FILM FOR 3/29: No Way Out!

Until earlier this month, I'd neither seen nor heard of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's powerful noir-meets-social issue film No Way Out (1950). Mankiewicz was a prolific writer, director, and producer, helming such stunners as All About Eve, Suddenly Last Summer, and Sleuth (as well as somewhat...

Film for 3/22/15: BORN TO KILL

There's no denying either the chemistry or the treachery of Sam (Lawrence Tierney) and Helen (Claire Trevor) in Robert Wise's 1947 Born to Kill. Wise went on to direct (and win Oscars for) West Side Story and The Sound of Music, but he's also known...

3/15/15: TV Noir Night

For a change of pace, we're going to shift from big screen to little in order to check out the way film noir style made its way into in late 50's and early 60's American television (via both film and radio,...

Film for 3/8: My Name is Julia Ross

Blending film noir with Gothic melodrama, director Joseph H. Lewis (known to noir lovers for The Big Combo and Gun Crazy) paints a lavish portrait of a woman victimized by a murderous man and his overprotective mother. Our heroine is Dutch-born actress...