RIFLE RANGE BOY

Please Murder Me! (1956) We have always seen Angela Lansbury as a busy bodied middle-aged lady who simply appeared as jinx causing mayhem and murders in 'Murder She Wrote' the TV series. I bet you have seen here as a drop dead femme fatale. Here in this classic noir movie, she is one. A predictable story of a lawyer (Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame) defending his girlfriend (Myra, Angela Lansbury) who is charged with murder. The case carries a heavy emotional burden on the lawyer because he was saved in Iwojima (WW2) by the girlfriend's husband. As expected, the lawyer is being used to get a get-out-of-jail free card. Myra actually has a college boyfriend waiting for her. The attorney soon comes to realise the trap. The ensuing story is how he ensnares Myra to bite the bait to expose her deceit.

The Naked Edge (1961) Just happened to bump into this obscure movie. It is Gary Cooper's very last film in his illustrious career. It has all the characteristics of a noir film with over-dramatisation of background movie and suspense hanging thriller right to its end. Redcliffe testifies against a fellow worker, Heath, when his boss is robbed and fatally stabbed. Even though the substantially large amount of the robbed money was never found, Redcliffe, invariably send Heath to serve long incarceration. Every one moves on. Soon after the boss' death, Redcliffe allegedly 'made a killing' at the share market and goes into partnership. Five years on, he has made it. The tranquility in Redcliffe's household in disturbed when Mrs Redcliffe receives a poison letter accusing the husband of murdering his boss, squandering the money and sending an innocent to jail as a fall guy. One by one, everything makes sense and put the husband as the villain. Pretty soon t...

Cry of the City (1948) Another obscure film noir from the yesteryear forgotten in annals of the ticking time. This offering had nothing extraordinary to offer to mankind. The particular message that struck a cord with me is the message that it carried at the end of the show. Firstly, humble beginnings, poverty and scarcity in appreciating the finer things in life is no justification to one's involvement in crime and vice. There are others who were in the same both boat with you opt not to slide the same slippery slide as you. They used will power and good friends to thread them the part of lasting piece of mind. Secondly, what you do actually affects all the people who live around you or are bound by an intangible union through blood or DNA. Their skin would quiver if yours is breached even if you feel that all man is for himself. The people closely related to you mostly mean well to our welfare even though on the surface they may seem like a wet blanket to your wonderful dream...

The Killing (1956) Director: Stanley Kubrick This is a film noir directed by Kubrick. Even though, it is of high quality and the story is quite fresh, it failed to make a killing at the box office. As Kubrick famously is said to have said referring to its shoestring budget, "We want to make good movies and make them cheap. The two are not incompatible." It narrates the meticulous planning and execution of a robbery at the horse races. Johnny (the hero) is planning one last big one before he settles down with a hopelessly devoted girlfriend. With the precision of time and details, he devises a heist at the races with the help of a crooked cop, race track cashier, a wrestler, a sharpshooter, a bartender and others. Everybody has a reason to be part of the robbery. The cashier is a weakling who succumbed to the pressures of his two-timing gold digging wife. What was supposed to be well guarded secret leaks to the wife who tells it to her lover who also wants to lay his hand...

They drive by night (1940) This old noir has Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role. In fact towards the later part of the movie he goes missing. This obscure film is the story of 2 brothers who struggle through life as truck drivers. Their job is tedious involving long hours fighting sleepy eyes, earning measly sum from truck companies from their goods, running away from creditors who were out to repossess their truck and generally feeling miserable. They have to meet short deadlines and on top of that have to bear the inconvenience of road accidents. The early part of the shows one such trip where they swerve to avoid a speeding car and damaged their tyre. The brothers, Joe and Paul Fibrini, each their own set of problems. Joe is single and wants to come up in life but the going is getting harder by the day. Paul is married and has to make do with leaving his lonely alone at home. They have decided to delay stating a family until things are stable. Of course, all cannot to wait ...

The Narrow Margin (1952) One always assumes that a B-Noir film would be so laughable with its laughable cheesy dialogue, skimpy plot, bad acting and editing. Wrong on all accounts, this low budget film with unknown actors actually did quite well. It maintained its fast pace and element of suspense. In fact, it was nominated in 1953 for Best Screenplay. In 1990, a remake was done starring Gene Hackman and Anne Archer. Almost the whole film took place on a moving train. Two cops are assigned to transport a dead mob leader's wife from Chicago to Los Angeles. She is supposed to be carrying a list of names of gang members and was due to testify. A loud mouth obnoxious lady is taken from a cheap apartment in a top secret mission. As the identity of the witness is unknown to anyone, the coppers and the crooks, everyone is double guessing her identity. Even before they make it to the train, one of the cops in is mortally wounded. The panic starts in the mind of the remaining cop, Sgt B...

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) At a time when this film was out, it was hailed as being realistic and break through in heist movies with elaborate depiction and execution of the crime. Unfortunately, it would be a pale comparison to what Hollywood and the other studio have to offer with its advanced in storytelling, colour technology, special effects, pyrotechnics and gore! It, however, can boast of a set of powerful philosophical dialogues. The film is classified as a B-noir directed by a A-class director, John Huston. Marilyn Monroe has a small role here. Suffice to say, she obviously needed some polishing of acting skills here. It tells a tale of 'Doc' who is released from prison after 7 years of incarceration. He plans a great jewel heist and approaches a bookie for help. He gets a gang of 4and promise of monetary support from an apparently well-to-do lawyer, Emmerich. The heist is planned and executed with great precision. Unfortunately, the explosion that they cre...

Chinatown (1974) Director: Roman Polanski This movie sounds like a police drama set in Chinatown with all its vice activities and subversive elements. Well, it is nothing like that. 'Chinatown' is a red herring, actually. It can be summarized as a film with the typical noir elements, set in the 50s, convoluted story line, a lone investigator against the establishment and a neither black nor white kind of morality and ending. The 2 1/2 hour story is based on a tragic water dam controversy that happened in the early 20th century. This film also strengthened Jack Nicholson as a reputable star. JJ Gittes (Nicholson) is a private investigator handling domestic issues. He is approached by a lady who hires Gittes to investigate her cheating husband, who is a senior engineer with the LA Water Department. After finding proof of his infidelity and pictures of which later made it to the dailies, Gittes is confronted by a foxy lady, the real Mrs Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), with a lawyer...

The Blue Gardenia (1953) Director: Fritz Lang This 1953 movie, directed by Fritz Lang, is an unusual story of how a murderer is apprehended through the media. Norah (Anne Baxter), Crystal and another colleague are telephonists living together. Harry (Raymond Burr) is a painter who is a prowler of pretty girls. Norah is deeply in love with her army boyfriend in Korea. On her birthday, she received a letter informing her that he was breaking up to marry a nurse who nursed him to health when he was taken ill. Devastated, Norah, on the rebound, decided to accept a date from Harry via a case of mistaken identity at the spur of the moment. Harry called to date Crystal, but Norah answered instead. After a lovely dinner with too much of intoxicants, Norah followed Harry to his apartment. When Harry tries to rape a drunk Norah, she remembered fighting back and passing out. When she comes around, she runs home in the rain. Slowly, as the papers report the murder, her memory of the event re...