After criminology professor Richard Wanley sends his wife and two children off on vacation, he goes to his club to meet friends. Next door, Wanley sees a striking oil portrait of Alice Reed (Joan Bennett) in a storefront window. He and his friends talk about the beautiful painting and its subject. Wanley stays at the club and reads Song of Songs. When he leaves, Wanley stops at the portrait and meets Reed, who is standing near the painting watching people watch it. Reed convinces Wanley to join her for drinks.Complications of an unpleasant nature ensue, of course.
via Youtube:
Senses of Cinema has an article. DVD Talk says it's "Considered a top noir and one of Fritz Lang's very best American films" and is "considered Lang's most pure investigation of the nature of guilt and conscience." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 100%.
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It was all a dream? Great acting, love Robinson! I am glad old films like these are accessible now. Hurrah for the internet! :-)
ReplyDeleteWasn't it a trip? I'm amazed this one isn't better known. Fritz Lang, Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Raymond Massey together, and I'd never heard of it before. If I hadn't run across it on youtube, I'd never have seen it.
DeleteThis was a really remarkable way to wake this morning. I had never heard of Fritz Lang or Joan Bennett before, but this was a really remarkable film. So glad you found it on YouTube and shared it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, after waking, I remembered my dream (sometimes I remember them, sometimes not) was that Squiggles talked to me and showed me his new family of six baby kittens. He was SO proud of himself. From a human voice to a cat who has been neutered having a family, this was almost a film noir in itself!
Such a fascinating dream! I wonder if it means Squiggles will bring new life into your new year, or if it means Squiggles will bring a new kind of creativity into your life, or.... Squiggles will certainly be a Cat to Watch! :)
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