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The femme fatale is front and center in volume 1 of Bad Girls of Film Noir, a quartet of low-budget, Truman-era crime movies from the Columbia vaults. Evelyn Keyes is the most extreme example of deadly female in 1951's The Killer That Stalks New York; she's a smuggler and unwitting carrier of smallpox who passes the disease to the innocent and unscrupulous alike. Based on a real smallpox outbreak in New York in 1947, the film is part medical thriller and part educational film thanks to a doom-and-gloom narrator (the ubiquitous Reed Hadley) who informs the viewer of Keyes's progress in spreading death. Also from '51 is Two of a Kind, with the morally questionable Lizabeth Scott and Alexander Knox scheming to bilk an elderly couple out of their savings by passing off gambler Edmond O'Brien as their long-absent son; it's a somewhat lighter shade of noir, thanks to the presence of a youthful Terry Moore as the couple's naive niece, though veteran scene-stealers Scott and O'Brien have their moments. And Scott returns in Bad for Each Other (1953), a sudsy drama with Charlton Heston as a weak-willed army doctor who falls under the sway of a socialite (Scott, naturally) who lures him away from his small-town practice. Less of a noir than what the industry used to call a "woman's picture," Bad succeeds largely as a camp practice, thanks in part to Heston's voracious scenery chewing.
Volume 1 is rounded out with The Glass Wall (also '53), with Vittorio Gassman as a Hungarian immigrant searching for the American G.I. (Jerry Paris) whose life he saved during World War II so that he can attain legal status. Noir fave Gloria Grahame is the out-of-work factory employee whose own desperation drives her to help Gassman. Period footage of Times Square is a highlight of the picture, as is the presence of Grahame in a rare good-girl turn. The double-disc presentation includes original trailers for all four films, the best of which is the spot for Glass Wall, which attempts to sell Italian actor Gassman to stateside audiences by telling them that if his wife, actress Shelley Winters, loves him, why shouldn't they? There's also a breezy 1956 episode of The Ford Television Theatre (billed as All Star Theatre) with the always-reliable Howard Duff as a private eye who becomes entangled with a dangerous Janet Blair. And a recent interview with Moore, which covers her tenure as a contract player at Columbia, when Two of a Kind was made, is an interesting capper for this pleasantly pulpy set. --Paul Gaita
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By A. Wheeler
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Amazon Verified Purchase
Lizabeth Scott and Gloria Grahame are icons of the film noir period of the late 40's and early 50's, and this collection offers two starring Lizabeth Scott, including one in which she co-stars with Charlton Heston, and another with Gloria Grahame, in which she actually plays a good girl, which is kind of odd for a collection of "bad girls of film noir."
My favorite film in this collection is Bad for Each Other. An early film starring Charlton Heston, the film uses the tribulations of a small mining town as a backdrop to an odd romance between Charlton Heston and Lizabeth Scott. This relationship could be described as the epitome of "opposites attract", since their characters cannot be anymore diametrically opposed in respect to personal goals and personalities. Yet, the film offers an intriguing curiosity as the viewer witnesses the development of their mismatched relationship. A strong film noir atmosphere pervades the film, possibly because of the gritty black and white print and the moral angst that the Heston character portrays.
Two of Kind is more of a classic film noir, in which we find Lizabeth Scott playing the femme fatale in a sultry erotism that only Lizabeth Scott can deliver. The beautiful Terry Moore also has a prominent role in this film, and does a fine job of providing an interesting contrast to the Scott character. Edmund O'Brien is solid as usual playing the con artist caught between these two very attractive women.
The Glass Wall is one of the few films that portrays Gloria Grahame in a very sympathetic light. Her character comes to the aid of a refugee who escapes from the US customs. The film is classic film noir, and the film is an excellent example of the chase film. Vittorio Gassman is very convincing as the refugee, and Grahame is great in her atypical role of playing a naive woman who comes to feel compassion for the Gassman character.
Finally, The Killer That Stalked New York is a so-so film about the police trying to contain a pandemic by apprehending a carrier before it is too late. Evelyn Keyes plays the unfortunate woman carrying the disease. An okay film for most film noir fans, but nothing special and really again an odd choice for such a collection.
