WORTH A LOOK

Some film noirs were box office bombs and critical flops when released, only to be resurrected and acclaimed by the next generation. No movie fits that bill better than Orsen Wells’ 1958 tour de force. In a corrupt Mexican American border town, narcotics officer Mike Vargas investigates a car bombing and clashes with crooked police captain Hank Quinlan. As Quinlan plants evidence to secure convictions, Vargas exposes his corruption while his own wife becomes a target. It’s

“That’s life. Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot to trip you.” If this were Noir 101, Detour would be required watching. Here is grit and crime, the weight of fate, and lost souls who take detours to a dead end. The plot is pure pulp: a hapless, unemployed piano player unwittingly tumbles down a rabbit hole of murder, blackmail and betrayal, done-in by a tough, cunning dame played by Ann Savage - a "B-actress" with a well deserved cult noir following as a "bad

Some noir "classics" had inauspicious releases, receving a lukewarm response from critics and audiences, only to be appreciated later. Others were acclaimed at the time. This is one. Sudden Fear (1952) is anchored on a familiar noir plot: two lovers have a whirlwind romance and marriage; for one it is love at first sight, for the other it is manipulation at first sight. Successful playwright (Joan Crawford) overhears new husband (Jack Palance) plot with his secret lover (Glor

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