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Blind Spot

A 1947 film from Columbia Pictures. Directed by Robert Gordon.

This is the story of Jeffrey Andrews (played by Chester Morris), a prolific crime novelist who, nevertheless, is not financially successful. At the start of the movie, he lives in a run-down, basement apartment in NYC and has become a working alcoholic.

One day, after getting some "liquid courage", he marches to his publisher's office and demands to talk to Henry Small (played by William Forrest), the actual!publisher. Jeffrey demands a substantial advance cuz he's THAT broke. Henry shakes his head no and brings up that the publishing company has maintained the guidelines described in Jeffrey's contract. They go back and forth.

Watching all this unfold is Lloyd Harrison (played by Steven Geray), a fellow crime author signed to the same publisher.

Desperate for money, Jeffrey proposes telling Henry a full story that he (Henry) can then have someone else ghostwrite in exchange for a few hundred dollars. Jeffrey starts telling the story. The next scene has him leaving Henry's office.

Next thing he knows, Jeffrey is being accused of MURDERING HENRY. Unfortch for Jeffrey, he was totally blotto and can't remember a lot of what happened after he left Henry's office. So now he has to retrace his steps and figure out who had it out for Henry. Along the way, he teams up with Evelyn Green (played by Constance Dowling), Henry's former secretary.

At an hour and 4 minutes, this is another one of those super short movies. It's got great pacing, good dialogue, and is well acted, tho.


Do I have any criticisms?

Due to the time constraints, certain connections happen a little too fast for my taste (such as the one between Evelyn and Jeffrey). Keeping in mind that, at the start of the movie, Jeffrey himself makes a remark abt how Evelyn is the latest secretary that Henry's got. Only for the two of them having several PASSIONATE kisses the v. next day. O___o?!

I'm meh abt the ending, but *hands*


Do I recommend it?

Yeah? There are copies floating around online, but those have potato-recording levels of quality. IF you want to watch a pristine version, you either have to rent it OR hope that it'll run on TCM. I'm giving it a 2.6 out of 5.


Queerness level:
Medium.

The character of Lloyd is effete and has the type of dialogue peppered with tons of bon mots that read like a queer-coded character. Also, the way he reacts whenever Evelyn is present also adds weight to my guesstimation.

Sleep, My Love

A 1948 film from Triangle Productions that was directed by Douglas Sirk. It's based on a novel by Leo Rosten.

Allison (played by Claudette Colrbet) wakes up in a train headed to Boston. Her confusion turns into panic. Last night, she'd gone to bed in her home in NYC. Now she's going somewhere with no idea how she got on the train or WHY her husband's gun is in her possession.

At the same time, her husband Richard (played by Don Ameche) has called the police to report Allison missing. But, just before the investigation gets going, she calls Richard from the train station. He sends her a plane ticket for her to return home . . .

I'm gonna be vague in order to keep the mystery of the plot under wraps.

FWIW, I'm not super familiar with Colbert's work outside of It Happened One Night, so my impression of her when I started watching this movie was v. incomplete. Like the rest of the cast, she does a decent job in her role as a devoted wife of a rich architect. To my utter lack of shock, I liked Robert Cummings as Bruce, a friend of a friend of Allison's. He rocks it in his role.

A special shoutout goes to Hazel Brooks as Daphne. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, her voice is surprisingly deep. And that, combined with her glamourpuss aesthetic elevates her dialogue to a deliciously campy level. EVERY LINE SHE SAYS has this undercurrent of vampiness that I LOVED. I do wished the movie had been from her point of view cuz she was a lot of a lot.

This next thing is something that really surprised me abt the movie. Because there was a moment where Bruce and Allison go to Bruce's brother's wedding. His brother, Jimmie (played by Keye Luke) is Chinese American. The wedding is fully Chinese. As far as I could tell, I didn't see anyone in yellowface. FTR, I'm not Chinese, so take my lack of squickiness because I didn't pick up on any blatant or oblique racism against Chinese folks with a tiny grain of salt.

