Reminiscent of Laura and Maltase Falcon
Added 11/1/2009
Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens), private eye has a secret past that he moves to New York to escape and set up a new life. Police Lt Frank Reeves (Reed Hadley) is aware of his past and keeps tabs on him. Looks like his past is catching up. Why?
And his secretary Kathleen Stewart (Lucille Ball) insists on helping him get out of trouble as they both get in deeper and deeper.
The story is a lot darker than most film noir and starts off slowly. It take time to review to the audience the plot so it is not so much a twisting plot as it is an unrevealed plat. The main character is not as much as snot but more of a pansy. He thinks he is more of the victim in the story and says so. Clifton Webb is almost the same character as in Laura.
I like all the small things like that of the theater cashier listing to Kathleen talking about begging Bradford to take her to his apartment. You also need to pay attention to what looks like frivolous details as the details become a major part of the plot later. Watch the ink stained suit and the lucky horse shoe key chain.
The voice commentary is almost if not better than the film it's self. We are told may things that are obvious in the film but no obvious as to how it relates to other films. After listening to the commentary you need to watch the film again with what you learned and with the knowledge of the first time through.
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This movie is GREAT. I admit up front to being total bias. I love Lucy. I love Lucille Ball, the actress. She is so perfect in this story (which I originally heard her perform on a mystery radio disc set I have). I had no idea she played the same role with most of the same cast in a movie version until it was shown on TCM one night ... and I missed it! So I order it and it is worth every penny. I long for the days when movies and their stars had class. All of these character have class. Which makes this, what was probably referred to as one of Lucille's "B-movies" and A+++ in my opinion.
I rate it two thumbs way up... Peace, Kristen :)
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Decent Noir Overall, But Weak Ending
Added 2/6/2009
This was a so-so film noir that could have been very good had it not had a an ending that was so weak.
The cast was solid, however, playing interesting characters. It featured Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix, Kurt Krueger and Constance Collier.
Ball was the most interesting to view simply because most of us remember her as "Lucy" on TV and in 1946, she was as alluring as I've ever seen her look. I would like to have seen her in a few more film noirs. Collier had a classic beauty, but she's an actress who is unfamiliar to me, unfortunately. I believe her career was nearing at end at this time.
The story actually moves pretty well with just a few short lulls. Now that it's out on DVD, perhaps the number of people who are aware of this relatively-unknown film noir will increase.
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next time, I'm watching it alone
Added 11/22/2008
It's a 1940s film noir about a hard-boiled PI Galt (Mark Stevens) and his devoted and gutsy secretary Kathleen (Lucille Ball).
Galt's an ex-con who'd been set up by his former partner, Jardine, but he's (mostly) put it behind him. Except that it looks like Jardine isn't done with him.
As it turns out, someone's trying to provoke Galt into killing Jardine, and when that doesn't work, they up the ante. Through it all, Kathleen is not only right there by his side believing in him, but also coming up with smart suggestions when he's ready to give up.
Galt is a little more human than most 40s hard-boiled movie detectives--he shows emotions and doubts more than others I've seen. Whether that's due to the actor, the director, or the script, though, I couldn't say.
Even though the movie was made 5 years before I Love Lucy's debut, Lucille Ball's character was the star. She was smart and practical, and she was feminine without being fragile. And no, she wasn't funny--it wasn't a comedic role, and she still played it very well. Get over it.
It's not the best film noir I've ever seen--though I enjoyed the PI and his secretary very much, the other story, about Jardine, Jardine's lover, her husband, and his henchman, was a little confusing, and it took me until nearly the end of the movie before I figured out what the heck they were doing, and why we cared.
Of course, part of my confusion could have come from watching it over two nights, with 3 males, who consider fight scenes the only parts of movies that you need to be absolutely quiet for. Grrrrr. (And please, if someone can explain the logic of why it's perfectly okay to talk while characters are discussing the plot, but you must be silent during fight scenes when there's nothing to hear, I'd be really grateful--this is a question that's bugged me for years.)
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Fun Film Noir!
Added 4/29/2008
Good performances and a good film noir movie for Mark Stevens and Lucille Ball. Has a great cast!
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Reminiscent of Laura and Maltase Falcon
Added 11/1/2009
Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens), private eye has a secret past that he moves to New York to escape and set up a new life. Police Lt Frank Reeves (Reed Hadley) is aware of his past and keeps tabs on him. Looks like his past is catching up. Why?
And his secretary Kathleen Stewart (Lucille Ball) insists on helping him get out of trouble as they both get in deeper and deeper.
The story is a lot darker than most film noir and starts off slowly. It take time to review to the audience the plot so it is not so much a twisting plot as it is an unrevealed plat. The main character is not as much as snot but more of a pansy. He thinks he is more of the victim in the story and says so. Clifton Webb is almost the same character as in Laura.
I like all the small things like that of the theater cashier listing to Kathleen talking about begging Bradford to take her to his apartment. You also need to pay attention to what looks like frivolous details as the details become a major part of the plot later. Watch the ink stained suit and the lucky horse shoe key chain.
The voice commentary is almost if not better than the film it's self. We are told may things that are obvious in the film but no obvious as to how it relates to other films. After listening to the commentary you need to watch the film again with what you learned and with the knowledge of the first time through.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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This movie is GREAT. I admit up front to being total bias. I love Lucy. I love Lucille Ball, the actress. She is so perfect in this story (which I originally heard her perform on a mystery radio disc set I have). I had no idea she played the same role with most of the same cast in a movie version until it was shown on TCM one night ... and I missed it! So I order it and it is worth every penny. I long for the days when movies and their stars had class. All of these character have class. Which makes this, what was probably referred to as one of Lucille's "B-movies" and A+++ in my opinion.
I rate it two thumbs way up... Peace, Kristen :)
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Decent Noir Overall, But Weak Ending
Added 2/6/2009
This was a so-so film noir that could have been very good had it not had a an ending that was so weak.
The cast was solid, however, playing interesting characters. It featured Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix, Kurt Krueger and Constance Collier.
Ball was the most interesting to view simply because most of us remember her as "Lucy" on TV and in 1946, she was as alluring as I've ever seen her look. I would like to have seen her in a few more film noirs. Collier had a classic beauty, but she's an actress who is unfamiliar to me, unfortunately. I believe her career was nearing at end at this time.
The story actually moves pretty well with just a few short lulls. Now that it's out on DVD, perhaps the number of people who are aware of this relatively-unknown film noir will increase.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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