Dark Corner- Studio Classics [DVD]

Can a great looking Forties noir with a clever, complicated plot overcome a hero who is a bland actor, not believable as a tough guy, and dialogue that sounds like a parody of Raymond Chandler? The answer? Yes, but just barely. Note that elements of the plot are discussed.

Brad Galt (Mark Stevens) has just started over as a private eye in New York City. He left the West Coast after serving two years for manslaughter in a setup by his partner, Tony Jardine (Kurt Kreuger). Jardine was a smoothie who played women like dice in a crap game. Galt discovered Jardine was blackmailing some of their clients and called him on it. Jardine got away free and Brad got two years. Jardine is in New York, too, still playing the blackmail game, still indulging in other men's rich wives, this time in high society. He's having an affair with Mari Cathcart (Cathy Downs), the beautiful, spoiled young wife of wealthy art collector Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb). Cathcart finds out what's going on. He uses his clever mind and some hired muscle (William Bendix) in a plot to take care of Tony and use Brad as the fall guy. Brad and his secretary, Kathleen (Lucille Ball), try to unravel the puzzle. Before the movie is over, the two will find themselves with all kinds of snarls and false ends to sort through. While they figure out what's going on, they also fall for each other.

The plot is convoluted but makes sense and has enough action to keep you interested. Webb and Bendix were great lead character actors and provide much of the interest. Webb knew how to delver acid even when the acid was weak. He has at least one first-rate line, "I hate the dawn. The grass always looks as though it's been left out all night." Bendix, who could play a true friend, was also excellent at playing brutal heavies, and he is a brutal heavy here. Lucille Ball doesn't have much to do except provide moral support for Mark Stevens. She comes across as wise and funny, and not willing for a moment to let her man start to wallow in self pity. She washes a bloody poker with style. Unfortunately, the movie centers on Brad Galt's predicament, and Mark Stevens isn't a good enough actor to carry it off. Like Robert Stack in House of Bamboo, he "acts" the tough guy. He has a conventionally handsome but unlined face that has second-string Hollywood actor written all over it.

And there is the dialogue. When noir dialogue is written vividly and with a snap it can make you smile because, while artificial, it just sounds so clever and right. When the writing isn't very good, when the similes are strained, noir dialogue just sounds self-conscious and corny. You be the judge...

"I'm as clean as a hard-boiled egg."
"I'm playing by the book...and I won't trip over even a comma."
"I can be framed easier than 'Whistler's Mother.'"
"There's a pepperpot under this hat, buster. Let's take a walk."
"One thing led to another, and he led with his right."
"I've got a feeling I'm behind the eight ball and somethings gonna happen. When it does, I'm gonna wind up in the corner pocket."
"I need two yards powder money."

The DVD transfer is first rate. Background music includes some great songs ranging from "The More I See You" to "Mood Indigo."

Good but slightly too tidy film noir from veteran director Henry Hathaway.Private investigator Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) is being framed for murder but his secretary Kathleen Corley (Lucielle Ball in an early straight role )is determined to help him clear his name. Considering the film noir staples of isolation, menace and expressionist atmosphere are self evident throughout, The Dark Corner has an upbeat feel that contradicts the very edicts of noir. William Bendix excels as the heavy and Clifton Webb basically reprises his role from Laura .

Brad (Mark Stevens) tries to work out why Fred Foss (William Bendix) is following him. He does this with the help of his secretary Kathleen (Lucille Ball). The story involves a former acquaintance of Brad's, Anthony Jardine (Kurt Kreuger), an art-collector, Hardy (Clifton Webb) and his girlfriend, Mari (Cathy Downs). Brad is framed for murder....

This film is confusing. We are never given the explanation as to why anyone would want to go after Brad in the first place. The betrayal that motivates the murder doesn't take place till half-way through the film, so what on earth is the first half of the film about! Lucille Ball has no role of any substance and Mark Stevens is just not hard-looking enough to carry off a hard-man role. It's laughable when he threatens Bendix and Kreuger at different stages in the film - no way, mate, they'd both kill you! Webb is always dependable to deliver cutting lines but Downs is pathetic in a femme-fatale role - she doesn't cut it.

As for the dialogue - ??! Every cliché that you could ever imagine. Expect lines from the cheesy like "I can be framed easier than Whistler's mother" and "One thing led to another, and he led with his right" to the stupid "I'm clean as a peeled egg...." It's endless. You go 2 ways with this. 1 - you take it as a joke and laugh all the way through the film; 2 - you listen to the dialogue and try and watch the film as if it is a serious noir/crime thriller film. I did the latter and it doesn't work. Finally, the plot - it's complicated because we never have a coherent story, yet every scene is predictable, eg, Hardy's meeting with Foss, and the denouement (soooo obvious!). The film also tags on a predictable clichéd happy ending. This is NOT a good film.