Sensational black and white photography by John Alton is a highlight of Lewis's nasty noir, in which Richard Conte excels as vile crime lord, Jean Wallace the innocent in his grip (she kept reminding me of Claudia Schiffer, although I am reliably informed she doesn't look anything like Claudia Schiffer). Cornel Wilde is out to get him; he's assisted by former boss Brian Donlevy and a slightly gay couple of hoods in the shape of young Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman. Helen Walker is also mixed up in things.
I don't think this is one of Lewis's low budget efforts, but if you analyze the ending, it seems to take place in a garage with a corrugated iron wall, and a searchlight in the distance - talk about beautiful simplicity (and actually reminded me a bit of the ending of Casablanca). Very memorably directed e.g. moment when Conte 'spares' Donlevy by pulling out his hearing aid, and we get his silent POV as the machine guns open up.
Conte kept making me think of someone else, maybe someone more recent*, in memorable performance. Alton's blacks are amazing. It's almost like he just has a totally black canvas and then just paints in the bits he needs. He even wrote a book about it called 'Painting with Light'.
Music by David Raskin is a bonus.
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| Hopper? |
My last review of 31 August 2009 observes a 'lovely shot as hood lights cigarette in distance which flares out of black' - didn't even notice.
It's written by Philip Yordan. With Jay Adler, Jon Hoyt, Ted de Corsia and Helene Stanton. Well overdue taut, tight, nasty, memorable latter noir.
Eddie Muller's take on all this? '..The gangster picture is distilled into a sexual battle between the saturnine, sensual Mr Brown and dogged but frustrated flatfoot Leonard Diamond. Both men covet the appetising Susan Lowell...Diamond may genuinely want to staunch the the spread of Brown's corruption, but he'd rather castrate than incarcerate him..' ('Dark City: The Last World of Film Noir' (1998).
* Ed. afterthought 22/11/22 - F. Murray Abraham?
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