Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

blanche-2 A decent story based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, good performances, and snappy dialogue by Clifford Odets elevate "Deadline at Dawn" from 1946. A small film, clocking in at 83 minutes, it packs in a lot of drama.The film begins with a blind man (Marvin Miller, Mr. Anthony from "The Millionaire") visiting a young woman and demanding $1400 that he is owed. Next thing you know, she's dead. A young sailor on leave, Alex, (Bill Williams) sobers up after a blackout and sees that he has a lot of money that belonged to one Edna Bartelli (Lola Lane), a girl who invited him to her home to "fix her radio."Alex has the radio, and at a dime a dance place, he asks for help from June Goth (Susan Hayward) to help him return it. When they get to Edna's, she's dead. Alex is afraid that he did it, but he can't remember.His leave ends in four hours, so that's all they have to find out what happened. They team up with a friendly cab driver (Paul Lukas). In their investigation, they meet a bunch of low-lifes and it becomes apparent that Edna had a few enemies. Both Hayward and Williams give delightful performances. Hayward vacillates from the tough girl she is at the dance hall and softness as she gets to know Alex. Williams, who was TV's Kit Carson is the dad of actor William Katt ("Greatest American Hero") and the husband of Perry Mason's Barbara Hale.True to its New York City wee small hours of the morning scenario, the film is peppered with various actors, each with his or her own story: Joseph Calleia, Osa Massen, Stephen Geray, Roman Bohen, and Constance Worth. Harold Clurman, a theater director, directed this with an excellent idea of what it's like to be in New York City in the summer - hot, and the weirdos who come out at night.Very entertaining, though probably too ambitious given the budget and time frame. The ending is a little convoluted.

edwagreen Poor script does this 1946 film in before it even gets the opportunity to start. Of all people, Susan Hayward turns up as a sleuth here. She meets a guy at a dance who shall soon be accused of murder.There are an assortment of characters here including 1943 best actor here-Paul Lukas, in the role of a cab driver who talks as if he is a philosopher. We soon discover that the dead woman was up to her head regarding blackmail of others. Hayward tries to find the sailor innocent. Joseph Calleia plays the dead woman's brother. The latter was always the gangster in films, but is given relatively little to do here.Hayward is totally unconvincing here as a femme fatale. Obviously, the meatier roles were yet to come. Marvin Miller of television's The Millionaire fame, plays the husband of the deceased. You'd think that he killed her for the money she owed him but couldn't pay. Wait until you see who the real killer is. Philosophy isn't life, but it isn't murder as well.

seymourblack-1 Many of the standard film noir components are blended together brilliantly in "Deadline At Dawn" to create a murder mystery that features a culprit whose identity, when revealed, is a genuine surprise. As its title suggests, the plot involves a race against time which adds tension and intensity as an innocent fall guy tries to prove that he's not a killer. Numerous twists, dead ends and colourful characters complicate the search for the real murderer and the dark city streets in which much of the action takes place, seem to carry a threat all of their own.When on-leave sailor Alex Winkley (Bill Williams) wakes up in a New York City newsstand with a hangover and $1,400 in his pocket, he struggles to remember what happened before he blacked out. Gradually, he recalls losing all his money in a fixed card game and a woman who invited him to her apartment to fix her radio. As she refused to pay him for restoring her radio to working order, Alex comes to the conclusion that he must have stolen the money from her apartment to cover his losses.In his confused state, Alex goes to a nearby dance-hall where he meets a taxi-dancer called June (Susan Hayward) who later takes him back to her place for sandwiches and listens when he tells her about the guilt he feels about not being able to remember how the $1,400 came into his possession. June advises him to take the money back to the apartment and agrees to go with him. When they go there, they find that Edna Bartelli (Lola Lane) has been strangled to death and Alex becomes anxious because he can't remember whether or not he killed her and also becomes convinced that the police will obviously regard him as the prime suspect.June, whose life and work in the city has made her very cynical, feels some sympathy for Alex and finding his exceptional naiveté rather refreshing, decides to help him in his search for the real killer. Together, throughout a long hot night, they follow up whatever leads they can find with increasing desperation as they're also sharply aware that they only have until 6.00 a.m. to complete their investigation because, at that time, Alex has to catch his bus to report back to his base in Norfolk, Virginia."Deadline At Dawn" packs a lot into its 83 minutes and features a series of interesting characters. Alex and June are helped in their endeavours by a good natured cab driver, Gus Hoffman (Paul Lukas) who puts his cab at their disposal and shares his thoughts on life with them. Edna Bartelli turns out to be a woman with many enemies because she and her gangster husband, Val (Joseph Calleia) ran a blackmail scheme with many victims. Three of these victims, a blonde woman with a limp, a mystery woman with a gun who enters the Bartelli apartment to recover some letters and a Broadway producer who's a business associate of Val Bartelli, all become obvious suspects as does Edna's ex-husband, Sleepy Parsons (Marvin Miller).The main strengths of this movie are its plot, which is based on a Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish) novel, its array of well-drawn characters and Nicholas Musuraca's cinematography which contributes so much to the wonderful look and powerful atmosphere of the piece. In addition, a whole series of strong performances, especially from Susan Hayward, Paul Lukas and Joseph Calleia make this an enjoyable thriller that remains totally gripping throughout.

writers_reign I've been waiting for years to catch this and it's well worth waiting for. Working from a Cornell Woollrich/William Irish story Clifford Odets adds his own brilliant spin via the kind of dialog that only he could write (see Sweet Smell Of Success) and write as though he found it lying on the sidewalk in Manhattan. Harold Clurman - who worked with Odets and Roman Bohnen in the Group Theater - directs his only film and it's a pip. Clurman, who was writing the history of the Group (The Fervent Years) at the time displays the kind of flair that would have given fellow Group alumnus Elia Kazan a run for his money had he pursued a career in movies. The movie is studded with both atmosphere, offbeat characters and that dialog. Marvin Miller, Joesph Calleia, Paul Lukas and Susan Hayward make this one to remember.