... as this film that starts out rather slow becomes a Hitchcock-like game of cat and mouse across the country involving a psychopath bent on vengeance against a group of crooked gamblers that drove his brother to suicide after he lost money that belonged to his company in a card game. The psychopathic brother is hunting the gamblers down one by one and hanging them - which is the way his brother killed himself. Up to the end all you see of this guy is a big beefy hand with a large black ring on one finger. The gamblers that know they're targets don't even know that much about the appearance of the man out to get them. And this is their one hope - to find out what the guy looks like so they can at least have a chance.

At first Charlton Heston may seem out of place here as a gray character at the center of a film noir, but he carries the role admirably. Dean Jagger is the police captain that introduces himself as head of vice but for some reason gets involved in first the suicide of the guy the gamblers took, and then in the murder cases of the gamblers. It's very strange though that he keeps dragging Heston's character downtown just to tell him he's doomed to die at the violent hands of the rampaging murderer - and then seems to do nothing about it other than to taunt him. You'll see several actors playing against their normal type here including Jack Webb as one of the gamblers that is at first a bully full of bravado turned to quivering coward as the killer closes in, and Harry Morgan as an ex-soldier turned simple by something that happened in WWII that is never explained.

Only one thing is a bit annoying in this film - for some reason the makers of this film seem to think Lizabeth Scott's nightclub singing is some kind of treat for the audience. I found it distracting and found myself groaning every time she'd show up for another number.

Another thing that's very interesting - five years after WWII ends much of the problems of the characters is laid at the feet of the destruction and upheaval of that war citing problems that must have been common in American society at that time - hastily made wartime marriages that went lukewarm after the war, men who went soft in the head as a result of being soldiers, men who went hard as a result of being soldiers. If you want to watch a highly effective little thriller I highly recommend this film.

Dark City (1950)

A surprise, really great. It's not quite a B-movie, though it has some of the honesty and simplicity of a lower budget film. And it has a whole host of terrific actors, including Charlton Heston in his first Hollywood film.

Did I just say Heston was terrific? Yes, here he is, a strong, stubborn, Heston-like character, well cast and well directed and beautifully filmed. And he's at the center of a plot that has several large twists that all make sense, and some great tension throughout. Except for two or three key moments where Heston (or some other actor) does something not quite plausible, the timing and direction by William Dieterle is superb.

The leading woman is a common type in post-war movies, a woman trying to make a living singing in a night club, and she is played with restrained simplicity by Lizabeth Scott. This gives the movie a chance to feature several songs, which she performs herself (Scott even recorded an album in 1957).

Beyond the truly engrossing story, where an unseen killer is on the loose thanks to the greed of a group of backroom poker players, the movie is held together but a half dozen terrific performances. The poker players themselves, including Heston and Ed Begley, are petty and greedy and eventually scared. The man they dupe, a visiting nice guy, is Don DeFore, who pulls it off brilliantly. There are even two guys who later became steadies in "Dragnet." And then there's the detective played by Dean Jaggar, and this talkative, philosophizing, good-guy investigator actually manages to see what's going on right away. Then the cat and mouse game begins.

There is a lot to like about "Dark City" and it's an excellent example of film noir. While not as tough and gritty as some of the darker incarnations of noir, it still packs a nice punch and has some excellent characterizations--particularly Charton Heston and Jack Webb.

Heston plays a world-weary and jaded professional gambler. He sees most people as suckers and has little to like about him. Inexplicably, Lizbeth Scott adores him and is the perfect enabler. She also keeps on holding out hope that Heston will reform and marry her.

One night, Heston and his gambling partners come upon a pigeon (Don DeFore) and invite him for a 'nice friendly game of poker'. DeFore does well the first night--and he doesn't realize he's being set-up for a big killing, as the gamblers know he has a $5000 cashiers check on him. Not surprisingly, the next day, DeFore's luck sours and he's cleaned out--including this check that didn't turn out to belong to him. He signs it over to them---and then promptly kills himself! Two things almost immediately come to light. First, it turns out that one of the gamblers (Webb) was cheating. While these were pros, Heston and his other partner (Ed Begley) were not cheaters. Second, Begley becomes very nervous--saying that he thinks someone is following him. Soon, he's murdered! The police bring in Webb and Heston and inform him that they know about the game and even know who the killer is--DeFore's psychotic brother who'd spent much of his life institutionalized in a mental hospital!! And, apparently, he's soon coming to get Webb and Heston as well! Quite a bit happens after this--but you'll just have to tune in to see it yourself.

Excellent writing, wonderful tension and nice acting--this one will keep you on the edge of your seat and is great for noir fanatics--like myself.