Gee, I'm glad I finally got around to giving this movie a complete viewing. Years ago I had seen some of it and thought it was boring but I had read too many good things about this to give up on it, so when I saw a DVD for just a few bucks earlier this bought, I bought it. I'm glad, but I have mixed feelings on the film. For much of it, I found it an interesting movie with some very cool dialog and some quirky characters. Besides, I like the genre (film noir), although I found this much more of a crime/drama/melodrama/comedy than a noir.
Ever since "Casablanca" Humphrey Bogart seemed to get some of these "Rick" parts; you know, the wise-guy know-it-all with a smart answer for everything and a guy who is hard to figure (good guy or bad guy?). That's the main story in this film - is "Dix Steele" or killer or just a guy with a big temper problem? I won't say, but it will keep you guessing right up until the end.
Gloria Grahame ("Laurel Gray") is at her sexiest and her role here not unfamiliar when you look at the history of films - the woman who is attracted to a bad man or possible bad man. The woman who has second thoughts all the time but also is desperate to fall in love. It's been overworked in the movies but Grahame is a feast for the eyes in this film.
Overall, I thought the main part of the film was fun to watch. The opening 10-15 minutes was a little too corny with Martha Stewart's character, "Mildred Atkinson", and the last half hour turned a little too melodramatic in spots, yet the movie never dragged.
The line in the film repeated several times - "I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left. I lived a few weeks while you loved me" - is cool, but demonstrates the big melodrama side to this film. Yet, it has a tense feel - which gives it the film noir label - as Bogart is mesmerizing in one of his more memorable roles late in his illness-shortened life.
For most classic-movie buffs, this is a "must see," and I can understand that.
Ever since "Casablanca" Humphrey Bogart seemed to get some of these "Rick" parts; you know, the wise-guy know-it-all with a smart answer for everything and a guy who is hard to figure (good guy or bad guy?). That's the main story in this film - is "Dix Steele" or killer or just a guy with a big temper problem? I won't say, but it will keep you guessing right up until the end.
Gloria Grahame ("Laurel Gray") is at her sexiest and her role here not unfamiliar when you look at the history of films - the woman who is attracted to a bad man or possible bad man. The woman who has second thoughts all the time but also is desperate to fall in love. It's been overworked in the movies but Grahame is a feast for the eyes in this film.
Overall, I thought the main part of the film was fun to watch. The opening 10-15 minutes was a little too corny with Martha Stewart's character, "Mildred Atkinson", and the last half hour turned a little too melodramatic in spots, yet the movie never dragged.
The line in the film repeated several times - "I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left. I lived a few weeks while you loved me" - is cool, but demonstrates the big melodrama side to this film. Yet, it has a tense feel - which gives it the film noir label - as Bogart is mesmerizing in one of his more memorable roles late in his illness-shortened life.
For most classic-movie buffs, this is a "must see," and I can understand that.