Category: 1940s
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One Step Beyond: Film Noir and the Supernatural
Edward G. Robinson, ‘Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ (1948). We can all daydream of possessing special powers, because who wouldn’t want greater insight into their life and extraordinary abilities to manipulate the hands of fate? But if there’s one thing that speculative fiction teaches us is that supernatural powers — mind reading, communicating with the…
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‘The Big Clock’: Time Runs Short for Crime Mag Editor
Charles Laughton and Ray Milland in ‘The Big Clock.’ At first glance, “The Big Clock” is merely a workplace crime drama set in a New York magazine publishing firm, a cold-blooded enterprise that gives new meaning to the phrase, “This job is killing me.” But beneath its surface, the film is satire, lampooning corporate…
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In ‘Double Indemnity,’ A Stalled Car is a Flash of Genius
Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, in ‘Double Indemnity.’ As many times as we pore over “Double Indemnity,” there are still important bits that may be missed. Sometimes that leads to revelations that change our understanding of the film. I’m not talking about the Raymond Chandler cameo that went unnoticed for decades — that was a…