crimeonfilm.com – crime films and TV, mostly film noir

The Key to Marlowe’s Conundrum is In a Can of Cat Food

One of my favorite neo-noirs is “The Long Goodbye” (1973), Robert Altman’s adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel of the same title, published 20 years earlier. Altman’s most drastic alteration of Chandler’s opus is placing the story in the 1970s instead of eight years after the end of World War II, when the novel is…
‘Highway 301’: There’s a Killer on the Road

It’s a wonder that anyone gets through the first few minutes of “Highway 301,” a noir based on the true-life crime wave perpetrated by an outfit called the Tri-State Gang. The film is a taut little thriller that starts off with wooden speeches by three, count ‘em, three state governors, the honorable gentlemen of North…
When Tinsel Town Turns the Camera on Itself

Face it, scandals make good news copy and the Los Angeles entertainment industry produces a bumper crop of the stuff that keeps gossip writers in business. From Rosco “Fatty” Arbuckle to Harvey Weinstein the press has never been at a loss for words when it comes to movie industry playboys who can’t control their libidos.…
‘Eddie Coyle’ Introduced Us to ‘Boston Noir’

No one was quite ready for the grittiness of “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” when it arrived in theaters in 1973. It didn’t look like most films that Hollywood turned out — it had a certain rawness in each shot that probably wouldn’t pass muster in Tinsel Town, and there’s not a single hint of…
Grifter Aims to Separate a Widow from her Fortune

As conmen go, Nick Blake (John Garfield) is more likeable than your average grifter. A bit out of practice, he’s ready to get back into the flim-flam game. But first, he’s got a score to settle. In “Nobody Lives Forever” (1946), Blake is a wounded G.I. sent home to New York from the war. He…
Hazy Memories of Hollywood

Ever since it hit the screen in 2019 there’s been a lot of talk about Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood,” especially the fight scene between stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee (Mike Moh). Their fictitious on-screen dustup ruffled some feathers, particularly among Lee’s kin…
‘L.A. Confidential’: Wounded Cops Take On the System

“L.A. Confidential,” the astounding saga of police corruption in the City of Angels circa 1953, marks its 30th anniversary in 2027. Three decades later the film’s authentic retro look, snappy musical soundtrack and motley selection of characters still make the story hum. Two of a kind Deep wounds make great characters, and two of the…
Noir Directors and their Eyepatches

An eyepatch can make director look like a badass and that’s a good thing in the famously brutal movie biz. Sure, a lot of them are scary enough without a patch, but put a piece of black fabric over an eye and your game is automatically upped exponentially. Cranky, spoiled actors, pushy studio execs and…
Driving a Stake through Swinging London’s Heart

“Performance” isn’t on many “best neo-noirs” lists — absolutely zero that I could find, honestly. Some might say it shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as the 1960s crime films that pay homage to black and white noir classics of the 1940s and ’50s, but allow me to disagree. The Mick Jagger-co-starring cult film…
Can An Insurance Investigator Actually Beat the System?

On the face of it, “Roadblock” (1951) is a tall tale filled with unlikelihoods, the chief one being an insurance investigator who can’t conceive of the ease with which he’ll get caught for robbing one of his employer’s clients. He’s the same guy who catches perps who rip off the customers and ought to know…