Noir Alley

[cmovieviewer]

This week's Noir Alley film is Woman in Hiding (1950), with Ida Lupino, Howard Duff and Steve McNally. I've seen this Universal film and enjoyed it, mainly due to Ida Lupino's fine performance and McNally as the bad guy. Ida and Howard got married to each other shortly after the film was released.

Noir Alley this weekend is the Hitchcock film Stage Fright (1950), with Woman in Hiding (1950) the week after, so hold that thought.

[jamesjazzguitar]

This week's Noir Alley film is Woman in Hiding (1950), with Ida Lupino, Howard Duff and Steve McNally. I've seen this Universal film and enjoyed it, mainly due to Ida Lupino's fine performance and McNally as the bad guy. Ida and Howard got married to each other shortly after the film was released.

Noir Alley this weekend is the Hitchcock film Stage Fright (1950), with Woman in Hiding (1950) the week after, so hold that thought.

Thanks for the correction. I edited my mistaken post. Not that interested in Stage Fright since I have seen it many times and it isn't high on my list of favorite Hitchcock films.

[Hibi]

I hadn't seen Stage Fright in awhile and I was really bored by it. Even Dietrich can't make it very interesting. The character actors are good, but they aren't in it enough to make much of an impact. Eddie is correct about Wyman, she looks far too pretty for the part she's "acting". I've always felt the flashback was a cheat to the audience. Not as bad as some other Hitch misfires, but not great either.

[Dargo]

Though STAGE FRIGHT isn't one of my favorite Hitchcocks, I do like the flashback. I'm sorry I missed Eddie's comments. In general, I don't think of Hitchcock as being noir, though STRANGERS ON A TRAIN is an exception.

If by that last comment of yours here KR, you might be implying that you have a hard time thinking of 'Stage Fright' as being a "noir", then I'm with you here as well.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Though STAGE FRIGHT isn't one of my favorite Hitchcocks, I do like the flashback. I'm sorry I missed Eddie's comments. In general, I don't think of Hitchcock as being noir, though STRANGERS ON A TRAIN is an exception.

The book Film Noir (Ward \ Silver), list 4 Hitchcock films in the "directors" appendix: Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, and The Wrong Man. While I also don't generally think of Hitchcock films as being "noir", there are various noir themes in each of these 4 films as well as a few noir visuals.

Hitchcock is his own sub-genre. E.g. I don't view The Birds as being a horror film, but it is often classified as such.

[Andree]

For some, or maybe no, reason I liked Stage Frightthis time around more than I thought I
would and I've seen it three or four times over the years. It's still not top-drawer Hitchcock, but
fairly decent. The unreliable flashback is a bit of a cheat, but I can live with it.

I caught a noir on YT a week or so ago titled Take One False Step starring a very middle-aged
William Powell, Shelley Winters, and Marsha Hunt with a few of the usual suspect characters actors.
I don't recall hearing of it before. Quite well done. Powell is a college prof who gets innocently
involved with a murder and he keeps getting into one mess after another, finally becoming a suspect
in the murder. There's a twist ending and a happy conclusion for Powell. There is more comedy than
usual in noir but the darker aspects of the plot aren't compromised. Definitely better than some of
the dogs that Eduardo has been showing.

[Hibi]

Though STAGE FRIGHT isn't one of my favorite Hitchcocks, I do like the flashback. I'm sorry I missed Eddie's comments. In general, I don't think of Hitchcock as being noir, though STRANGERS ON A TRAIN is an exception.

The book Film Noir (Ward \ Silver), list 4 Hitchcock films in the "directors" appendix: Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, and The Wrong Man. While I also don't generally think of Hitchcock films as being "noir", there are various noir themes in each of these 4 films as well as a few noir visuals.

Hitchcock is his own sub-genre. E.g. I don't view The Birds as being a horror film, but it is often classified as such.

I'd agree with those 4.

