The Silver Screen Oasis

Is anyone else excited by the line-up? Jampacked with noir and noir-sounding movies that aren't commercially available and that I haven't seen.

I WAS FRAMED (1942) with Regis Toomey
ESCAPE FROM CRIME (1942)
FOLLOW ME QUIETLY (1949) with William Lundigan, Jeff Corey, Paul Guifoyle, Frank Ferguson, directed by Richard Fleischer and (this really caught my attention) co-written by Anthony Mann
THE UNSUSPECTED (1947) with Constance Bennett, Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, directed by Michael Curtiz and cinematography by Woody Bredell (THE KILLERS; PHANTOM LADY)
JOHNNY EAGER (1942)
SCENE OF THE CRIME (1949) with Van Johnson (eh), Arlene Dahl (getting better), John McIntire (yes!), Leon Ames (yes! yes!), directed by Roy Rowland (WITNESS TO MURDER)

Plus one I've seen, but that isn't commercially available, THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS, and two with honored spots on my shelf, DETOUR and BORN TO KILL.

I better get replacement parts for the DV-R now.

A veritable mixed bag, mostly forgettable unfortunately.
I WAS FRAMED and ESCAPE FROM CRIME are fairly routine Warner Bros B films (another way of saying "not noir") without a whole lot to recommend them. The second one, as I recall it, has a fairly exciting gun battle at the climax. It was based on a 1933 Jimmy Cagney film called PICTURE SNATCHER, which was a whole lot better.
FOLLOW ME QUIETLY is a total snore despite Mann's involvement and that it came from RKO. Fleischer, with just a few exceptions, was a pretty dull director. THE UNSUSPECTED, thanks to Woody Bredell, at least qualifies it as noir but only barely. The score almost sinks it completely. JOHNNY EAGER is an MGM film, so at least you've been forewarned.
SCENE OF THE CRIME (also MGM) is a fairly taut film despite the presence of Johnson and Dahl. Rowland was a seriously underrated director.

Dewey sez:

JOHNNY EAGER is an MGM film, so at least you've been forewarned.

Yeah, when I saw Robert Taylor and Lana Turner in the cast, I was tempted to pass it by, but was hoping that Mervyn LeRoy might liven it up. And I keep hoping that M-G-M has another DIAL 1119 in'em.

Fleischer is hit-or-miss with me, but the hits are good enough that I almost always take the chance with him.

I like Follow Me Quietly. It's a not great movie, but one of the stupidest films ever made. If you like a good laugh, check this one out as a detective drags a faceless dummy around town trying to establish the identity of The Judge--the rainy day killer. I've shown this film to a couple of friends and each time was met with howls of laughter. Good for a chuckle and lots of fun if you don't take things too seriously.