A most interesting post-war drama with noirish notes, it takes place in NYC one night between 2 AM and 6 AM - and that alone makes for fascinating stuff. Who are all these people and why are they up so late - the City that never Sleeps* - makes you feel exhausted. There's a soda parlour still open, and a nightclub hosting a police retirement that's still going after 4...
There's quite a confusing number of characters and a jumble of a plot derived from Cornell Woolrich (as William Irish) novel, as on leave sailor Bill Williams and jaded dance hall girl Susan Hayward get involved in murder, and European cab driver Paul Lukas (not the only foreign cab driver here) helps them. There's a nasty villain, Joseph Calleia, and several dodgy women of the night, Osa Massen and Lola Lane, plus an early stalker in the shape of Steven Geray. The ending - changed from the novel - is quite nuts, but the film is interesting enough for you to go with it.
Lukas was in many silent films in his native Hungary; latterly in Little Women (1933), Dodsworth, The Lady Vanishes, Watch on the Rhine, Lord Jim, Berlin Express.
Clurman hadn't directed before but he's accompanied by the great Nick Musuraca on camera. The screenplay's by Clifford Odets, who had worked with Clurman in The Group Theatre. Includes the lines "This is New York. Hello means goodbye" and "Remember - speech was given to man to hide his thoughts".
 |
| The quintessential noir staircase / hallway shot |
*There's a 1953 thriller of this title with Gig Young that might be worth watching...
No comments:
Post a Comment