Geh leise, Fremder

Walk Softly, Stranger is directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Frank Fenton. It stars Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Spring Byington, Paul Stewart and Jack Paar. Music is by Frederick Hollander and cinematography by Harry J. Wild.

Chris Hale (Cotton) arrives in Ashton, Ohio, with manipulation and a robbery on his mind. But when he meets wheelchair bound Elaine Corelli (Valli), it alters the course of his future plans…

It's the other Cotton and Valli movie, the one that isn't The Third Man. It's also the movie hat marked the wind of change at RKO as Howard Hughes breezed into the studio and promptly set about putting his own stamp on things, badly as it happens. Walk Softly, Stranger on the shelf for two years and subsequently got released in 1950, no doubt due in part to the success of The Third Man the year previously.

It's a strange blend of romantic melodrama – cum thriller – with some film noir edginess, something which doesn't all together work. It's very slowly paced and settles into a mood approaching disquiet, a femme fatale of sorts is nicely set up, and the whole "just one last job" vibe keeps interest in the story high. Acting from Cotton and Valli is strong, Paul Stewart is as usual good value when playing a twitchy loser bad guy type, and Byington almost steals the film from the leads with an ebullient show as the widow Brentman.

Unfortunately, come the final third the picture fails to deliver on its moody promise, choosing instead to rely on one action set-piece and a waft of optimism for pic's closure. It's not the pay off required or hoped for, a shame because as a production in general it's of good quality. 6/10

Ever wonder what happened after Anna walked past Holly Martins in the final shot of the 1949 masterpiece The Third Man? Well, apparently, Holly followed her and broke her legs...

In Walk Softly, Stranger, Joseph Cotten plays a crook who assumes a new identity in a small town in order to start a new life. Gangsters whom he robbed are after him, and with the money he stole he believes that he can live a peaceful life. In this town, he meets a young paraplegic woman played by Valli. She was also a gambler, but her wild days were over after she took a tragic spill while skiing. The two begin to fall in love. It's probably the only time a disabled character ever had a major role as a love interest in classical Hollywood. Heck, if someone were to play the same role today, she'd probably win an Oscar! Soon, Cotten's old partner turns up in the town broke, begging for more money. He accidentally let spies track him.

The film is very low-key. In fact, it may be too low-key. The romance between Cotten and Valli is effective. It's difficult to know whether or not he is just taking her for a ride for a long time (she's wealthy). The dialogue is sometimes quite clever (and, then again, it's also sometimes too clever). It's the crime part of the picture that's particularly pedestrian. And the end is kind of lame. All in all, it's only 80 minutes long, and it's entertaining enough to maybe sustain that. Valli and Cotten were so much better in The Third Man, but fans of that film might delight in seeing the two as a couple here. Still, with the way that The Third Man ends, it's actually a little disappointing seeing the two actors on screen. The final scene of that film should have been the final word. 6/10.

This forgotten gem was of interest for a number of reasons.

First, it's directed by Robert Stevenson, the man responsible for a superb thriller, To the Ends of the Earth (1948) with Dick Powell in the lead. Steveson, however, has a long list of fine films to his credit, beginning (for me) with Tom Brown's Schooldays (1940), all the way to The Love Bug (1968) and Herbie Rides Again (1974) – if you like fantasy comedy...

But second, this film echoes the matching of Cotton and Valli in The Third Man (1949), arguably one of the best film-noir made (directed by Carol Reed, of course). Reading the additional information about this film, however, I learnt that it was actually made before The Third Man but keep on ice for two years.

In this narrative, however, Cotton as Chris Hale breaks the mold of the bashful, loyal and trustworthy good guy he was known for in so many previous movies. That is, while this is certainly another of the film-noir genre, it doesn't have a femme fatale: Chris Hale is the homme fatale – the man with the fatal flaw in his past, and the one that catches up with him.

In contrast, Valli as Elaine Corelli is the broken rose: a woman of substance and great beauty but, because of a tragic accident, unwilling to expose herself to potential failure again, especially in matters of the heart. When Hale turns up, however, she is drawn to him, despite her misgivings at first.

