Alicia I love this movie so much

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

chaos-rampant Oh, sweet noir. Another man obsessed with the image of a woman, the woman in a painting. Another man caught in some inexplicable story and looking for the author. Once more sex drives the world, topsy turvy.This is one of the most clear effects that you can find of what I term the 'double perspective', one of the most notable devices used in noir; our man is a private dick thrust into chaos, he's shadowed, almost run-over by a car, beaten, framed for murder. More or less how it always happens.From his end, he thinks he knows what it's all about. From our end, we know there is another remove between him and where authorship of the world is decided, a more cunning antagonist calling the shots. How pertinent is it that this man is the same actor who played the writer in Laura?The downside of this being so clear is that it lacks a more sophisticated weave, as we find in Laura for instance, with the whole narrative of the film a wrestle between dreamers for the vision of a dreamy woman.You have to entertain the option that something similar was intended here; the detective is also looking to seduce the woman of his dreams, there's a scene where he does just this, looking into a viewfinder thing at the dancing image of a woman, pure exotic fantasy. But it doesn't catch on fire.It has great shadows though, and a gritty sense of place, if that's what attracts you to this type of film. Hathaway could always be counted for that, but he's more in his jack-of-all-trades mode here. It's not Niagara.

Ben Larson The story started of well, peaking my interest with a quick visit of the police in the form of Lt Frank Reeves (Reed Hadley) to the office of Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens). Secrets in his past? It wasn't long before he was tailed, and we know there is something amiss. Love how a film will catch you that quick.Of course, there was a very sweet looking Lucille Ball as Galt's secretary. Screenwriters Jay Dratler and Bernard C. Schoenfeld wrote some snappy lines for her.There was a lot of action - cuckolded husbands, murders, car chases, and blind leads in an attempt to keep Galt out of jail and find the real killers.Well worth the time.

Jay Harris When this was first released in 1946, it probably was shown as the top half of a double bill. In New York, Los Angeles & Chicago it was probably shown exclusively with a stage show for a few weeks first.Today, looking back we consider this a major film because of the cast. In 1946 the cast were known but not major players.A few words on the 4 leads.Lucille Ball was ing actress in many films for nearly 10 years, this was one of her few leads.She was always likable.Clifton Webb, was a big star in Broadway Musicals before coming to Hollywood to appear in Otto Preminger's Laura , 2 years earlier.His role in this film was similar,William Bendix,had major & featured roles for a few years already, playing the same type role he does here.Mark Stevens, is our main character & this is his first role for 20th Century Fox, he was a in about 10 roles at Warner Brothers before this lucky break.Henry Hathaway directed,He was known for making good fast paced films. The screenplay was taken from a short story by Leo Rosten, It has many typical zippy lines.Also in the cast is Kurt Krueger, an actor from . who was very good looking & very capable. Cathy Downs is prominently cast, Reed Hadley is as always very good.In smaller roles look for Constance Collier(as an art collector) and Ellen Corby as a maid.This was & is a typical private-eye movie, about the same as many others made then. I liked it then & still did last night.Ratings; *** (out of 4) 84 points (out of 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)

wes-connors After serving time for involuntary manslaughter, private investigator Mark Stevens (as Bradford "Brad" Galt) relocates from California to New York, and sets up shop. Attracted to new secretary Lucille Ball (as Kathleen Stuart), Mr. Stevens takes her out for dinner and dancing. During their date, Stevens and Ms. Ball are followed by a white-suited William Bendix (as Stauffer). Stevens thinks Mr. Bendix may have been sent by former business partner Kurt Kreuger (as Anthony "Tony" Jardine), who is having an affair with Cathy Downs (as Mari), the beautiful wife of wealthy art dealer Clifton Webb (as Hardy Cathcart).Director Henry Hathaway and 20th Century Fox get far more than they bargained for with this unheralded crime drama. Though he is billed fourth, Stevens does well in the lead. "There goes my last lead," he says, "I feel all dead inside. I'm backed up in a dark corner, and I don't know who's hitting me." Ball is startlingly good, in an atypical role. Conversely, Mr. Webb and Mr. Bendix succeed by reprising familiar characterizations (in "Laura" and "The Glass Key"). Joe MacDonald's black-and-white cinematography is the film's most obvious strength. And, you get a moderate dose of queenly Constance Collier (as Mrs. Kingsley).******* The Dark Corner (4/9/46) Henry Hathaway ~ Mark Stevens, Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix