Der schwarze Vorhang

Prolific writer Cornell Woolrich, who wrote Rear Window, No Man of Her Own, and many other mysteries, is the author of "Street of Chance" from 1942. The movie stars Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor, Frieda Inescort, Jerome Cowan, Adeline De Walt Reynolds, Louise Platt, and Sheldon Leonard.

Frank Thompson (Meredith) is hit by part of a building at E. 22nd and Third Avenue, and when he comes to, has a lighter and a hat with the initials DN. He returns home to his wife (Platt), only to find out she moved away a year earlier. When he catches up with her, she's shocked to see him but welcomes him back. It doesn't take long for him to realize someone (Sheldon Leonard) is after him.

Desperate, he sends Virginia to her mother's and returns to 22nd St., hoping to find someone who knows him under this other name. Turns out his name is Danny Nearing, and police are searching for him, suspecting him of murder.

Though Danny's girlfriend (Trevor), who works for the man whose brother was murdered, tries everything she can to keep him hidden, Frank/Danny knows he didn't kill anyone and wants the truth.

This is a pretty good film, thanks to the performances of Meredith and Trevor. It was easy to figure out, but after you've seen as many of these as I have, they usually are.

Of interest was the old woman who can only communicate with one blink for yes and two for no, Adeline De Walt Reynolds, who began her career at the age of 78, in 1941. She graduated from college at the age of 64. I guess I'd call her a late bloomer. She lived to 99.

Paramount's "Street of Chance" is an early, and certainly not full-fledged, entry in the film noir canon. It qualifies mainly for being based on a work by that master of paranoia and cruel fate, Cornell Woolrich -- using the familiar amnesia premise to trigger the protagonist's alienation -- and by its oppressively moody low-key lighting. The first few reels offer a true noir milieu of urban angst and displacement -- the hero, injured by falling construction material, discovers a year-long lapse in his life -- and worse, he's suspected of murder and has a completely unremembered lover in addition to his puzzled wife. As the film progresses and he narrows in on the truth, it resolves itself into something closer to Gothic melodrama, with a more traditional view of human transgression and frailty. The blending of the two genres is reminiscent of the studio's "Among the Living" from the previous year rather than the out-and-out noirs "This Gun For Hire" and "The Glass Key" of its own release year.

Paramount's B-picture unit offered a higher degree of professionalism than most, reflected by the fine level of performance and technical achievement here. Burgess Meredith's lead character is far too benign to be a true Woolrichian anti-hero, but Claire Trevor shows underlying tinges of femme-fatalité which would serve her well later in her career. Lower-rank director Jack Hively contributes a few visual cachets, particularly the unexpected discovery of a pivotal character lurking in the background, and an over-the-transom tracking shot to end the picture that is almost Antonioniesque. Unfortunately, he doesn't milk the character conflict for much intensity, and the denouement is disappointingly soft.

Burgess Meredith is hit in the head with some falling debris and when he comes to, he realizes he doesn't know why he's in that part of town. He also notices that his hat and cigarette case have the wrong monogram. He goes home only to be told that he wife moved a year ago.

Something happened to him and he's been suffering from amnesia. The blow to the head has restored his memory, but he doesn't know where he's been for a year. One thing he does know ... Sheldon Leonard is chasing him.

Meredith goes back to the part of town where the accident happened, and he runs into Claire Trevor who is his amnesiac self's girlfriend ... and who points out that he's wanted for murder.

This really early film noir has an intriguing set up, a nice mystery with a couple of interesting twists, and a fairly underwhelming conclusion. Still ... the mystery hinges on a paralyzed woman blinking while Meredith shouts out the alphabet. That's pure entertainment.

I can also never get enough Sheldon Leonard.

This film begins with a man named "Frank Thompson" (Burgess Meredith) walking on the street and being hit on the head with some falling objects from a construction site. Although he isn't seriously hurt he suddenly realizes that he has no memory of why he was on that particular street. Neither does he know why his hat and cigarette case have the initials of "D.N." on them. In any case, he eventually goes home only to find that his wife "Virginia Thompson" (Louise Platt) hasn't lived there for several months-even though he supposedly left her there early that morning. When he does finally find her he discovers that he has been gone for about a year and then realizes that he suffers from amnesia and can't remember anything during that time. To make matters even worse, he soon discovers that men with guns are chasing him and he doesn't know why. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an interesting film noir which captured the time period rather well and had a decent twist at the very end. Admittedly, the plot was somewhat clichéd and the actors weren't exactly top-notch but it was still worth the time spent to watch it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Burgess Meredith does well in this straightforward Noir. It's short sweet and to a good point.

Not the greatest example of the genre but (did I say short). A couple of good twists and at times eerie and suspenseful.

It's also interesting to see Sheldon Leonard as a hard boiled cop.

So, if you are Noir-addicted it is worth the time to watch. It could have been longer, there were some gaps to fill but...

I liked it. Especially Burgess.