1h 42min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller | 16 November 1945
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Stars: Dick Powell, Walter Slezak, Micheline Cheirel
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037615/
This is the first truly post-war film I've watched in this sequence. The Nazis in Argentina talk about having been defeated twice.
Previously rated 5, not sure why. The only familiar names are DP, WS and Jack LaRue. Other faces are familiar, but only marginally so. It's definitely an unpleasant tale, as should be expected from the subject matter. DP is angry and miserable the whole time, and doesn't even come close to making any sort of musical sound. I'd agree this is Film Noir, without a true femme fatale, and the hero does not come to a tragic end. But the ending is not happy or cathartic either. Maybe if I were feeling angry and miserable, this would appeal to me more. The IMDb rating is much higher than mine: 6.8 with 1,485 votes.
With this film, DP's transition to drama is complete. No humor, no music, just grumpy pessimism. Not sure why he chose this path. Bing Crosby managed to sing in his films, even when being taken very seriously, ex: The Country Girl ('54). Tenors sing serious roles in opera; can't they also in musical films?
RKO, dir Dmytryk; 6-
