The Dark Corner (1946)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Jay Dratler (screenplay) and
Bernard C. Schoenfeld (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 April 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

Save your lipstick, girls, he plays for keeps.

Plot:

Secretary tries to help her boss, who is framed for a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Secretary | White Suit | Murder | Infidelity | Art Gallery

Cast

Lucille Ball	...	Kathleen Stewart
Clifton Webb	...	Hardy Cathcart
William Bendix	...	Stauffer, alias Fred Foss
Mark Stevens	...	Bradford Galt
Kurt Kreuger	...	Anthony Jardine
Cathy Downs	...	Mari Cathcart
Reed Hadley	...	Lt Frank Reeves
Constance Collier	...	Mrs. Kingsley
Eddie Heywood	...	Himself (as Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra)

Runtime:

99 min | 95 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Approved (certificate #11435)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This film with many acclaimed actors could be considered a "Who's Who" of 1950's TV Included are Lucille Ball ("I Love Lucy"), 'William Bendix' ("The Life Of Riley"), _Reed Hadley_ ("Racket Squad" and "Public Defender"), Mark Stevens ("Big Town") and Cathy Downs (Ann Howe of "The Joe Palooka Story").

Goofs:

Continuity: Early in film where Kathleen is seen looking out of the back window of the taxi, she is clearly wearing a ring on her left hand. In all other scenes, like when dancing at the nightclub with Bradford, she is not wearing any ring on the left hand. However, throughout the film, she consistently is wearing a ring on her right hand little finger.

Quotes:

Kathleen: But, remember I can get any new tough guy for a dime.
Bradford Galt: Here, get yourself two dozen.
[Bradford tosses two dimes at Kathleen across the table]
Kathleen: [Kathleen pushes them back towards Bradford] I rather pick you up at a rummage sale. I'm a sucker for bargains. Speaking of bargains, if you can't get those nylons in nine's, I'll take eight's or even ten's.
Bradford Galt: I'll make a note of it.

Movie Connections:

References The Thin Man (1934)

Soundtrack:

Give Me the Simple Life

Neat Noir Thriller

"I feel all dead inside . . . backed up in a dark corner . . . and I don't know who's hitting me."

So Mark Stevens' Brad confesses to secretary-girlfriend Lucile Ball's Kathleen.

This particular dark corner has many angles, shadows and turns, as the two go sleuthing in search of an elusive villain--Clifton Webb's Hardy. Along the way Hardy's "hitman," Stauffer (William Bendix) gets the "ax," as the audience maintains rapt attention.

A nicely turned crime script by Jan Drather and Leo Rosten is given slick credibility by Director Henry Hathaway. The "Manhattan Melody" theme, used in so many New York drama films of the 40s, was first heard here. It was part of Cyril Mockridge's original score, so evocative of "big city pre-dawn street scenes" that it became a motif of dozens of similar efforts.

The film also showed what Ball could do in a straight dramatic role, and she proved quite capable of holding her own. Webb, forever "effete personified," offers a polished performance, while Bendix contrasts as the perfect "mug."

A "whodunit" worthy of a studio that produced loads of neat "forties thrillers": 20th Century Fox.