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Joe Sullivan (Dennis O' Keefe), incarcerated after taking a fall, breaks out of jail, thanks to his gangster moll lover, Pat (Claire Trevor) who risks her life and freedom helping him. She wants him to run away with her to another country, but he has only one agenda in mind- revenge. And Raymond Burr's brutish character is his target ...

But while on the run, Joe falls in love with the beautiful social worker (Marsha Hunt) he's kidnapped for protection ... his moll is green with envy, and later when she hears that the social worker is in the clutches of the gangster (Burr), she doesn't tell Joe as he has decided to forget about revenge and go abroad with her.

But will her conscious get the better of her?

Never have i seen a film noir so moody, broody and brewing with genuine danger. None of the characters are apples and pie... well, maybe Marsha Hunt's social worker character is ... Dennis O keefe is a flawed character whilst Burr is brutal and cunning gangster. The scene where he throws the fire in a lady's for bumping into him is quite shocking. It just highlights how evil the man is. There's some tough action, tense moments and a fatalistic atmosphere. You just know the ending is going to be downbeat. Not exactly the happy hour - not really fan of the dark and downbeat, but the story is so engaging and tonality of the picture is very strong. Above average of its kind.

An attempt is made on the Paris-Berlin express to assassinate a high German official (Paul Lucas) travelling to a crucial conference in order to prevent the reunification of Germany. The wrong man is murdered in the train compartment and the travellers -an Englishman (Robert Coote), an American (Robert Ryan), a Frenchman (Charles Korvin), a Russian (Roman Toporov), and the secretary of the intended victim (Merle Oberon) - in the same coach all come under suspicion.

When the real German official is kidnapped, all five of them unite together to find him. A trail of clues leads them on a dangerous hunt.

Intrigue on the train, an assassination, clowns, a false target, and subterfuge - Berlin Express is a story featuring international espionage and intrigue, full on excitement and suspense, but with a morality, heart and intelligence. Loved the narration at various points and the history elements, and that five passengers grouped together to find the real Government statesman trying to reunify Germany- during the course of this suspenseful thriller his compartment was bombed, but a wrong man - a plant - was inside, he then gets kidnapped and the heroes led by Robert Ryan try to track him down, and it's cue: nail biting moments, spurts of energetic action and twists.

It is an excellent film that is a nail biter from beginning to end, has great scenery and intelligent and engaging dialogue. A gem that is on level with The Lady Vanishes.

When demobbed serviceman Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) comes home to Hollywood from the war, he discovers his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) has been having an affair with local nightclub owner Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva). After also learning his young son has been killed in a car accident caused by Helen's drink driving, Johnny pulls a gun on his wife before storming out.

The next morning, upon hearing that Helen has been murdered and that he is the prime suspect, Johnny recruits Eddie's wife Joyce (Veronica Lake) and two old army buddies to help him find the real killer and clear his name.

The Blue Dahlia is a well thought out thriller that moves along nicely with intelligent dialogue and interesting characters, though the male characters can be unlikeable such as the blackmailing house keeper. Cynicism reigns supreme amongst the characters, then it was written by Raymond Chandler who likes to keep things boiling in the hard boiled. There's a bleak tone to the proceedings.

Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd team up together for the third time and their chemistry is on fire as expected - there's great performances all round, especially by Howard DaSilva, a man with a shady past. Bendix plays a guy with psychological issues due to the war, and frankly, I found him quite annoying. His constant rude behaviour and constantly yelling "monkey music" gave me a headache. I liked Lake's character the most as she seemed to be the less miserable one. The plot is loaded with twists, though it can drag a little, meandering, and there are some neat conveniences, however that's the nature of the beast with mystery thrillers.