Arguably, she should have listened to her head because Hale has a hidden agenda – in fact, that's why he's in Elaine's town where her father practically owns it: Hale wants to stay hiding in plain sight, as a model citizen, because he thinks the guys he robbed a while back – gangsters who ran a casino in another state - will never find him... More fool he, because his ex-buddy turns up to ask for a handout – and so, Hale's cover is blown and it's only a matter of time before the killers follow.

What follows then are Hale's attempts to get clear of the bad guys and redeem himself with Elaine; so, I'll leave you to enjoy that denouement. When you do, watch for the great sight gag that includes the words: "Next time, go by air", a moment of levity that foreshadows an ending that is, if not entirely happy, at least shows promise of hope.

Cotton does an excellent job as a calculating, unflappable and competent con man who gradually sees the need, within himself, to change his ways; Valli once again exudes troubled emotions and repressed sexuality with great finesse; that great character actor, Paul Stewart shines as the craven Whitey Lake, Hale's buddy; and John McIntire appears, for once, as not a cop – as In Psycho (1960) - but as an office manager, Morgan. And, let's not forget Spring Byington who plays...well, Mrs Brentman/Spring Byington, the landlady.

Recommended for all, especially for film-noir fans.

Joseph Cotten stars in "Walk Softly, Stranger," a 1950 film also starring Valli, Paul Stewart and Spring Byington. Cotten plays Chris Hale, a con man who takes up residence in a small town under his new name. He has a sweet landlady (Byington) who loves him, a decent job and is enjoying a flirtation with the boss' wheelchair-bound daughter (Valli). However, he just can't resist one more opportunity to make a huge haul by stealing a gambler's money with a partner (Stewart). After they split the money, the two go their separate ways, but Stewart panics and tracks down Chris. Chris is afraid he's led the gambler's men right to his door.

This is a small, engrossing film with an excellent performance from Cotten. Someone on the board compared him here to Uncle Charle in "Shadow of a Doubt," but Charlie was a murderer, which Chris is not, and also a psychotic, again, which Chris is not. Cotten is extremely likable as Chris, a basically good man who has a fatal flaw of liking fast, easy money. Valli is okay as the boss' daughter - she's not quite as beautiful as she was in "The Paradine Case," but she's still soulful with that aura of misery. That quality made many think she could be a new Garbo. Despite doing some good, high profile films, she returned to Italy shortly after this film and worked steadily until a few years before her death. To say she seems out of place in this small town is an understatement.

You really pull for Chris all the way through the film. Maybe the ending was a bit of a stretch, but I was satisfied with it. Is it a noir or a romance? This movie really doesn't know, but it's a good watch.

A sad little film noir wrapped inside a sad little love story (or vice versa), Walk Softly, Stranger maintains a subdued integrity of tone throughout. You wish it would get a move on, or that the exchanges were snappier, or the rhythms quirkier. But, no, and at the end, you have to admit that, on its own modest terms, it succeeds.

Into the heartland of Ohio drifts grifter Joseph Cotten to settle down in one of those small cities that used to be famous for something – in this case, it's the headquarters of Corelli Shoes, where he wangles himself a job. Cotten lets on that he's returning to the home town he ran away from years before – even taking up room and board with Spring Byington, a widow who now owns what used to be his house. But it's all a lie (or at least seems to be; the script sends mixed messages on this point). He's researched the history of the house and the widow, and also that of the Corelli heiress (Valli; she had dropped the `Alida'), a lonely rich girl crippled in a skiing accident. He hopes to romance her so as to be sitting pretty for the rest of his days – his ultimate con job. But he ends up falling for her.

Cotten's Achilles heel, however, has always been his professional vanity, and he can't pass up one last job – robbing a mob boss of his casino's take. The job succeeds, but his certified loser of an accomplice (Paul Stewart), now down and out, tracks him down and blows both their covers. They're both marked men....

Walk Softly, Stranger, opts for a bittersweet, romantic ending rather than a terminal blow-out, and that's in keeping with all that goes before. But problems remain. Cotten's performance reminds us, in its watered-down way, of his Uncle Charlie in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, while Valli has little to do but stay tragically, enigmatically glamorous. (The most memorable performances come from Byington and Stewart, and the movie is notable for preserving one of the few appearances on film of Jack Paar, who was to imprint The Tonight Show with his particular personality in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s). It's a strange, flawed movie whose elegiac tone stays with you.