Peter Lorre

What makes Quicksand such an interesting example is the fact that it never crosses the border over into over comedy. The plot is played seriously, as does the entire cast play their parts as seriously as they can. There are even a couple of legitimately tension-filled scenes during which the unfortunate Dan Brady is a hair away from being caught by authorities (or worse) in the desperate attempts to right increasingly cumbersome series of wrongs.

Director Roy William Neill, for all his abilities to splash his picture with ambitious flourishes, can rarely make heads or tails of what his 1946 effort Black Angel is trying to accomplish story-wise. By the time the film closes, the biggest challenge for the viewer is trying to understand why he or she should care at all about everything that transpired. The plotting lacks a foundational logic for the themes to ring true or to mean something for that matter.

The Chase Written by Philip Yordan Directed by Arthur Ripley U.S.A., 1946 *A fair warning to readers: those sensitive to spoilers had best watch the film under review before reading the article. To properly dive into its themes and story, major plot points will be revealed. Surprises in movies are a great gift the storytellers …

The Maltese Falcon Directed by John Huston Written by John Huston U.S.A, 1941 It has often been written and said that John Huston’s 1941 classic, The Maltese Falcon, brought it in the era of film noir, or that it is the definitive entry within the genre. The origins of the genre and where Huston’s picture …