Greetings again from the darkness. Finally caught back up to this one after close to 30 years. I have always listed it among my favorite Film Noir movies and now I remember why! The story is not dissimilar to many of the detective films from the 40’s and 50’s, but this one is based on Daniel Mainwaring‘s brilliantly titled novel “Build My Gallows High”. It stars ultra-cool Robert Mitchum and an up-and-coming actor named Kirk Douglas, in just his second film.
As with any Film Noir, there must be a “dame” stirring up trouble for the men who just can’t seem to think clearly around them. Here we get two fabulous women who can’t be trusted: Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming. We also get some of the most creative lighting you will ever see in a movie. I am guessing the production budget was very small, but the shadows and darkness work very well for the story. The next best part of this one is the stream of classic lines. Some are funny and others are quite jolting, given the seriousness with which they are delivered.
The movie is directed by Jacques Tourneur, who also directed Cat People just a few years prior. His best scenes here involve Mitchum, Greer and Douglas playing cat and mouse with dialogue, but I also enjoyed Rhonda Fleming’s brief but impactful appearance.
A couple of interesting notes on those involved. Jane Greer was discovered by Howard Hughes and has some pretty frightening things to say about their time together. She was a very young bride to Rudy Vallee, but Hughes broke up the marriage pretty quickly. Ms. Greer also appeared in Against All Odds in 1984. That film was basically an updated remake of this one. In that film, she played the mother of Rachel Ward‘s character. Since this was Kirk Douglas’ second film, you can really see how little range he had at this point. Very interesting to compare this to some of his later work. If you enjoy the noir genre, this is a must see.
check out 39 seconds of one scene and you’ll get a feel for the shadow effects:
Movie Reviews from the Dark 