Douglas Sirk and Joseph A. Valentine, his cinematographer, KNEW what kind of movie they wanted to shoot. The majority of the film takes place in Allison and Richard's 3-story brownstone that has a gorgeous terrace. Throughout the movie, there's excellent use of SPACE. Frex, there were scenes where characters would be looking for someone who happened to be hiding up on the 3rd floor. Also some scenes of ppl going up and down the stairs that truly worked. There's a good sense of how tall and expansive the home is (which includes a conservatory.)

The story is okay. It's watchable.


Do I have any criticisms?

I have 3, but two of them are SPOILERS.

Again, keep in mind that I'm gonna spoil HUGE THINGS abt this film

SPOILER 1

By the end of the first 10 minutes, it was super clear that the main plot was one of intense gaslighting. NGL, that made me lose some interest in the movie a little.

SPOILER 2

The potential romance between Allison and Bruce was poorly handled.

OK, so iMO, Allison did love her husband, but it was more of the kind of love someone has for a friend. However, she'd only known Bruce for abt a week. And yet they not only had excellent chemistry but, whenever they talked, Allison would GLOW. She'd come alive regardless of the conversation topic. It legit didn't matter if it was the weather, food, his friends, etc cuz it was their INTERACTIONS that livens her up.

OFC, since she's married, though, the movie gets as close to the edge of the line that she'd have to cross into infidelity as it can get. By the end, Allison and Bruce as holding each other and it's super clear that they'll be together, but they had so much sparkage that it drove me nuts that they never kissed.

END OF SPOILERS

The third one has to do with Det. Sgt. Strake (played by Raymond Burr). As soon as he showed up, I perked the F up because he's one of my faves. Unfortch, he's deffo a background character who only pops in two scenes. :|


Do I recommend it?

I do . . . if you have an hour and a half ot kill? Some of the romantic aspects are much subtler than I'd generally liked and the mood was a bit uneven. It's online. I give it a 2.4 out of 5.


Queerness level

Zip.

Dead Reckoning

A 1947 movie from Columbia Pictures. Directed by John Cromwell. Script was by Stve Fisher and Oliver H.P. Garret from a story by Gerald Drayson Adams and Sidney Bidell.

Captain Warren "Rip" Murdock (played by Humphrey Bogart) and his bestie Sergeant Johnny Drake (played by William Prince) are enroute to Washington, D.C. from Paris under some mystery orders. Soon enough, though, they find out that Johnny will be awarded the Medal of Honor while Murdock will get the Distinguished Service Cross. Murdock is elated while Johnny is not quite vibing with all of that.

When their train makes a stop, Johnny uses the opportunity to run away. Murdock tells the army that he's gonna go after his BFF and bring him back. He decides to head on over to Gulf City, Johnny's hometown, and ends up getting a message from Johnny that they gotta talk. But Johnny never contacts him again . . .

Released a whole year after the triumph that was The Big Sleep, this is a pretty solid B-movie.

OFC, Bogart is THE star: he brings a realistic combination of world-weariness and hope for a better future that, combined with the superb dialogue, makes the film snap and crackle with energy. Most of the cast is really good as well.

The plot is convoluted enough to make it interesting w/o becoming too labyrinthine.


Do I have any criticisms?

Even though I think she's a good actress in most things, I couldn't quite rally behind Lizabeth Scott as Coral Chandler. Thing is, I'm not sure even Scott knew HOW to play her character. And so she was both femme fatale and heroine without making up her mind. Which makes me think that the role would've been a much better fit for someone else.

Interestingly enough, this seems to be the general sentiment as folks (even going back to 1947) felt, at best, lukewarm with her performance. *Hands*


Do I recommend it?

I do! Again, it's no The Big Sleep and Lizabeth Scott is no Lauren Baccall, but I was entertained. This movie is available for streaming on YouTube for FREE NINETY-NINE for the month of November IF you've got YT Premium, you'll be able to watch it w/o ads. I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


Queerness level:

There's a v. OJO line that Murdock tells another character abt his bond with Johnny that falls along the line of "he's the person I've loved the most."

Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that the slash vibes are strong, BUT Murdock's devotion (in a manner of speaking) to Johnny does ring a little queer. IDK.


Le trailer

Watch on YouTube