My favorite film in this collection is Bad for Each Other. An early film starring Charlton Heston, the film uses the tribulations of a small mining town as a backdrop to an odd romance between Charlton Heston and Lizabeth Scott. This relationship could be described as the epitome of "opposites attract", since their characters cannot be anymore diametrically opposed in respect to personal goals and personalities. Yet, the film offers an intriguing curiosity as the viewer witnesses the development of their mismatched relationship. A strong film noir atmosphere pervades the film, possibly because of the gritty black and white print and the moral angst that the Heston character portrays.
Two of Kind is more of a classic film noir, in which we find Lizabeth Scott playing the femme fatale in a sultry erotism that only Lizabeth Scott can deliver. The beautiful Terry Moore also has a prominent role in this film, and does a fine job of providing an interesting contrast to the Scott character. Edmund O'Brien is solid as usual playing the con artist caught between these two very attractive women.
The Glass Wall is one of the few films that portrays Gloria Grahame in a very sympathetic light. Her character comes to the aid of a refugee who escapes from the US customs. The film is classic film noir, and the film is an excellent example of the chase film. Vittorio Gassman is very convincing as the refugee, and Grahame is great in her atypical role of playing a naive woman who comes to feel compassion for the Gassman character.
Finally, The Killer That Stalked New York is a so-so film about the police trying to contain a pandemic by apprehending a carrier before it is too late. Evelyn Keyes plays the unfortunate woman carrying the disease. An okay film for most film noir fans, but nothing special and really again an odd choice for such a collection.
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Jean-paul N. Mertens
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Amazon Verified Purchase
Very collection of film noir type films. I would highly recommend this product for aficionados of old film noir films of that era.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars
17 reviews
67 of 72 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Four more noirs/dramas from the Columbia vaults
Dec 5 2009
By calvinnme
- Published on Amazon.com
This set of films includes:
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) directed by Earl McEnvoy - Sheila Bennet (Evelyn Keyes) smuggles diamonds into the U.s knowingly and smallpox unknowingly. People she is in both casual and close contact begin to fall sick and die while Sheila remains on her feet. Her mission - to stay alive long enough to even the score with her faithless husband while doctors make a mad search through New York City for "patient number one".
Two of A Kind (1951) directed by Henry Levin - Edmund O'Brien plays the body double of the long missing son of a rich couple. He's recruited by a con-artist couple to impersonate the son and thus inhert their money. However, the couple reveals they have no intention of leaving any money to the man they think is their son.
Bad for Each Other (1953) directed by Irvin Rapper - Charleton Heston stars in a rather predictable tale of a doctor returning from Korea who must both choose between serving humanity and riches in his profession and between a wealthy self-involved girl and a dedicated nurse in his private life. The production code gave this film only one option on outcome, and you see it coming at you a mile away. Weakest film in the bunch.
The Glass Wall (1953) directed by Maxwell Shane - Tale of an immigrant to the U.S. after WWII who needs the testimony of a particular soldier to insure legal entry into this country. He battles time and an unfamiliar land to try to find him. It's not really a film noir, in my opinion, but it's a pretty good film. The imagery of New York City right after the war ended is entertaining in its own right.
BONUS FEATURES:
Terry Moore on Two of a Kind
The Payoff-All Star Theatre Episode
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) directed by Earl McEnvoy - Sheila Bennet (Evelyn Keyes) smuggles diamonds into the U.s knowingly and smallpox unknowingly. People she is in both casual and close contact begin to fall sick and die while Sheila remains on her feet. Her mission - to stay alive long enough to even the score with her faithless husband while doctors make a mad search through New York City for "patient number one".
Two of A Kind (1951) directed by Henry Levin - Edmund O'Brien plays the body double of the long missing son of a rich couple. He's recruited by a con-artist couple to impersonate the son and thus inhert their money. However, the couple reveals they have no intention of leaving any money to the man they think is their son.
Bad for Each Other (1953) directed by Irvin Rapper - Charleton Heston stars in a rather predictable tale of a doctor returning from Korea who must both choose between serving humanity and riches in his profession and between a wealthy self-involved girl and a dedicated nurse in his private life. The production code gave this film only one option on outcome, and you see it coming at you a mile away. Weakest film in the bunch.
