John Farrow

  • John Farrow – West of Shanghai (1937)

    1931-1940DramaJohn FarrowUSAWar

    Plot:
    A cinematic icon, Boris Karloff was one of Hollywood’s greatest actors. Although synonymous with horror, Karloff excelled in other genres as well, providing a lasting legacy of memorable performances. And in this collection of three rarely seen gems drawn from his work at Warner Bros., Karloff shines in a wide range of roles, encompassing mystery, adventure and drama.Read More »

  • John Farrow – The Invisible Menace (1938)

    USA1931-1940John FarrowMysteryThriller

    Quote:
    Army Private Eddie Pratt smuggles his new bride into camp in hopes of having a happy wedding night. Instead they discover a murder. Colonel Rogers of Army Intelligence arrives to take over the case. The prime suspect, Jevries, is well-known to Rogers, who sets out to get a confession from Jevries even though there are plenty of other suspects. In the end, Eddie’s bride Sally surprisingly turns the tables on the culprit.Read More »

  • John Farrow – California (1947)

    1941-1950John FarrowUSAWestern

    Quote:
    “Wicked” Lily Bishop joins a wagon train to California, led by Michael Fabian and Johnny Trumbo, but news of the Gold Rush scatters the train. When Johnny and Michael finally arrive, Lily is rich from her saloon and storekeeper (former slaver) Pharaoh Coffin is bleeding the miners dry. But worse troubles are ahead: California is inching toward statehood, and certain people want to make it their private empire.Read More »

  • John Farrow – Where Danger Lives (1950)

    1941-1950CrimeFilm NoirJohn FarrowUSA

    Faith Domergue, the latest of Howard Hughes’ protegees, made her film debut in 1950’s Where Danger Lives. Domergue plays Margo Lannington the wife of Frederick Lannington (Claude Rains), an elderly millionaire possessed of a sadistic streak. Robert Mitchum co-stars as Jeff Cameron, a poor soul who falls in love with Margo without knowing that she’s married. During a violent confrontation with the jealous Frederick, Cameron knocks the older man out and stumbles out of the room. Upon his return, he discovers that Frederick is dead. Margo had smothered her husband during Cameron’s absence, but she insists that Cameron is the killer.Read More »

  • John Farrow – The Hitler Gang (1944)

    1941-1950John FarrowPoliticsUSAWar

    John Farrow’s true-to-life propaganda history of the resistible rise of A Hitler. Der Fuhrer is played by lookalike Bobby Watson, and his “gang” are an unbeatable group of WWII era refugee German actors, all inhabiting their roles rather convincingly. Martin Kosleck is a superb Goebbels.Read More »

  • John Farrow – Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)

    1941-1950250 Quintessential Film NoirsFilm NoirJohn FarrowMysteryUSA

    UCLA Film & Television Archive writes:
    Right from the opening sequence in which a seemingly possessed young heiress (Gail Russell) throws herself desperately in front of a moving train, this haunted noir comes packed with “highly-charged atmosphere” (Variety). At the center of all the doom is Edward G. Robinson as John Triton, a stage mentalist who suddenly discovers he can actually see the future and becomes overwhelmed by grim, fatalistic visions. Jerome Cowan plays his partner who exploits Triton’s powers for profit until Triton disappears. Ironically enough, this saga of man tormented by the future unfolds largely in flashback as the young woman’s boyfriend (John Lund) searches for the reason behind her suicide attempt. Director John Farrow keeps this adaptation of a Cornell Woolrich novel moving at a brisk thriller’s pace through deepening shadows.Read More »

  • John Farrow – Alias Nick Beal (1949)

    1941-1950FantasyFilm NoirJohn FarrowUSA

    ArtsEmerson writes: An update of the Faust story set in urban modernity, with Milland as the mysterious Nick Beal, the Mephistophelean tempter. District Attorney Joseph Foster (Mitchell) is after an elusive gangster when Beal—emerging from the fog—offers his assistance. The price to be paid is clear, as Farrow chillingly charts the initially law-abiding lawyer’s descent into corruption. With a notable hard-boiled turn from noir regular Audrey Totter, as the fallen woman Beal enlists to draw Foster away from his marriage.Read More »

  • John Farrow – Calcutta (1947)

    1941-1950AdventureFilm NoirJohn FarrowUSA

    Dennis Schwartz writes:
    John Farrow’s Calcutta is a fast-paced old-fashioned adventure yarn, shot entirely in Paramount’s backlot. Seton Miller does the screenplay. It’s an entertaining potboiler, though a minor work … Ladd gives an icy action-hero performance as someone who revels in his disdain for women as untrustworthy companions. By Ladd’s politically incorrect moves, he takes on the characteristics of the film noir protagonist–which gives this programmer its energy. Ladd quotes an ancient Hindu saying ‘Man who trust woman walk on duckweed over pond,’ which tells us all we want to know about how he has stayed alive for so long while in the company of dangerous women, ones like Virginia, while Bill so easily succumbed to the beauty of the femme fataleRead More »

  • John Farrow – A Bullet Is Waiting (1954)

    Drama1951-1960AdventureJohn FarrowUSA

    Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    A young woman (Jean Simmons) manages a remote California sheep ranch with her father (Brian Aherne). A plane carrying a sheriff (Stephen McNally) and a convicted murderer (Rory Calhoun) crashes nearby. Both men are cared for by the girl, who doesn’t know at first which is the cop and which is the criminal. She falls in love with the convicted man and believes protestations of innocence, but the vindictive sheriff tries to dissuade her of these feelings. Given several chances to finish each other off, both sheriff and convict relent. Under the influence of the girl, they agree to return to Utah together, where (it is implied) the criminal will be given a bias-free trial.Read More »

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