Paul Kelly

  • Maxwell Shane – Fear in the Night (1946)

    Maxwell Shane1941-1950250 Quintessential Film NoirsFilm NoirThrillerUSA
    Fear in the Night (1946)
    Fear in the Night (1946)

    A man dreams he committed murder, then begins to suspect it was real.

    Quote:
    This is a classic noir from a classic year in the cycle. Max Shane was a Black Mask writer, the important pulp magazine precursor of the Noir genre. William Irish aka Cornell Woolrich was the master of the period. Cheepo producers Pine and Thomas, known as the Dollar Bills, later took the genre rightward making police the center of the action in the early 50’s (HE WALKED BY NIGHT) and were later Ronald Reagan’s producers. Shane later remade the same story as NIGHTMARE (1956) with Edward G. Robinson again for Pine/Thomas when working for them was a sign of having been absolved of anti-Americanism (which Robinson needed in 1956). Read More »

  • S. Sylvan Simon – The Nurse from Brooklyn (1938)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaS. Sylvan SimonUSA

    A nurse’s younger brother is caught in a shootout between a criminal gang and the police, and he is shot and killed. The officer who is accused of shooting the man knows that he didn’t do it, and sets out to find the real killer and clear his own name.Read More »

  • 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 »

  • Spencer Gordon Bennet – The Secret Code (1942)

    1941-1950ActionDramaSpencer Gordon BennetUSA

    IMDB:
    A police detective goes undercover and joins a gang of Nazi agents using explosive gases and artificial lightning to sabotage the war effort, whom he battles in disguise as The Black Commando.Read More »

  • Charles Barton – Murder with Pictures (1936)

    1931-1940Charles BartonCrimeMysteryUSA

    Suspected crime boss Nate Girard beats a murder rap, and newspaper photog Kent Murdock is on the story. Girard and lawyer Redfield throw a party for the news men where Murdock romances a mystery woman who confronted Girard in front of him, but Murdock’s fiancée Hester shows up. After they return to his apartment, have a fight, and she leaves, the mystery woman slips in and begs for his help. Police Inspector Bacon and the cops show up, looking for the mystery woman; Murdock hides her. Murdock goes with the cops to discuss the murder the woman is suspected of. Bacon explains (in flashback) how some photogs were setting up a shot with Girard and Redfield.Read More »

  • Gustav Machatý – Within the Law (1939)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaGustav MachatýUSA

    Plot Synopsis:
    In this crime drama, a thieving employee sticks her stolen goods into the locker of a co-worker and causes all sorts of trouble. The stolen items are found in the locker of a store clerk who ends up imprisoned. The store owner’s son knows that she is innocent, but he says nothing. The enraged clerk spends her three imprisoned years studying law and learns all about the ins and outs of legal loopholes. Upon her release, she begins using her new-found knowledge. She also tries to seduce the owner’s son. Despite her vengeful efforts, the poor woman makes a lousy criminal and again is punished. by Sandra BrennanRead More »

  • James Tinling – Strange Journey (1946)

    1941-1950AdventureCrimeJames TinlingUSA

    Story
    Reformed racketeer “Lucky” Leeds flees from the police when he thinks they are about to arrest him for a murder he didn’t commit.Read More »

  • Felix E. Feist – Guilty of Treason (1950)

    1941-1950DramaFelix E. FeistUSA

    The story of Cardinal Josef Mindzhenty, a Roman Catholic cardinal from Hungary who spoke out against both the Nazi occupation of his country during World War II and the Communist regime that replaced it after the war. Mindzhenty was arrested, tortured and eventually released, but was persecuted to the extent that he wound up taking refuge in
    the US Embassy in Budapest for many years, still acting as a spokesman for the Hungarians who wanted the Russian occupation forces and their Hungarian collaborators out of the country.
    (plot from IMDB)Read More »

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