Un pacte avec le diable

Forget Double Indemnity - for me, this is the quintessential film noir. Ray Milland was never better, and all the cast are on top form. The editing's great, and there's not a wasted shot. Some say the ending's a cop out (see other comments for plot details), but it's hard to see how else it could have been done without compromising both the essence, and flavour, of the film.

I last saw this classic on TV about 15 years ago, and as far as I know it's never been either repeated, or released on video or DVD. WHY???

If anyone out there's got a recording they'd be willing to copy for me I'd love to hear from them. Maybe we can trade. Thanks.

Alias Nick Beal (AKA: A few other titles...) is directed by John Farrow and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from the Mindret Lord story. It stars Ray Milland, Audrey Totter, Thomas Mitchell and George Macready. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Lionel Lindon.

It's the Faustian legend filmed through film noir filters as Thomas Mitchell's politician unwittingly makes a deal with Ray Milland's suspicious Nick Beal.

Nicholas Beal - Agent.

It's all fogs, smogs and smoky pubs here, it's 1949 and John Farrow and his team are having a great time of things blending Faust with politico machinations. Narrative thrust comes by way of corruption and character disintegration, sprinkled naturally with your good old cinematic staple of good versus evil in bold type.

Don't touch him! He doesn't like it!

Milland is superb here, his Nick Beal is the ultimate Machiavellian Mannipulator, and the chief film makers really bring these traits to the fore. Beal is a bundle of smug grins and glinting eyes, he just appears in scenes, Farrow cunningly using various props and persons to suddenly unleash his little old devil when he is least expected. Around Nicky there are subtle changes of clothes and snatches of dialogue that hit the requisite devilish notes, Totter is our darling who is caught in Old Nick's trap, Mitchell (great) even more so.

The last time I was here was quite exciting. City was on fire. Picked up quite a lot of recruits that night. Made quite a transportation problem.

Lionel Lindon and Franz Waxman are also key components to what makes the pic work. Waxman (Sunset Blvd.) deftly shifts between big bass drums for thunder clap effects, to delicate swirls that give off other worldly - eerie - effects. Lindon (I Want to Live!) does great work isolating the eyes in light, while his fog and shadows work wouldn't be amiss in a Val Lewton picture.

This is a criminally under seen movie, it's far from perfect because the collage of genre influences give it a very unbalanced feel, but there's so much fun, spookiness and technical craft on show to make it a must see movie for fans of the stars, noir and supernatural tinged pictures. 8/10

Thomas Mitchell (Foster) wants to run for Governor and rid the town of corruption, but corrupt Fred Clark (Faulkner) stands in his way. Enter Ray Milland (Nick Beal). Milland can offer Mitchell what he needs to take power.

Tony Blair's PR spin-doctor Alastair Campbell is obviously the inspiration for this film. Milland plays the role of domineering adviser to Thomas Mitchell, and Milland gets his way. The cast are all good in this film, with fallen girl Audrey Totter (Donna) getting a special mention – she is funny, intuitive and tragic all at the same time. I thought the film was a bit talky at the beginning but it does seem necessary in order to set the scene. And there certainly is an air of mystery when Milland appears. There are various good scenes, my favourite being when Totter ends up speaking the dialogue that she has just rehearsed with Milland. At first she dismisses Milland for talking nonsense, but there comes a moment when she is with Mitchell and she realizes what is happening. Some of the rehearsed dialogue did not make sense to her when first repeated. But it all fits now. It's well acted and directed and it's the most memorably chilling moment for me. Good direction, effective camera shots and a good music score round out the other film highlights.

So, if you fancy running for any kind of position of power in the political arena, just remember to carry a bible with you……..or there may be trouble.

A rare film-strange considering its many virtues.Ray Milland is perfect as cool diabolical devil in disguise Nick Beal.Thomas Mitchell is a modern Faust who accepts evil methods as a means of becoming Governor (ironically to do good deeds when in office!)Audrey Totter plays an archetypal 40's "dame" splendidly-tough,sexy with pretty elastic principles,but with a conscience under the varnish.This movie is full of great scenes -director John Farrow always gets it just right-I don't think he ever reached these heights again-watch the moment in the apartment where Donna realizes with horror that both she and Foster are saying exactly the words Beal said they would,and the scene where Beal surprises Donna at the station by sliding the cigarette case down the bar.The only real minus for some audiences today is the "studiobound" production,though for me this enhances the claustrophobic "noir" atmosphere of the film.The splendid Franz Waxman score nicely complements the action.

This strange story of an honest crime-fighting district attorney certainly has several haunting moments. They involve a dark stranger who has the uncanny ability to appear and disappear at precisely the right moments. This suave, eerie gentleman offers vital evidence to our honest DA against a highly corrupt criminal - that would allow him to be put away forever. No self-respecting DA could pass this up at any cost - but what is the cost? With fog bound meetings on a lonely pier at the wrong end of town, the too good to be true deal is struck. - Now to cover the unrevealed cost.

Wonderful direction and shadowy cinematography combined with superb performances make this a must see rarity. Most unfortunately it's been locked away in the MCA vaults since Paramount sold it in a package in the 50s. TCM HD is your only hope to see the newly re-printed copy - struck off for one of their Noir festivals. Let's hope they may offer it for sale on DVD sometime in future!

Some Public Domain copy houses are offering M.0.D. Off-Air copies, some of which are poor but one from the UK, has a reasonably good/OK transfer on offer.