THE DARK CORNER (1946) ** The first half has all the ingredients of a classic film noire, what with all of the darkly lit rooms and faces, unemotional detective, mysterious overtones and build up, and Lucille Ball as the blond legs. Given her later television megasuccess it's easy to forget how versatile, and beautiful, Lucy really was. She lights up the screen every time that she appears on it, and her romance with Mark Stevens is realistic enough to make you wish that Ricky Ricardo would come kick his ass. Sadly Ricky wasn't what she deserved either, but I digress. Problem is that Henry Hathaway gives up all his clues and situations very early, by mid film, perhaps so that he can concentrate on technique for the remainder. Nice technique for sure, but the stretch run feels interminable.
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