Sorry, this movie sucks

Powerful

It is a performances centric movie

The acting in this movie is really good.

If you ever wanted to see a blend of 40s film-noir and classic (30s to 40s) horror, this is the movie for you. It opens with murder of a young woman, Rosalind, which is quickly written off by the police as suicide. So, now we know there is a murderer on the loose. Rosalind was the secretary of a seemingly-wealthy host of a popular mystery radio-show, Victor Grandison (Claude Rains). Strange events soon start taking place at his household. The script seems to have been written with film-noir in mind.There is murder, deceit, suspense, a damsel in distress, a guy playing detective, etc. However, one distinctive feature of noir is that it is grounded reality, more so than other genres and script fails at this by incorporating some rather improbable events. How to remedy this? By adding a touch of horror of course (a genre where suspension of disbelief is stretched quite often). At the centre of it is Claude Rains giving a superb performance. Suave, calm assured, sinister (and caring), his persona is more of a horror villain (as opposed tough and street-smart noir characters). It is a joy to watch him. The rest of the cast is serviceable. Some other reviewers have complained about too many plot threads. While I agree with them, I did not find it distracting. Could this movie have been a teensy bit better? Yes. But, is it worth watching? Yes again.

Claude Rains is suave and sinister in this film noir drama from 1947, which is worth watching, but guard your expectations. Rains plays the mellifluous announcer of a murder mystery radio show, and his performance is one of the high points of the movie. The others are in the great shots that Director Michael Curtiz creates with shadows and reflections. In one fantastic scene early on, the camera takes us through the streets to a flashing neon sign for the "Hotel Peekskill", and while we hear Rains narrating his show, we see his hired heavy (Jack Lambert) lying in bed smoking. The last four letters are not really the ones showing through the window, but the psychological effect is such that that's what viewers 'see' and remember. In some other great moments, Rains's shadow stretches abnormally long across the floor as he walks away, and his reflection seen in a record warps slightly while it spins. I also loved the use of the 'high tech' audio equipment in his home.Unfortunately, the plot is second rate. There are several points that seem artificial and mostly unexplained, starting with the niece (Joan Caulfield) having apparently died and then coming back. There are also moments which don't make sense, particularly towards the end, but I won't spoil anything. The plot just seems too heavily constructed. It also suffers a bit from a lack of real suspense, though when Rains has Caulfield help him with a recording, we get an eerie feeling as to his intentions. As for the rest of the cast, Audrey Totter delivers some spice as his other niece and Constance Bennett some acerbic lines as his producer, but overall, it's pretty average. Entertaining, with its dramatic music and noir feel, but imperfect.

The secretary of a wealthy radio star (Claude Rains) is murdered shortly after his niece disappears at sea. Then the niece's husband nobody knew about shows up asking questions. But then the niece turns out to be alive only she doesn't remember the husband. If you think I'm revealing spoilers, all of this happens within the first twenty minutes of the movie! There's a lot going on in this one and I have barely scratched the surface.Very cool noirish thriller with a great director and cast. Claude Rains is excellent as always. I absolutely love Audrey Totter and this is in her top five films for sure. Constance Bennett is fun in a role that seems like it was written with Eve Arden in mind. Hurd Hatfield and Joan Caulfield are also good. I disagree with the reviewer complaining that the murderer's identity was revealed prematurely. This isn't a murder mystery so much as a suspenser where we know who the killer is, just not the how and why. There's a lot of clever business around that. I won't spoil it but I thought the movie was pretty smart with how it handled it. This is a mostly forgotten gem in Michael Curtiz's long and excellent career. If you're a fan of classic films, you should definitely check it out the next chance you get.

Good-looking but tired noir concoction, adapted from a book by Charlotte Armstrong, surely to be one of the most forgettable titles on the resume of director Michael Curtiz! Young woman thought to be lost at sea returns home alive, not remembering the man she supposedly married but very much aware of the tension in the manor she shares with her relatives. Meanwhile, her debonair uncle, a radio celebrity who spins murder mysteries, is getting very nervous as the police close in on the killer of his faithful secretary. Smart, bitchy society talk and lustrous black-and-white cinematography lend to the film a shiny allure, though the plot is overstuffed with familiar, unabsorbing elements. As the radio star, Claude Rains has a magnificent voice and a funny/sinister presence, but he isn't given much to do and oddly spends a great deal of time hovering around the picture's edges. *1/2 from ****