Noir Alley

[laffite]

Oh my, I would not dare impinge upon the definitive. As if I were good enough, ha.

I look forward to your upcoming new avatar with trepidation.

Westerfield? Dahmer? Dubya? Bluto?

Can't wait.

I had to look up Westerfield. Unfortunately there are too many notorious killers to keep up with. My next avatar will be
a complete change of pace. No killers, just a sweet, innocent lady.

You have restored my faith in humanity.

Westerfield was a local, he might not have made it on the National stage. He killed a 12-year-old girl named Danielle.

[Andree]

You have restored my faith in humanity.

Westerfield was a local, he might not have made it on the National stage. He killed a 12-year-old girl named Danielle.

That's what I'm here for. Sort of. Not really.

Many are called, few are chosen for national media attention. Since it happened twenty years ago, people have likely
forgotten Westerfield. And one has to wonder if he had killed a middle-aged man instead of a 12 year old child would
he have gained whatever notoriety he did. Probably not.

[Andree]

Hey, while you're on the line, put down a sawbuck on Lazy Legs
in the second race.

Hunt the Man Down.

Fairly routine but entertaining whodunit. Loner Bill, who is so often called a loner it might be his first name, is
closing up a bar with Sally, who has an obvious crush on him. A robber comes in and Bill manages to disarm him
and becomes a local hero with his picture in the newspaper. That pic leads a sharp eyed copper to recognize Bill
as the man who escaped twelve years ago during his murder trial. He is arrested and Gig Young is assigned as
his public defender. Gig brings in his ex-cop one-armed father to help him. They must track down all seven witnesses
(three couples and the victim's wife) to the original crime, one of whom is assumed to be the real killer. Over the
course of twelve years most of the witnesses, who seemed to have promising futures twelve years ago, have mostly
succumbed to a number of setbacks, including alcohol, poverty, and mental illness. Only one couple has done well.
At Bill's second trial it is finally revealed that the actual killer was a woman who was mad at the victim because
he had not married her but another woman. The movie ends on a happy note with Sally and Bill embracing. With seven
prospective killers, some of whom have divorced and/or remarried it's not always easy to keep track of who's who.
That's half the fun of the movie. Since it only runs a little over an hour, it's a good idea to watch it a second time
so that any remaining plot questions can be cleared up. Besides the twosome of loyal Sally and loner Bill, Gig Young
and Harry Shannon make a good father and son pair who enjoying kidding one another while tending to the business
of finding out who the real murderer is. This one is better than some of the flicks Eddie has been showing lately.

In his outro Eddie mentioned Noir Alley will be off for the next two months. No problem. I can live with that. At the end
he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a heart warming/hurl inducing letter from a yuth concerning his love
for classic movies, especially noir, to show that the next generation is also interested in old noir flicks. Good to know, though
I doubt the world will come to an end if fewer people watch Double Indemnity than did thirty years ago.

[laffite]

Good write-up, which shows you enjoyed this more than me. Interested at first but it flagged when the story turns to a staunch procedure piece. That blonde with cigarette was a nice touch, she was real as hell. Gig Young before he became chronically sleepy-eyed. Agree that the who's who was an issue but I wasn't interested enough to try to figure it. So Cleo Moore is the bad guy, and we never saw her until the end. No, there was the other ... but Cleo didn't appeal to me as she did in some recent medium-to-low grade noir alley issues. She wasn't there much but she looked unattractive with that long broad top-to-bottom rectangular somewhat chiseled face. Her face is very loud. Eddie's intro was unconscionably long. As usual I turn him off when he starts telling the story, which means always. I FF through it and it is STILL long as all get out, I'm staring at the screen with amazement (no kidding) with the ff speed full throttle, wondering if he was ever going to stop. Two months? It's okay. Maybe if he didn't talk so much, I might miss him.

[EP Millstone]

. . . In his outro Eddie mentioned Noir Alley will be off for the next two months. No problem. I can live with that. At the end
he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a heart warming/hurl inducing letter from a yuth concerning his love
for classic movies, especially noir, to show that the next generation is also interested in old noir flicks . . .

Paging Margo Channing!

[Andree]

Good write-up, which shows you enjoyed this more than me. Interested at first but it flagged when the story turns to a staunch procedure piece. That blonde with cigarette was a nice touch, she was real as hell. Gig Young before he became chronically sleepy-eyed. Agree that the who's who was an issue but I wasn't interested enough to try to figure it. So Cleo Moore is the bad guy, and we never saw her until the end. No, there was the other ... but Cleo didn't appeal to me as she did in some recent medium-to-low grade noir alley issues. She wasn't there much but she looked unattractive with that long broad top-to-bottom rectangular somewhat chiseled face. Her face is very loud. Eddie's intro was unconscionably long. As usual I turn him off when he starts telling the story, which means always. I FF through it and it is STILL long as all get out, I'm staring at the screen with amazement (no kidding) with the ff speed full throttle, wondering if he was ever going to stop. Two months? It's okay. Maybe if he didn't talk so much, I might miss him.

