Robert Siodmak

  • Robert Siodmak – The File on Thelma Jordon (1950)

    1941-1950Film NoirRobert SiodmakUSA

    from Noir City 17
    Quote:
    Boozy assistant DA Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) reels from a stifling marriage into an affair with the mysterious Thelma Jordon (Barbara Stanwyck). He’s so smitten, and besotted, he misses the warning signs: Thelma has a sickly aunt loaded with dough and spends lots of time in the arms of shadowy and sinister Tony Laredo (Richard Rober). Something bad is bound to happen … and when it does Cleve winds up working both sides of the law. Noir master Siodmak does a spellbinding job with a terrific script, and Stanwyck—Queen of Noir—offers a terrific, two-faced turn in one of her most rarely screened films.Read More »

  • Robert Siodmak – Criss Cross (1949)

    1941-1950CrimeFilm NoirRobert SiodmakUSA

    Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) returns home after a few years of knocking around the country following his divorce from good-time girl Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). Getting his old job back driving an armored car, and not even convincing himself that he’s making a new start, he also wants his old wife back.Read More »

  • Robert Siodmak & Edgar G. Ulmer & Billy Wilder – Menschen am Sonntag (1930)

    1921-1930ArthouseBilly WilderEdgar G. UlmerGermanyRobert SiodmakSilentWeimar Republic cinema

    Criterion wrote:
    Years before they became major players in Hollywood, a group of young German filmmakers—including eventual noir masters Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer and future Oscar winners Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann—worked together on the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag). This effervescent, sunlit silent, about a handful of city dwellers (a charming cast of nonprofessionals) enjoying a weekend outing, offers a rare glimpse of Weimar-era Berlin. A unique hybrid of documentary and fictional storytelling, People on Sunday was both an experiment and a mainstream hit that would influence generations of film artists around the world.Read More »

  • Robert Siodmak – The Suspect (1944)

    1941-1950Film NoirRobert SiodmakThrillerUSA

    Synopsis:
    In 1902 London, unhappily married Philip Marshall meets young Mary Gray, who is unemployed and depressed. Their deepening friendship, though physically innocent, is discovered by Philip’s wife who threatens him with exposure and scandal, driving him to kill her. Thereafter, fortune seems to smile on Philip Marshall; but does fate have a surprise in store?Read More »

  • Robert Siodmak – Le Grand Jeu AKA Flesh and the Woman (1954)

    Drama1951-1960FranceRobert SiodmakRomance

    Quote:
    Not really epic material, this is a fated romantic drama (a typically French quality) set against the exotic background of the Foreign Legion and, actually, a remake of Jacques Feyder’s 1934 film LE GRAND JEU.

    The plot involves a successful young lawyer (Jean-Claude Pascal) who, due to a shady deal, finds himself penniless and separated from his wife (Gina Lollobrigida). Stranded in Algeria, he’s persuaded to join the Foreign Legion where he befriends a couple of similar losers (played by Raymond Pellegrin and Peter van Eyck). Read More »

  • Robert Siodmak – The Spiral Staircase (1946)

    Drama1941-1950Film NoirRobert SiodmakUSA

    Quote:
    The wonderfully suspenseful psychological drama Spiral Staircase is the prototype of the “old dark house, lady in distress” thriller, full of dark corners, flickering candles and featuring a mysterious, menacing killer whose true identity remains hidden until the end. Helen Capel (Dorothy McGuire), mute because of a childhood trauma, cares for the owner of the house, the wealthy Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), a demanding, widowed invalid. Helen has quietly fallen in love with one of Mrs. Warren’s sons, Dr. Parry (Kent Smith), who she believes to be a gentle and understanding man. Helen’s peaceful life is changed forever when three local women, all with physical handicaps, are found murdered. Read More »

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