A Film Noir Sunday


Does one really need an excuse to post a random group of fantastic film noir images? Having just run across a group of these, I couldn’t resist dropping some favorites on the site to liven up your Sunday morning. That’s Raymond Burr getting ready to smack somebody around in Desperate (1947). It’s one of those ordinary-Joe gets caught up in a web of murder and corruption stories. Steve Brodie’s the Joe. I like Ray as Perry Mason, but his big-screen villainy was sure missed after he made the switch to Tee-Vee. Ray’s also a snake in RKO’s His Kind Of Woman (1951), though he’s not in this shot with Bob Mitchum. That’s Charles McGraw oppressing Bob. Chuck is the living end when it comes to noir legends. Word is he was hard as nails in real life too. Wish I’d known him. Here he is with Marie Windsor in The Narrow Margin (1952), and I don’t have to tell anyone how great that show is. Finally, Burt Lancaster’s tempting Harold Vermilyea in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). Never forget seeing that one on NBC Saturday Night At The Movies back in 1968. Incidentally, there’s a recent book called Dark City Dames, by Eddie Muller --- all about the actresses who populated these great thrillers. It’s one of the most insightful books I’ve ever read about the slippery highway of movie stardom. Among the many tomes written on the subject of noir, I’d put this right at the top.