Noir Alley

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[Hibi]

Haven't they shown this before on Noir Alley? I'm pretty sure.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Haven't they shown this before on Noir Alley? I'm pretty sure.

I believe you're correct. I know I have seen the film and since it is an MGM film likely it was on TCM.

[cmovieviewer]

Dial 1119 (1950) has been shown on TCM several times before, but never on Noir Alley.

The next Noir Alley repeat is Desperate (1947), scheduled for July 29, which was also shown on Noir Alley back in 2018. That will be the first repeat that Eddie has shown so far this year.

[Dargo]

And here I always thought Marshall Thompson was such a nice young man!

(...just goes to show ya, ya never really know people, huh)

[HoldenIsHere]

DIAL 1119 is another movie with a BEWITCHED connection.
One of the hostages is played by Leon Ames, who would later play Howard McMann, Larry Tate's partner at McMann & Tate Advertising, in the character's second of two appearances. It was on the Season 6 episode "What Makes Darrin Run?"

[kingrat]

So who else saw Dial 1119? I thought Virginia Field stole the film as the lush with an eye for anything male. She was part Joan Crawford and part Claire Trevor. William Conrad, Sam Levene, Leon Ames, Marshall Thompson, a good cast. Even Keefe Brasselle was pretty good.

The dialogue about Andrea King being 23 surprised me because the clothes suggested someone considerably older. She is better in other films, like Hotel Berlin.

SPOILERS: For me one of the best things was what happened to the psychiatrist. I thought the film was going in a different direction but loved the direction it took.

[Hibi]

Dial 1119 (1950) has been shown on TCM several times before, but never on Noir Alley.

The next Noir Alley repeat is Desperate (1947), scheduled for July 29, which was also shown on Noir Alley back in 2018. That will be the first repeat that Eddie has shown so far this year.

That's strange. I've seen it before on TCM and it''s not the type of film I'd watch if it weren't on Noir Alley. Guess I must have then.

[Hibi]

So who else saw Dial 1119? I thought Virginia Field stole the film as the lush with an eye for anything male. She was part Joan Crawford and part Claire Trevor. William Conrad, Sam Levene, Leon Ames, Marshall Thompson, a good cast. Even Keefe Brasselle was pretty good.

The dialogue about Andrea King being 23 surprised me because the clothes suggested someone considerably older. She is better in other films, like Hotel Berlin.

SPOILERS: For me one of the best things was what happened to the psychiatrist. I thought the film was going in a different direction but loved the direction it took.

I watched it, but I'd seen it before. Don't think I'd watch it again though. An ok B. Got pretty tired of Marshall Thompson. At least it wasnt a long running time. Yes, Virginia was a hoot! Yeah, poor Same Levene! Was the film trying to send a message? LOL!

[kingrat]

So who else saw Dial 1119? I thought Virginia Field stole the film as the lush with an eye for anything male. She was part Joan Crawford and part Claire Trevor. William Conrad, Sam Levene, Leon Ames, Marshall Thompson, a good cast. Even Keefe Brasselle was pretty good.

The dialogue about Andrea King being 23 surprised me because the clothes suggested someone considerably older. She is better in other films, like Hotel Berlin.

SPOILERS: For me one of the best things was what happened to the psychiatrist. I thought the film was going in a different direction but loved the direction it took.

I watched it, but I'd seen it before. Don't think I'd watch it again though. An ok B. Got pretty tired of Marshall Thompson. At least it wasnt a long running time. Yes, Virginia was a hoot! Yeah, poor Same Levene! Was the film trying to send a message? LOL!

Hibi, I did get the impression that the film was sending a certain message, especially given how some films and novels of the time idolize psychiatrists and feel sympathy for criminals with unfortunate backgrounds. Casting a nice guy like Sam Levene made me think that's what was going to happen here. Credit to Sam Levene and to the director for drawing us in.

[Hibi]

Yes, the whole film had an underlying law and order theme, it seemed to me. Seemed to give short shrift to Levene and his ilk for dealing with disturbed criminals. LOL.

