyllis $100,000 if the husband dies via train accident. The plot is put in motion, and all seems to go as planned - until a smart office "claims manager" (Edward G. Robinson) who works with Neff is busy sniffing out his hunch that the "accident" that killed hubby was actually a murder.

Review - Top-notch entertainment all the way - I love this one. Great dialogue, memorable scenes, well done acting and star appeal, as well as typical film noir plot elements all creates an exciting watch. Set in L.A., her Spanish-style house on Los Feliz Blvd. price paid: $30,000 (geez), the Hollywood Bowl, Glendale, Hollywood, and Olvera Street get a mention. How about Stanwyck in that blonde wig?! Groovy stuff. Rating - 10/10 stars

Gun Crazy (1950) Film Review - aka Deadly is the Female

Plot Summary - Stylish film noir starring John Dall and Peggy Cummins as Bart and Annie Laurie, a couple who bond via their love of guns as they travel about pulling a bunch of stick-up jobs. Bart has always had a gun obsession - his childhood spent moving from slingshot to BB gun to a real gun that he brings to school to stealing a gun from a shop window and getting sent to reform school. Bart grows up and still likes to shoot (it makes him feel like he's "somebody") - but he's basically a good guy until that fateful day when he goes to a local travelling carnival and sees the performance of Annie Laurie Starr, a seductive sharpshooter who appears on stage in tight black slacks, gun holster, and two pistols blazing. He goes up against her in a shooting match for cash, then gets offered a job with the show. The sparks are soon flying between the two of them, but the jealous boss (who says he "has a claim" on the girl) fires them both. They head off in their car, get married at the Justice of the Peace, and soon find themselves broke. Okay - seems this is one dangerous blonde bad girl he's got on his hands - she admits she's "no good", she wants action and "big money" to buy lots of things and she's gonna get it. She pushes him into going on a crime spree: stealing cars, wearing disguises, pulling robberies, and stealing cash at gunpoint. He's no killer and is afraid someone will get hurt - she's not afraid to kill. He wants out - but agrees to one last big job that will make them rich, and they come up with an elaborate scheme to steal the payroll from a big meat plant.

Review - This is one really excellent crime drama, tense and exciting, I was pretty much on the edge of my seat for the entire second half. The film is very atmospheric, full of classic film noir elements like neon signs and rain-soaked streets - there's an interesting scene of snow flakes drifting down as the girl looks out the window in close-up. The art direction, lighting, and cinematography as a whole is stylishly done and features many tracking shots, extreme close-ups and sweat glistening faces which adds to the tension. I love all the shots done with the camera set behind the front seat and looking out through the car window as the two of them drive about committing crimes. Actress Peggy Cummins gives one of the best performances playing a femme fatale I've seen - riveting and memorable. The Warner Bros. DVD of this features an exceptional looking black and white print, very sharp. As good as it gets. Rating - 10/10 stars

Impact (1949) Film Review

Plot Summary - Successful businessman Walt Williams (Brian Donlevy) doesn't realize his beloved wife is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing (or in her case, a wolf draped in the furs his wealth has given her). She has a secret lover, Jim Torrance, and the two of them have plotted an elaborate scheme in which Torrance is to murder Williams on a road trip to Denver. Up on a high road in the mountains, Torrance hits Williams on the head with a lug wrench, rolls him over the side of the highway into a ditch, and leaves him for dead - but the whole plot backfires when Torrance ends up hitting a gasoline truck head-on as he speeds away from the scene of the crime, and is killed in a fiery crash. Now the first twist - Williams isn't dead, but the cops think the body in the roadster - burned beyond recognition - is Williams. While his wife plays the "grieving" widow dressed all in black, Williams is devastated by the truth of his wife's true nature as he hides out in the small town of Larkspur, Idaho taking a job as a mechanic and hiding his true identity. Meanwhile a smart police detective (Charles Coburn) attempts to put together enough pieces to prove the wife and her lover murdered Williams.

Review - Interesting crime drama / melodramatic film noir with an absorbing plot full of twists and turns - quite entertaining. The film features lots of on-location street scenes shot in and around San Francisco - neat to see. The scene where the car crashes into the gas truck and both cars go over the cliff and burst into flames is well filmed, quite realistic looking. Note of interest: two actresses from the silent era have parts in this - first, Anna May Wong, who plays the Williams maid - a small, but key role. Second, Mae Marsh, who plays the mother of his "boss" at the garage in Larkspur where he takes the job - said boss being a pretty young lady who Williams "sparks" with. Nice to see both of these actresses in their later years, and both parts well done. And - I love Charles Coburn! This was a Netflix rental for me, the black and white print on the DVD looked quite good - the plot summary on the envelope inaccurate - again (where does Netflix get these)! Rating - 8 stars