Synopsis
He's got a date ...with DEATH!
A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.
1949 Directed by Robert Florey
A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.
John Payne Sonny Tufts Ellen Drew Rhys Williams Percy Helton John Doucette Charles Evans Greta Granstedt Raymond Largay Harry Bronson Hal Baylor Don Haggerty Jack Overman Crane Whitley John Harmon Garry Owen Chet Brandenburg Frank Cady Lester Dorr Ross Elliott Charles Ferguson Eddie Foster Sumner Getchell Al Hill Esther Howard Mike Lally Vera Marshe Thomas Martin Barbara Pepper Show All…
Arrostrando la muerte, Le passé se venge, Incrocio pericoloso, Afrontando a Morte
What is it with amnesiacs and their refusal to tell anyone they're amnesiacs? As the war hero who's lost his past, Eddie (John Payne) has no reason that I could tell not to be upfront about his condition, but he insists on trying to bluff his way along after he returns to L.A. on doctor's recommendation to try to jog his memory. Makes for some ridiculously opaque exchanges with folks from his past. (tip if you're ever an amnesiac trying to hide that you're an amnesiac: answer every question with another question).
Anyways, turns out Eddie was quite the scumbag and not particularly welcome back in town, neither by the police nor by the gangsters it turns out (surprise surprise)…
John Alton's low-key cinematography is the star in an otherwise generic, forgettable B-noir that even an otherwise capable Robert Florey can't save. The premise does actually have potential, but the rest of the film is lacking sincerity, highlights and a concrete plan. Also, John Payne is just way too boring to be the lead actor in anything.
A post war thriller made of a lot of solid recognizable spare parts. John Payne plays the lead a little before he aged into a intriguing personality, but director Florey is above average in this kind of stylish paranoid intrigue and John Alton is around to make sure every shadow looks good.
Much like Phantom Lady, this presents a very alluring collection of shady and obtrusive images, yet tragically neglects to include any kind of interesting plot. It looks as good as anything by Lang or Hitchcock, but would it have killed them to do something original with the garden-variety amnesiac story? How about he wakes up to discover that he's the president and lost his memory in a bobsledding accident and needs to make it to the Olympics in order to stop WW3? There, I just wrote you a better movie.
I’m never 100% sure how I feel about John Payne, but I think I’d like this amnesia Noir better with a different lead. It needed an actor with a little more charisma and screen presence to keep me interested in the rather aimless story. Some great images though, as this had fantastic lighting in many scenes.
A glorious amnesia noir with an aesthetic that carves actors into darkness at their best angles. A little bit like a low-budget Gregg Toland, The Crooked Way was shot gorgeously by the man who would go on to win an Oscar for his work in An American in Paris, Mr. John Alton. You probably know him for other stuff too.
Slightly hindered by its awkward structure, yet easy to forgive for its apocalyptic sense of darkness and desolation. Even John Payne's frigid performances works in its cryptic descent, albeit fitting better in some scenes than others. Ellen Drew does a good job throughout, and we get some stellar moments with Sonny Tufts as well. All in the name of harsh, chaotic, somewhat convoluted, and often incredible noir storytelling.
The convenience of its premise is drowned out by its violent inevitability.
Tough, beautifully shot (by John Alton), this noir drama revolves around the old amnesia trope, and falls into one of that plot device's obvious traps, the guy who can't remember anything about himself who won't tell anyone or ask any questions of the people who might be able to help him. At first, this is so absurd as to threaten the whole picture with collapse, but fortunately, the problem gets left behind as the fellow at the center learns enough to carry on reasonably authentically. John Payne is adequate as Eddie Rice, who used to be gangster Eddie Riccardi but doesn't remember that life. He reencounters his old enemy Vince (Sonny Tufts in one of the best performances he ever…
Unspectacular noir. I think it was mainly held-back because I'm not much of a fan of John Payne and this was all him. But there's constant quiet dark shadowy mood that enhanced it all. So respect to those handling the visual aspect of the film. Sadly the cast, and not just Payne, put a damper on it. But I can understand why others would love it.
Viewed on Tubi TV
MannVanuary 3.0 #8
Criteria:
- Genre: Film Noir
- Decade: 1940's
- Film Directed by Robert Florey
John Payne plays Eddie Rice, a war hero recovering in a veteran's hospital in San Fransico, but unfortunately because of a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain, Eddie can't remember anything about his past.
Eddie returns to Los Angeles hoping to learn about his past, but unfortunate his past is waiting for him.
The Crooked Way (1949) is interesting enough as we try to piece Eddie's life together along with him, but unfortunately it isn't too long before all the interesting aspects of the film, fall by the wayside.
In my opinion, actor John Payne is not leading…
A rather bland noir with mediocre actors playing uninteresting characters and a plot that doesn’t seem to solve itself in a satisfactory fashion. It’s not a complete waste of time however because this was shot by John Alton. Serious fans of noir reading this are nodding their heads with a smile on their face knowing exactly what that means.
A WW2 vet (John Payne) returns to Los Angeles from a rehab hospital in San Francisco to try to recoup his past after losing his memory during the war as a result of shrapnel that is too embedded in his brain to remove. This being a film noir, his past turns out to have been mostly spent on the other side of the law but is now atoned for in the audiences' eyes as he fought bravely enough in the war to have been awarded a Silver Star. However to the hard-nosed authorities in LA, it's a different story. A couple of LA detectives recognize him as someone they knew from before the war as he is departing the train…