The Silver Screen Oasis

That neglected sub-genre, Ice Follies Noir, came to TCM today with Suspense (1946), starring Barry Sullivan as an ambitious peanut vendor, Belita as a sexy skating star (take that, Sonja Henie!), Bonita Granville and Albert Dekker as Belita's understandably bitter hubby. I am just watching it now and hope I'm not the only one who is relishing this movie. With direction by Frank Tuttle (This Gun for Hire, 1935's The Glass Key) and a script by Philip Yordan (House of Strangers, The Big Combo), this movie really has something...though I can't quite decide what it is yet. This big budget Monogram production (yeah, an oxymoron) has a terrific visual look to it (Karl Struss is the cinematographer and I've never seen a Tuttle movie that was visually ugly).


This movie has everything: surrealism on ice with Belita bursting through a skull that would have made Dali smile, art deco architecture (courtesy of images of the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, which Lynn mentioned here), classy ice dancing, Barry Sullivan slithering, a welcome appearance by George E. Stone, and a performer (on ice, yet) named Miguelito Valdes, who looks as though he taught Desi Arnaz how to sing.

One thing that I have definitely decided is that Belita wears the craziest hats I've seen this side of Janis Carter and Minnie Pearl. PLEASE tell me someone else saw this movie?

Drats ... I forgot to record it on my DVR today. I really, really, really ... wanted to see this baddddddddddddddly :!:

I recorded it, but haven't watched it yet.

I wish I'd recorded it!

I had things to do, but watched a few minutes of it - it really had something, as you say! Something noirish, and very forties about it. It really looked good! The skating numbers were totally crazy, and intense, but kind of cool. Barry was so relaxed and young I hardly recognized him. Albert Dekker always makes me think of Paul Lukas without quite as much depth and smaller eyes. I absolutely adore Bonita Granville, I don't know why, but I missed her entirely as I had to go out. It even had Eugene Pallette! I also missed George E. Stone, one of my favorite character actors.

Guessing Eugene Pallette did no skating.

Yes, I watched it. This is the kind of little noir film I really am into. Hope TCM shows more of this kind.