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Though it dates from the first years of his career (1950), this hallucinatory film noir is still, for me, Joseph Losey's best film. Beat cop Van Heflin falls in obsessional love with Evelyn Keyes, whose unseen husband is a disc jockey; their trysts are timed to his radio show. A Double Indemnity plot is hatched, which leads to a wildly stylized finale in a desert ghost town. For once, Losey declines his Brechtian "distance"; the result is a film with a a vivid sense of entrapment as well as a cool, critical intelligence. Heflin, cast in the Losey line of male hysterics, gives his most impressive performance. With John Maxwell and Katharine Warren; the photography, which moves eloquently from cast-iron night to blinding sun, is by Arthur Miller. 92 min.
Noir City: Chicago
The weeklong film noir festival runs through August 6 at the Music Box. »
Director: Joseph Losey
Writer: Robert Thoeren and Hans Wilhelm
Cast: Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell, Katherine Warren and Emerson Treacy
Writer: Robert Thoeren and Hans Wilhelm
Cast: Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell, Katherine Warren and Emerson Treacy
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Noir City: Chicago
The weeklong film noir festival runs through August 6 at the Music Box.
- Jul 30, 2009
