“For the night is already at hand, and it is well to yield to the night.” Mary Hilton (Diana Dors) has committed a serious crime. In broad daylight, she shot and killed another woman. Now she sits in prison, awaiting her own execution. What could possess a young salesgirl, with her entire life ahead of…
“Born with an alibi in your mouth, huh? Nick Scanlon (Robert Ryan) is a mobster who has done well for himself, not only building a criminal empire but managing to buy the loyalty of several local government bigwigs. There’s one influential fella he can’t seem to crack, though. Tom McQuigg (Robert Mitchum), a police captain,…
Jonah Goodwin (Thomas Mitchell) and Olaf Johnson (John Qualen) are a tailor and a cook, living in Brooklyn. Life isn’t rosy, but the men have one thing that keeps them going: the fishing trips they take together after work. They dream of buying a larger boat, which would allow them to leave their jobs and…
Vince Grayson (DeForest Kelley) has had a nightmare. In the dream, he saw himself stabbing a man in a room full of mirrors, before tossing the man’s body into a closet. When Vince wakes up, he wonders if his dream may have been reality. He has mysterious marks on his throat, and a key he…
Happy #Noirvember! TMP has celebrated film noir with a review from the genre every Sunday this month. To bring the celebration to a close, today’s film is 1950’s Backfire. Previously in this series: When Strangers Marry (1944), Decoy (1946), No Man of Her Own (1950) Bob Corey (Gordon MacRae) was wounded near the end of…
Happy #Noirvember! TMP is celebrating the genre this month with a noir review every Sunday. Today’s review is also a part of the Barbara Stanwyck Filmography Project, one of her many films noir, No Man of Her Own. Previously in this series: When Strangers Marry (1944), Decoy (1946) The police are after Helen Ferguson (Barbara…
Helen Roberts (Margot Grahame) is a San Francisco waitress working at a dockside restaurant. She’s also an ex-con on probation. Determined to make a better life for herself, Helen just wants to work and stay out of trouble. When she meets persistent schooner captain Martin Rhodes (Gordon Jones), however, his charms may lead her into…
London in the time of Jack the Ripper is a paranoid place. Anxieties are high for most. The cops are on high alert, doing their best to protect potential victims — patrolling the streets at all hours, walking people home, attempting to work out the puzzle of the Ripper’s identity. Among the fearful is Helen…
Greg Morella (Gilbert Roland), like many casino-running men of his time, has decided to move his operation to the water to avoid the law. Anchoring his ship, Sylvania, three miles off the coast, Morella assures his operation is safe from the clutches of the police. Aboard the ship one particular evening is Jim Carver (Wayne…
**WARNING: This post will contain some spoilers for both the novella Double Indemnity and its film adaptation. I’m sure most of you have at least seen the adaptation, but in the event that you haven’t, or have seen the film but would like to keep the book shrouded in mystery, read with caution! Double Indemnity…
