1945 - 20th Century Fox
Directed by Otto Preminger
SYNOPSIS
A drifting con man (Dana Andrews) drifts into a small town between L.A. and San Fransisco. He falls for a waitress named Stella(Linda Darnell.) She plays hard to get and he comes up with a plan to get enough money to woo her. It involves marrying a church organist (Alice Faye) with a big inheritance. Stella doesn't want anything to do with him after he is married... and soon after, she turns up dead, but who killed her?
MY THOUGHTS
A middle of the road Film Noir, neither great nor terrible.
The acting is solid, but there really isn't a standout performance. Dana Andrews, in the lead, gives a very minimalist performance of his ambiguous character. It's hard to like him or hate him and he comes across as quite 'blah.'
Director Otto Preminger delivers but the film is missing something that his major films have in abundance like 'Laura,' 'Anatomy of a Murder' and 'The Man With The Golden Arm.'
The film has excellent cinematography. The shadowy world of noir is in full effect here.
The script is somewhat weakened by it's predictability. It's filled with scenes that are reminiscent of other films.
It's a solid film noir, but lacks the magic that would make it truly great.
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