Written by James M. Tate / 10/16/2020 / No comments / cult , fifties , film noir or melodrama , regis toomey , rhonda fleming , thriller , william conrad , william powell
REST IN PEACE TO RHONDA FLEMING FROM THE NOIR 'CRY DANGER'
![]() |
William Powell & Rhonda Fleming 1951 Rates: ***1/2 |
The recently-departed Queen of Technicolor Rhonda Fleming also reigned in a few B&W Film Noirs, like the famous OUT OF THE PAST... and the obscure CRY DANGER starring Dick Powell as a pardoned convict who, five years earlier, was falsely accused of stealing a load of still-missing cash...
And the first twist involves Richard Erdman as a limping war hero, providing Powell's Rocky a false alibi, with a motive — making him an endearing sidekick but one that spouts too much exposition, filling Powell and the audience in on what could've panned-out more creatively otherwise...
Like the fact Rocky's still-incarcerated partner's pretty/perfect wife is even crazier about Rocky, and here's where an intensely dedicated, immensely worried (if somewhat underused) Rhonda Fleming enters, living in a trailer park where the boys — having hatched a comeback plan — temporarily reside. Meanwhile chief villain William Conrad scowls behind his big bookie desk, and Rocky threatens him endlessly while being endlessly dogged by a determined cop: Which all sounds pretty complicated, as Noirs usually involve a mazy plotline, or two. But what works here are the simplistic and (even back then) nostalgic 1930's Gangster-era shoot-outs within a sparse aesthetic — and yet, peppered with so many nifty, convenient one-liners, CRY DANGER is often too clever and self-aware for its own good.
![]() |
William Powell and Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
William Powell, Rhonda Fleming, William Conrad, Regis Toomey in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
William Powell and Richard Erdman in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
William Powell and Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
William Powell and Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
William Powell and Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER |
![]() |
Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER |
All Time Popular
-
Robyn Hilton enters into an eclectic exploitation comedy career in Wonder Women circa 1973 As mentioned a few posts ago, ROBYN HILTON, b...
-
year: 1978 cast: Allen Garfield, Leif Garrett, Kathleen Lloyd, Tony Alva, Pam Kenneally rating: ***1/2 Although promoted as a Leif Garr...
-
Mary-Louise Weller in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE ANIMAL HOUSE, directed by John Landis and produced by Ivan Reitman, stars John Be...
-
Kari Michaelsen in Saturday the 14th year: 1982 In LOVE AT FIRST BITE, a popular comedy that took the vampire genre by satire, Richard ...
-
Robyn Hilton on STARSKY AND HUTCH Model/Actress ROBYN HILTON played Mel Brook's secretary in BLAZING SADDLES and turns up in an epis...
-
Cornelia Sharpe in BUSTING Year: 1974 Rating: **** Starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as determined vice cops BUSTING hookers, makin...
-
Kerri Green and John Candy in SUMMER RENTAL Year: 1985 John Candy, in his first leading role, plays a burnt-out air traffic controller ...
-
WILLIAM SMITH AS FALCONETTI ON RICH MAN POOR MAN The baddest of all TV bad guys… Matt Dillon’s character in BEAUTIFUL GIRLS calls Antho...
-
Robyn Hilton in Video Vixens the same year as Blazing Saddles: 1974 The Anthology of Comedic Parodies, already done in several Woody All...
-
Susan Dey in Skyjacked YEAR: 1972 Some of the best elements of hijacking, plane crashing, ship sinking, building burning or any other di...
Featured Post
STEVE MCQUEEN & DUSTIN HOFFMAN IN THE ORIGINAL 'PAPILLON'
Title: PAPILLON Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Director Francis J. Schaffner and scriptwriter Dalton Trumbo convert Henri Charrière's riveti...

No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.