It was a pretty straightforward police procedural, but I enjoyed it. I think I would have left out one of the couples so that the
plot was easier to follow. It's hard to keep track of seven people, especially when they seem to mix and match among themselves
so much. The ending seemed rushed and Cleo didn't have much of a chance to play the sexy dame that she did in other films. HTMD
is on YT and I might watch it again to smooth out some of the confusion.

I believe Eddie's intros are shorter than they used to be. They now are usually about five minutes long where before they ran about
two minutes longer. I've also noticed that for the last several weeks Noir Alley is starting right at midnight. I don't know if that's a coincidence
or if TCM is programming it that way.

[Andree]

Paging Margo Channing!

I knew I should have stuck with puke inducing.

[jameselliot]

"In his outro Eddie mentioned Noir Alley will be off for the next two months."

Replaced by continuous Oscar winning films again?

[Dargo]

...Eddie's intro was unconscionably long. As usual I turn him off when he starts telling the story, which means always. I FF through it and it is STILL long as all get out, I'm staring at the screen with amazement (no kidding) with the ff speed full throttle, wondering if he was ever going to stop. Two months? It's okay. Maybe if he didn't talk so much, I might miss him.

I have to say my take on Eddie and his wraparounds is 180 degrees from yours here, laffite. In fact, his wraparounds are one of the things I especially look forward to each week as I sit down to watch Noir Alley.

I have always appreciated the idea that TCM has given him twice or more the amount of time for his wraparounds than they do the other hosts and so to expand upon the finer points of the films he shows on his series. I mean and as just one example, when was the last time any of the other hosts gave us any info on the cinematographer of the films they present? Ya see, I like knowing this kind of stuff.

(...but hey, and of course and as always, To each their own)

[laffite]

...Eddie's intro was unconscionably long. As usual I turn him off when he starts telling the story, which means always. I FF through it and it is STILL long as all get out, I'm staring at the screen with amazement (no kidding) with the ff speed full throttle, wondering if he was ever going to stop. Two months? It's okay. Maybe if he didn't talk so much, I might miss him.

I have to say my take on Eddie and his wraparounds is 180 degrees from yours here, laffite. In fact, his wraparounds are one of the things I especially look forward to each week as I sit down to watch Noir Alley.

I have always appreciated the idea that TCM has given him twice or more the amount of time for his wraparounds than they do the other hosts and so to expand upon the finer points of the films he shows on his series. I mean and as just one example, when was the last time any of the other hosts gave us any info on the cinematographer of the films they present? Ya see, I like knowing this kind of stuff.

(...but hey, and of course and as always, To each their own)

Yup.

[laffite]

Dargo,

To quote a Woody Allen line to his young niece, "Don't listen to anything your teachers tells you." That was me ... and then the schoolteachers said, 'Don't listen to anything your parents tell you." That was all difficult to overcome but I had it, and then I ran across a New Yorker cartoon. Two men on an elevator, one says "Gosh, as an analyst, you must be exhausted after listening to people all day." Analyst: "Who listens?"

[Hibi]

It was ok, but Eddie gave away a plot point about Cleo in the intro saying her role was small but PIVOTAL.




SPOILERS:

Since she was supposed to have died, I took that to mean she didn't REALLY die, which proved correct! (since her role was NOT pivotal if she was just in that brief party scene in the beginning!) So NO SURPRISE there! And who was that Packy person she was supposed to be married to? I was confused to who that was. It wasn't a bad b movie. A good cast. Wish it had been fleshed out a bit more in the plot.

[Hibi]

And I was ticked to find out NO MORE NOIR ALLEY UNTIL MAY!!!!!!!!! WTF?????????

Not only Oscar month but April too, due to some salute to WARNER BROS.?????? (per Eddie) They need to preempt Eddie for some Warner salute? It's a 24 hr 7 day week salute???????????? What a wasted month! Half of what they show is WB anyway. What a lazy programming decision. SNOOZE.

Really ticked off!

[Hibi]

"In his outro Eddie mentioned Noir Alley will be off for the next two months."

Replaced by continuous Oscar winning films again?

He said he was being preempted in April for some lousy salute to WB studios!!!!!!!!!! WHY?? I'm really ticked!!!! That means all programming is preempted in April for WB films???? They are on half the time anyway!!! So 2 months with NO NOIR ALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[laffite]

"In his outro Eddie mentioned Noir Alley will be off for the next two months."

Replaced by continuous Oscar winning films again?

He said he was being preempted in April for some lousy salute to WB studios!!!!!!!!!! WHY?? I'm really ticked!!!! That means all programming is preempted in April for WB films???? They are on half the time anyway!!! So 2 months with NO NOIR ALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I agree. Is it going to kill them to maintain regular features in cases like this. Does that mean that Sunday silents are out too? Probably. A crock of hooey!