Movies
A murder mystery with a more noirish feel and an "important theme". The film isn't too subtle about it (then again, very few classics seem to be) and it does regularly get in the way of the genre elements, on the other hand it did create a nice diversion from what otherwise would've been a very basic noir film. Finlay is a homicide detective who is assigned the case of Joseph Samuels, a Jewish man murdered after a night out in town. A group of army friends are the primary suspects. Monty is a bit of a loose canon, his friends are too drunk to remember anything. Finlay seeks the help of their sergeant, hoping he might crack the case. This is another noir with a lot (and I mean a lot!) of conversation. It's a very simple narrative, that regularly makes way to delve into the possible anti-Semitic nature of the case. I say "delve", but it's almost like watching school TV, with people delivering very flat and explanatory monologues. Not very good.Read all
Another overly talky noir. They sure loved to squeeze every last drop from their writers back in the day, because simple genre fluff like Murder, My Sweet is overflowing with dialogue. It's an easy way to keep the cost down I guess, since most of the film is just people yapping at each other. A private detective, both of his eyes bandaged, is being interrogated by the police about two unsolved murders. He tells them he was hired by Malloy to locate the ex-con's girlfriend. It's a simple enough assignment, but one that leads him into a complex web of deceit and betrayal. There are some nice shots here, but too few and far between to make a real impact. The rest of the film is just flashbacks of how a PI got mixed up in a criminal case. It's a pretty uninteresting setup, told very slowly and deliberately, with some familiar twists along the way. Could be fun if you like the old noirs, unbearable if you don't.Read all