I love film noir. And this was new to me, amazingly. So I definitely enjoyed it.
However, it is not good. The plot has red herrings and scenes unrelated to anything else more than any other movie by a major director hat I can think of.
OK. It doesn't make much sense. The narrative logic is filled with holes.
Still, it is enjoyable.
First off, my hat is off to Nancy Guild. I swear I had never heard of her before this. But, even at age 19, she's very good. She beautiful -- a little like Alexis Smith and even more like one of my great favorites Patricia Neal. She is no Duse but she does an excellent job in a pivotal role.
John Hodiak is good, though perhaps encouraged to overdo the vacant looks even when the amnesia plot seems to have been forgotten.
Margo Woode, with what looks like a bird's nest on her head, is lots of fun as a bad girl. And Josephine Hutchinson is very poignant in a small scene that doesn't seem to me to make sense in the overall plot but has an exciting payoff: Her scream through a window saves our hero from being run over.
The others are good, of course. Lloyd Nolan always was. Ditto Richard Conte. Lou Nova is strangely affecting in a small role.
This is a sprawling big-studio noir from the forties. The short, cheaply made ones are often better. And often they aren't. One never knows on the street of dreams.
However, it is not good. The plot has red herrings and scenes unrelated to anything else more than any other movie by a major director hat I can think of.
OK. It doesn't make much sense. The narrative logic is filled with holes.
Still, it is enjoyable.
First off, my hat is off to Nancy Guild. I swear I had never heard of her before this. But, even at age 19, she's very good. She beautiful -- a little like Alexis Smith and even more like one of my great favorites Patricia Neal. She is no Duse but she does an excellent job in a pivotal role.
John Hodiak is good, though perhaps encouraged to overdo the vacant looks even when the amnesia plot seems to have been forgotten.
Margo Woode, with what looks like a bird's nest on her head, is lots of fun as a bad girl. And Josephine Hutchinson is very poignant in a small scene that doesn't seem to me to make sense in the overall plot but has an exciting payoff: Her scream through a window saves our hero from being run over.
The others are good, of course. Lloyd Nolan always was. Ditto Richard Conte. Lou Nova is strangely affecting in a small role.
This is a sprawling big-studio noir from the forties. The short, cheaply made ones are often better. And often they aren't. One never knows on the street of dreams.