Crime Fiction Studies v4n1 Cornell Woolrich and Transmedia Noir Thanks Rob King for editing the collection which puts together a variety of topics, My essay: Transforming Black Alibi‘s Jaguar into The Leopard Man K. A. Laity 4(1), pp. 62–77 Abstract | Full Text | References | PDF/EPUB If your library doesn’t have access, let me know and I can get a copy of my…
Tag: classic films
The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
A loose adaptation of Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely with George Sanders as the Falcon instead of Marlowe, which more or less means the same plot but instead of Marlowe muttering we have Sanders kissing all the girls — almost literally! And he swans about in his white tie and tails about which I’ve no complaint….
The Big Clock (1948)
THE BIG CLOCK (1948) is another John Farrow-directed noir(ish) and quite a bit snappier overall than NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES, though less interesting beyond that slick surface — but what a surface! Milland and Laughton of course, and a criminally underused O’Sullivan, but the shine is in the supporting cast who really give the…
Saturday Matinee: The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes Francis William Bourdillon (b. 1852) THE NIGHT has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun. The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies When love…
Letty Lynton (1932)
LETTY LYNTON (1932) I am on something of a Marie Belloc-Lowndes kick somewhat unexpectedly, though I didn’t write up The Lodger (1944) which I watched recently because I thought I had seen it but I hadn’t. With Merle Oberon as the vivacious Kitty, George Sanders as the sleuthing Inspector Warwick and a swivel-eyed Laird Cregar…
Saturday Matinee: The Clairvoyant (1935)
Apropos for Derby Day (no, the other one, my American friends) I can recommend the early Gainsborough film starring Claude Rains, Fay Wray and Jane Baxter. Rains and Baxter are music hall performers with a mind reader act very familiar to Nightmare Alley fans. It’s a family tradition and they seem happy on the circuit…
Film Noir Friday: Fallen Angel (1945)
FALLEN ANGEL (1945) Dir Otto Preminger Attempting to capture the magic of Laura the year before, Preminger got Dana Andrews back into a fedora and Joseph LaShelle lensing but no Gene Tierney, alas. Instead we have a ripe Linda Darnell as the bad girl Stella (she shines at night of course) and Alice Faye as…
Scoundrel for a Sunday
THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI (1947) I’m a bit mystified how I never got around to this film until recently. I adore George Sanders and no one plays a better scoundrel than he does. Add to that a luminescent Angela Lansbury at her very dewiest beauty and some great women’s roles, and — well,…
Matinee: The Magnificent Dope (1942)
Farran Nehme (@selfstyledsiren) started a wonderful thread of golden recommendations on Twitter the other day, so I bookmarked a few things for when I had a spare moment. This came up first early Sunday morning because it was a the first time I could fit something in (yeah, back on dad duty) because I thought…
Out Now: Stalking the Stalker
My essay ‘Stalking the Stalker: Jamie Thraves adapting Patricia Highsmith’s The Cry of the Owl‘ is out now in Film International. You can get the essay via your library or purchase from the journal. Thanks Matthew and the crew. Here’s an overview: The 2009 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Cry of the Owl faces the…
K. A. Laity 