[Dargo]

For some, or maybe no, reason I liked Stage Frightthis time around more than I thought I
would and I've seen it three or four times over the years. It's still not top-drawer Hitchcock, but
fairly decent. The unreliable flashback is a bit of a cheat, but I can live with it.

I caught a noir on YT a week or so ago titled Take One False Step starring a very middle-aged
William Powell, Shelley Winters, and Marsha Hunt with a few of the usual suspect characters actors.
I don't recall hearing of it before. Quite well done. Powell is a college prof who gets innocently
involved with a murder and he keeps getting into one mess after another, finally becoming a suspect
in the murder. There's a twist ending and a happy conclusion for Powell. There is more comedy than
usual in noir but the darker aspects of the plot aren't compromised. Definitely better than some of
the dogs that Eduardo has been showing.

Thanks for the heads-up on this William Powell movie here, Andree.

I've now just finished watching it on YouTube for the first time myself and found this film with its decidedly Hitchcockian theme of the innocent man on the run, quite entertaining. And yes, even though a lot of the suspension of disbelief is called upon to fully enjoy it.

(...ah, but then again, I've never found any movie, and regardless its overall quality, that wasn't enhanced by the presence of the unflappable and always reliable William Powell)

[Andree]

Thanks for the heads-up on this William Powell movie here, Andree.

I've now just finished watching it on YouTube for the first time myself and found this film with its decidedly Hitchcockian theme of the innocent man on the run, quite entertaining. And yes, even though a lot of the suspension of disbelief is called upon to fully enjoy it.

(...ah, but then again, I've never found any movie, and regardless its overall quality, that wasn't enhanced by the presence of the unflappable and always reliable William Powell)

Glad you enjoyed it. I think the blend of drama and the comic was very well done, the latter never took away
from the former. The plot was pretty improbable, but it was fun to see Powell keep getting deeper and deeper
into the mess however hard he's trying to get out of it. And he was very likeable as the witty professor. Very
entertaining all around.

[Dargo]

Glad you enjoyed it. I think the blend of drama and the comic was very well done, the latter never took away
from the former. The plot was pretty improbable, but it was fun to see Powell keep getting deeper and deeper
into the mess however hard he's trying to get out of it. And he was very likeable as the witty professor. Very
entertaining all around.

Did you also get the idea for a while that Marsha Hunt might've known more about the goings-on than what she let on to Powell, and considering that it was she who advised him not to immediately go to the police?

(...I also thought the interplay between James Gleason and Sheldon Leonard was cleverly drawn)

[Andree]

Did you also get the idea for a while that Marsha Hunt might've known more about the goings-on than what she let on to Powell, and considering that it was she who advised him not to immediately go to the police?

(...I also thought the interplay between James Gleason and Sheldon Leonard was cleverly drawn)

She did seem to around at many critical junctures. And I also got the feeling that if Willy was
not married, he might have been in her sights, though that's not stressed that much. I guess
one could complain about all the time spent on the rabies possibility, which turned out to
be a red herring. No biggie.

I saw James Gleason on an episode of Leave It to Beaver a while back, but his name was
not in the end credits for some reason.

[txfilmfan]

Did you also get the idea for a while that Marsha Hunt might've known more about the goings-on than what she let on to Powell, and considering that it was she who advised him not to immediately go to the police?

(...I also thought the interplay between James Gleason and Sheldon Leonard was cleverly drawn)

I saw James Gleason on an episode of Leave It to Beaver a while back, but his name was
not in the end credits for some reason.

It's a documented goof in credits. They apparently used the wrong credits (from another episode).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0630298/goofs/

[Andree]

It's a documented goof in credits. They apparently used the wrong credits (from another episode).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0630298/goofs/

Interesting. I've noticed that a few times in the credits to Perry Mason. I was looking for
Gleason's name and wasn't paying attention to the other actors. His character was a bit of a
conman who finagled money out of Beaver with a sad story about his "daughter" Jas mine.

[Bronxgirl48]

Let me just say this: Jack Palance and Shelley Winters are much better paired in THE BIG KNIFE.