The Glass Wall (1953) directed by Maxwell Shane - Tale of an immigrant to the U.S. after WWII who needs the testimony of a particular soldier to insure legal entry into this country. He battles time and an unfamiliar land to try to find him. It's not really a film noir, in my opinion, but it's a pretty good film. The imagery of New York City right after the war ended is entertaining in its own right.
BONUS FEATURES:
Terry Moore on Two of a Kind
The Payoff-All Star Theatre Episode
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's the world - if one man cannot walk free where he wants?
Feb 24 2010
By Gerard D. Launay
- Published on Amazon.com
"THE GLASS WALL" IS WORTH THE WHOLE PRICE OF THE COLLECTION. IT'S WONDERFUL.
And so one man, a person unwanted in America, screams his words in the empty chambers of the United Nations - demanding international justice, demanding a small opportunity for freedom. The man is "Mr. Kaban," a concentration camp survivor without a nation to belong to...so he slips without papers into a passenger ship heading for crowded New York City. When the ship docks, the uncaring Immigration Authorities don't believe his story that he saved an American parachutist in Europe - They intend to send him back to Hungary, notwithstanding his desperate plea for fair treatment after suffering under the Nazi torture machine. Denied entry, though technically qualified for entry to America, Kaban jumps overboard and plunges into a gritty, raffish, jazzy Times Square world of the early 1950's.
The film is not only about fundamental justice...but about the difference between appearances and reality, the difference between the legitimate and the illegitimate citizen, in the people we encounter in the city. Those on the very bottom rung of the economic ladder - thieves and strippers - are the ones who understand hard knocks, poverty, injustice the best, and try to give comfort to the escaped man. But the ordinary, comfortable man on the street is hard edged, indifferent, if not mean-spirited. As for the police trying to track Mr. Kaban down, the man justifiably is terrified of anyone in uniform. Years of experience teach him that uniforms mean death or imprisonment.
Not only does this film boast a lively story, but the film noir photography is sensational. It is a labor of love by the cinematographer Joseph Biroc - who obviously knows the raw edges of a confusing metropolis of darkness and bright lights.
Those willing to try this film will wonder - why, why, why has this gem been overlooked. It's just about as good a film noir as you are likely to see.
And so one man, a person unwanted in America, screams his words in the empty chambers of the United Nations - demanding international justice, demanding a small opportunity for freedom. The man is "Mr. Kaban," a concentration camp survivor without a nation to belong to...so he slips without papers into a passenger ship heading for crowded New York City. When the ship docks, the uncaring Immigration Authorities don't believe his story that he saved an American parachutist in Europe - They intend to send him back to Hungary, notwithstanding his desperate plea for fair treatment after suffering under the Nazi torture machine. Denied entry, though technically qualified for entry to America, Kaban jumps overboard and plunges into a gritty, raffish, jazzy Times Square world of the early 1950's.
The film is not only about fundamental justice...but about the difference between appearances and reality, the difference between the legitimate and the illegitimate citizen, in the people we encounter in the city. Those on the very bottom rung of the economic ladder - thieves and strippers - are the ones who understand hard knocks, poverty, injustice the best, and try to give comfort to the escaped man. But the ordinary, comfortable man on the street is hard edged, indifferent, if not mean-spirited. As for the police trying to track Mr. Kaban down, the man justifiably is terrified of anyone in uniform. Years of experience teach him that uniforms mean death or imprisonment.
Not only does this film boast a lively story, but the film noir photography is sensational. It is a labor of love by the cinematographer Joseph Biroc - who obviously knows the raw edges of a confusing metropolis of darkness and bright lights.
Those willing to try this film will wonder - why, why, why has this gem been overlooked. It's just about as good a film noir as you are likely to see.
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
film noir?
May 25 2010
By Jay Holder
- Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
In my opinion most of these films were not true film noir and thus somewhat disappointing. The girls were not all that bad (the type to stick a knife in your back and make you love it not so). Most had a soft side but the stories were worth seeing. Heston vastly over rated. His grimace wears thin after you`ve seen several of his movies. Love Lizabeth Scott. If not for her, the series wouldn`t have been worthwhile.
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3.6 out of 5 stars
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