Reviews: Worth A Look

J. J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is one of the most powerful men in New York City - a newspaper gossip columnist presented as a thinly veiled caricature of the best known exposé journalist of that era, Walter Winchell. Malicious, controlling and accustomed to getting whatever he wants, right now Hunsecker wants to break up his young sister’s relationship with a jazz musician. Enter Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), a born hustler and ambitious press agent willing to do this dirty

1947 2021 The movie is based on William Lindsay Gresham’s acclaimed and controversial 1946 novel Nightmare Alley, which was intermittently banned and appeared in censored editions for decades. His depiction of human nature was regarded as obscene, along with his prose. This tale of karma follows ambitious carnival barker Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power/Bradley Cooper) who masters an ingenious mentalist act. Reinventing himself as a sophisticated nightclub performer, his char

An unscrupulous reporter fired for bad behavior by a dozen newspapers banishes himself to the unheralded, low-circulation Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin. While covering a rattle snake hunt, he learns of a man trapped in a cave and callously manipulates the story into a sensational media circus, drawing big crowds to the remote locale as television and radio stations race to cover the unfolding rescue operation. The original name of the movie, “The Big Carnival,” is based on a real-

Some say this is not a true film noir. Noir is as noir does, and Face in the Crowd does. It's as downright cynical and pessimistic as you could want, brimming with ruthless dysfunctional characters. The story follows a charismatic drifter who shoots from obscurity to national fame, only to have his ambition and contempt for the public ultimately devour him. If you know Andy Griffith only as a good ol' boy single-dad Sheriff, this movie will shock you. It shocked him, too. Gr

An acclaimed “gothic” noir - which is a blend of psychological terror, horror, and mystery, often in a "period' setting. After the first fifteen minutes, you enter - never to leave - a dark, suffocating Victorian mansion where a young mute caretaker is stalked by a notorious serial killer who targets women with disabilities. Stunning set design by Albert D’Agostino, one of the best Golden Age art directors, and a master class in film noir chiaroscuro, a high-contrast techniqu

This cast directed by Sam Fuller is worth the price of admission alone. Thelma Ritter was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Richard Widmark continued to polish his bad-boy noir credentials playing a petty pickpocket suddenly ensnarled with dangerously beautiful Jean Peters and a lethal foreign spy ring. Perhaps the best of the anti-Communist film noirs. Intrigue, a rough-and-tumble love affair, and gritty action in that urban underbelly. The film has gone up in critic

If there is a first or “proto” film noir, this is it - 1931 German Expressionist thriller directed by Fritz Lang. The screen role established Peter Lorre. Shortly after M, the rise of Nazis forced both artists to flee Europe for Hollywood. Some of the most talented writers and directors of German cinema were in that migration. It will be an important part of the foundation for what we today call film noir. Fritz Lang would go on to direct some of the greatest American noirs.

Directed by a young Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? ) and now regarded as a classic. Tough-as-nails P.I. Mike Hammer gets ensnarled with a mysterious and lethal “Great Whatsit” box - a mad chase saturated in Cold War paranoia with people literally dying to possess it. Watch Cloris Leachman in a riveting first screen role, plus extended looks at two iconic sports cars: the 1954 Chevrolet Corvette C1, one of the earliest screen appearances for