[laffite]

I nearly gave up early on the film when Chuckles got that early exit. What an oversight! Like taking the best ingredient from the recipe. I was looking for his lip as one of the hostages. And wanting to hear him call Wycoff a crumb. (maybe the movie runners thought he might upstage the proceedings.)

I loved Andrea the way she approached W as she was instructed to. She was scared s h i t l e s s and it really showed. A fine piece of acting. She took her time and was totally committed.

We got Marshall Thompson and I kept thinking of Robert Walker.

Virginia has one of the best laughs ever (as a technical point).

I agree, the fate of the doctor was cool and and funny. Usually the doctor comes on all warm and fuzzy and then gets tough and saves the day as the criminal breaks. The way it happened here could have been on Saturday Night Live. Who remembers the old Mad Magazine feature, "Hollywood films as we would like to see them", a series of cartoons doing a famous scene from a Hollywood film with out-of-the box surprises.

(OTOH, R.Walker is smooth and nuanced, maybe too polished for a one-note role. I wonder what Anthony Perkins was doing then, too young? Virginia bears a resemblance to Joan Crawford but not even the Great Joan could have out-Virginia'd Virginia in this one. Andrea is perfection IMO so she gets to stay. Slimy Leon could be replaced but he is okay. The TV as Eddie intimates was near surreal).

[speedracer5]

...but I just didn't buy Thelma having a sudden case of remorse or maybe disgust and sticking that
cig lighter into Tony's puss and causing the car crash.

To me, this had the Production Code requirements of the time written all over it.

I also vaguely remember watching this film years ago but couldn't remember much of it or how it ended, however I had a feeling as I watched this scene unfold that Thelma and Tony would have to meet this fate and because of the Code, and so lessening any sort of surprise that it happened and making it seemed forced.

(...and re Stanwyck's death scene...her lack of any facial burns and/or contusions after the fiery and violent car cash, reminded me a lot of how Lizabeth Scott looked on her hospital deathbed in the film 'Dead Reckoning'...didn't buy this notion in either movie)

I agree with Stanwyck and Scott's respective appearances in their deathbed scenes. These women should have massive cuts, bruises and burns!

Not deathbed scenes, but I loved how Bette Davis didn't hold back with her appearance after getting a beating in "Marked Woman." And in "The Glass Key," William Bendix beats the crap out of Alan Ladd, and he shows every punch on his face. His face is a bruised and swollen mess. When I first saw this film, I was surprised that the filmmakers would allow their handsome star to look so terrible. Of course later, when he's in the hospital, he instantly looks better and only has a little bandaid on his face. But that is necessary for him to charm and flirt with the nurse. Lol.

[Andree]

Fifty bucks an hour just for lying on that lumpy couch. Ain't gonna happen doc.


Yeah I saw this one a few years ago on TCM, but I guess not on Noir Alley. It got off to a bad start with the
bus driver leaving his gun om the bus. I mean who does that? Some things are just beyond one's suspension
of disbelief. I liked the part where we got to see a little bit of the bar patron's character before Thompson
barged in. I thought the lady barfly was pretty hot. And how about Leon Ames' moldy old pickup lines on
the twenty something mama's girl. Desperate. Then enter psycho. Usually there is some sympathy, however
little, for the bad guy. But Thompson was such a murderous creep it's hard to like anything about him. And
talk about a quick trigger finger. It was fun to see the tables turned and bright boy William Conrad getting
it from behind the counter. The last half of the flick is a little duller, just waiting for Thompson to
get his as the Production Code mandated. And so he did. A fairly entertaining claustrophobic noir, even if
we know how things are going to play out. One last thing--when someone orders a boilermaker, give him a
boilermaker, Chuckles. The customer is always right.

[Hoganman1]

Did anyone notice that a young Barbara Billingsly had a bit part as the secretary of the editor of the paper? She tried to get the editor to take a phone call from one of the hostages.