Director: Edmond O’Brien, Howard W. Koch
Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile Meyer
Have I Seen it Before: Never. Once again, I showed up at Circle Cinema’s Noir Night prepared for whatever film they were willing to show me, and having a pretty good time doing it.
Did I Like It: Dare I say I had a great time with this movie? I won’t even tie it to some inside information I heard about Circle’s repertory schedule in the months to come, which instantly became the best new I had heard all year. This movie was a genuine—if at times possibly unintentional—delight.
Some of it had to be intentional, right? The main character wouldn’t tell another character to go home for the night by saying, “Go home and beat your wife” in as serious a tone as the movies are likely to have ver recorded and not be in on the joke, right?
Honestly, the least self-conscious laugh that the audience and I had throughout the evening was when an APB was put out for Nolan (O’Brien) and is described as a 36-year-old caucasian. Now, I’ve always appeared old for my age, but there was something so preposterous about a man like O’Brien—who appeared to look like my grandfather for all of his life—somehow being younger than me.
And I could only take heart in the fact that everybody else was on my side with that one.
Otherwise I would have to confront the fact that maybe I need to be a little more hard boiled and world weary in my life. I thought that I was doing fine on all of those fronts, but in a bolder age run by a far greater generation, I realize it’s just one more thing about which this elder millennial isn’t quite accomplishing in the proper timeframe.
Nah. Apparently I just look young for my age. Sorry, O’Brien.
Also, I know Stafford Repp (Chief Miles O’Hara, for those of you not as steeped in the ins and outs of 1966 Batman as I) was in this, but apparently he goes uncredited. He was that generation’s Reginald Val Johnson, apparently, and I think he deserves quite a bit more credit.