Back to Golden Days

In honor of Burt Lancaster's 103th birthday, which was on Wednesday (coincidentally, my birthday was also on Wednesday), this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the film that introduced me to the wonderful «Mr. Muscles and Teeth,» which was also the film that introduced him to the world all those years ago. Since this is a film noir, it comes at a perfect time for Noirvember. Directed by Robert Siodmak, The Killers (1946) begins as two hitmen, Max (Wiliam Conrad) and Al (Charles McGraw), arrive in a small town to kill a man called «the Swede» (Burt Lancaster). His co-worker at a gas station, Nick Adams (Phil Brown), warns him of the danger, but the Swede makes no attempt to flee and the killers shoot him in his room. When it is discovered that the Swede had a small life insurance policy, insurance detective Jim Reardon (Edmond O'Brien) is assigned to investigate his murder. Tracking down and interviewing the Swede's associates, including his beneficiary, chambermaid Mary El...

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Spellbound (1945) begins when Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck) arrives at a therapeutic community mental hospital in Vermont to replace its elderly director, Dr. Murchison (Leo G. Carroll). Headstrong psychoanalyst Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman), who also works there, soon notices that Edwardes has a peculiar phobia about sets of parallel lines against a white background. As Constance and Edwardes begin to fall in love with each other, he confides to her that he killed the real Dr. Edwardes and then assumed his identity. He suffers from massive amnesia and does not know who he is. Believing that the man is innocent and suffering from a guilt complex, Constance resolves to use her psychoanalytic training to break down his amnesia and discover what truly happened.   Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman and Michael Chekhov in Spellbound . To protect him, Constance takes the impostor — calling himself «John Brown» — to the New York home of her mentor,...

Directed by Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity (1944) begins with insurance agent Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) returning to his office late one night. Bleeding from a gunshot wound, he records his murder confession on a Dictaphone, addressing his boss and friend, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), a meticulous and intuitive claims manager. In a flashback, Walter then remembers the day when it all started. While making a routine call on an automobile insurance client, Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powes), he meets the man's alluring blonde wife Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), who greets Walter wearing only a towel. Although she seems to be subtly seducing him, Phyllis coldly rebuffs Walter's advances and sends him away. Soon, however, they mutual attraction develops into an illicit romantic affair.   Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity . When Phyllis asks how she could take out an accident policy on her husband's life without his knowledge, Walter de...

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Suspicion (1941) begins when dowdy Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) meets and falls in love with a suave enigmatic stranger named Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant). Despite the strong disapproval of her wealthy father, General McLaidlaw (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), Lina elopes with Johnnie following a whirlwind courtship. Upon returning from their European honeymoon, the newlyweds take up residence in a luxurious country house, where Lina soon discovers that Johnnie is a penniless gambler and had intended to live on her income. She persuades him into getting a job, after which Johnnie accepts an offer of work from his cousin, estate agent Captain Melbeck (Leo G. Carroll).    Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant and Nigel Bruce as Lina, Johnnie and Beaky in Suspicion . When she learns that Johnnie has been fired for embezzling from Melbeck, Lina contemplates leaving him, but changes her mind after receiving the news of her father's sudden death. Meanwhile, Johnnie con...