A woman doublecrosses her husband - welcome to noir land
Shed no tears is a 1948 noir starring June Vincent and Wallace Ford, directed by Jean Yarbrough.
Vincent and Ford are Edna and Sam Grover. In the first scene, we see a fire break out in a hotel room and a body emerge from the window. The room was registered to Sam; the corpse was from an undertaker. Sam is i. The car with Edna.
The plan is that he is going to Washington D. C. to await his wife after she collects on his $50,000 insurance policy. In today's dollars, that's $659,000 today. Considering you could buy a house for 7 grand and a car for 1800, wow.
What Sam doesn't realize is that Edna is having an affair with Ray Belden (Mark Roberts) and they are off to Hawaii as soon as the money comes through.
A bit sharper than dear old dad, Sam's son Tom (Dick Hogan) dislikes his stepmom and thinks his father's death was not accidental. His fiance (Elena Verdugo) brings him to a detective (Johnstone White) so the death can be investigated.
The detective is out for himself and soon learns Sam is still alive and wants money from Edna. Sam gets sick of waiting and reappears. Then there is an actual murder. Edna is in trouble up to her neck.
Decent noir, with Vincent convincing as a manipulative woman, giving a noir femme fatale performance and Ford a believable patsy. Johnstone White as the detective has the best role and makes the most of it, supplying both humor and oiliness.
One small thing - a phone number was traced in seconds while in a later film, it seemed to take forever.
Vincent and Ford are Edna and Sam Grover. In the first scene, we see a fire break out in a hotel room and a body emerge from the window. The room was registered to Sam; the corpse was from an undertaker. Sam is i. The car with Edna.
The plan is that he is going to Washington D. C. to await his wife after she collects on his $50,000 insurance policy. In today's dollars, that's $659,000 today. Considering you could buy a house for 7 grand and a car for 1800, wow.
What Sam doesn't realize is that Edna is having an affair with Ray Belden (Mark Roberts) and they are off to Hawaii as soon as the money comes through.
A bit sharper than dear old dad, Sam's son Tom (Dick Hogan) dislikes his stepmom and thinks his father's death was not accidental. His fiance (Elena Verdugo) brings him to a detective (Johnstone White) so the death can be investigated.
The detective is out for himself and soon learns Sam is still alive and wants money from Edna. Sam gets sick of waiting and reappears. Then there is an actual murder. Edna is in trouble up to her neck.
Decent noir, with Vincent convincing as a manipulative woman, giving a noir femme fatale performance and Ford a believable patsy. Johnstone White as the detective has the best role and makes the most of it, supplying both humor and oiliness.
One small thing - a phone number was traced in seconds while in a later film, it seemed to take forever.
- blanche-2
- Feb 25, 2025