Jerry McKibbon is a tough, no nonsense reporter, mentoring special prosecutor John Conroy in routing out corrupt officials in the city, which may even include Conroy’s own police detective father as a suspect.Read More »
Edmond O’Brien
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William Dieterle – The Turning Point (1952)
1951-1960Film NoirThrillerUSAWilliam Dieterle -
Henry Levin – Two of a Kind (1951)
Henry Levin1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirUSABrandy Kirby and crooked Lawyer Vincent Mailer plan to rob William and Maida McIntyre by producing a convincing double for their long-lost son. Brandy charms gambler Lefty Farrell into impersonating the missing son. Kathy, the McIntyre’s niece, who likes Lefty, introduces him to the McIntyres who soon become convinced he is their son, but the old man refuses to change his will. Lefty balks at killing McIntyre and exposes Mailer’s attempted swindle. Brandy and Lefty end up together as “two of a kind.”Read More »
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Joseph M. Newman – 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
1941-1950Film NoirJoseph M. NewmanThrillerUSASynopsis:
A telephone repairman in Los Angeles uses his knowledge of electronics to help a bookie set up a betting operation. When the bookie is murdered, the greedy technician takes over his business. He ruthlessly climbs his way to the top of the local crime syndicate, but then gangsters from a big East Coast mob show up wanting a piece of his action.Read More » -
Howard W. Koch & Edmond O’Brien – Shield for Murder (1954)
1951-1960CrimeEdmond O'BrienFilm NoirHoward W. KochUSAQuote:
David Wilentz writes:
Shield for Murder predates Touch of Evil with its gloomy tale of police corruption. Edmund O’Brien stars as a brooding police detective consumed by greed. In a chilling set piece O’Brien corners a drug runner, shoots him dead, takes twenty five grand off the corpse and then yells ‘Stop or I’ll shoot’. He plans to buy a tract home for he and his girl: the classic American dream.Read More » -
Joseph L. Mankiewicz – The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
1951-1960CrimeDramaJoseph L. MankiewiczUSASynopsis:
At Maria Vargas’ funeral, several people recall who she was and the impact she had on them. Harry Dawes was a not very successful writer/director when he and movie producer Kirk Edwards scouted her at a shabby nightclub where she worked as a flamenco dancer. He convinces her to take a chance on acting and her first film is a huge hit. PR man Oscar Muldoon remembers when Maria was in court supporting her father who was accused of murdering her mother. It was Maria’s testimony that got him off and she was a bigger star than ever. Alberto Bravano, one of the richest men in South America, sets his sights on Maria and she goes off with him – as much to make Edwards angry as anything – but he treats her badly. When she meets Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini they fall deeply in love. They are married but theirs is not to be a happy life.Read More » -
Frank Lloyd – The Shanghai Story (1954)
1951-1960DramaFrank LloydThrillerUSAGary Tooze writes:
Produced and directed by the prestigious Frank Lloyd, The Shanghai Story was promoted as a “class” production by the bread-and-butter firm of Republic Pictures. The film takes place in the eponymous far-eastern metropolis (courtesy of the Republic backlot), where Communist police chief Colonel Zorek (Marvin Miller) hopes to trap an American spy. Zorek rounds up the usual suspects and sequesters them in a seedy hotel. Could the spy be Dan Maynard (Edmond O’Brien), a cynical doctor? Is it munitions profiteer Ricki Dolmine (Barry Kelley)? Perhaps it’s two-fisted mercenary seaman Knuckles Greer (Richard Jaeckel). Orrrrrrr, maybe it’s the mysterious Rita King (Ruth Roman), who is inexplicably given permission to come and go as she pleases by the otherwise intractable Zorek. True to form, this Republic A-picture resolves its problems with a final reel of good old B-flick action and violence.Read More » -
Ida Lupino – The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
1951-1960DramaFilm NoirIda LupinoUSAThe Hitch-Hiker is the most well-known movie in Kino on Video’s “Ida Lupino–Queen of the B’s” video series. In the past, The Hitch-Hiker has been available in poor video transfers from small video companies. Now thanks to this pristine print, this taut, suspense-filled film noir can be better appreciated. The only film noir directed by a woman, The Hitch-Hiker tells the story of two buddies (Edmund O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy) on a fishing trip. Unbeknownst to them, however, the police are pursing a psychotic killer who hitches rides and then kills the occupants of the cars. (This character is based upon drifter William Edward Cook and the news coverage that followed his 1950 murder spree in the Southwest.) Emmet Meyers (played by William Talman) becomes a forerunner of the killer in Henry–Portrait of a Serial Killer. Without any remorse, he kills and then moves on to the next victim. O’Brien and Lovejoy make the mistake of stopping to pick up a hitchhiker and soon find themselves looking into the barrel of a .38 caliber revolver.Read More »