cigarjoe

Harper (1966) Ross Macdonald is the main pseudonym that was used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer. Harper was the adaptation of Ross Macdonald's first Archer novel "The Moving Target" published in 1949. The film was directed by Jack Smight (The Twilight Zone (TV Series), Naked City (TV Series), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series)), and was adapted for the screen by novelist William Goldman (No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)). Cinematography was by Conrad L. Hall (The Outer Limits (TV Series)). The film stars Paul Newman (Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963)) as Lew Harper, Lauren Bacall (The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), Key Largo (1948)) as Elaine Sampson, Julie Harris (The Haunting (1963), Requiem For A Heavyweight (1962)) as Betty Fraley, Arthur Hill as Albert Graves, Janet Leigh (Act of Violence (1948), Rogue Cop (1954), Touch of Evil (1958), Psycho (1960)) as Susan Harper, Pamela Tiffin as Miranda Sampson, Robert Wagner (A Kiss Before Dying (1956)), as Allan Taggert, Robert Webber (Highway 301 (1950), 12 Angry Men (1957), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)) as Dwight Troy, Shelley Winters (Larceny (1948), Cry of the City (1948), Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949), The Raging Tide (1951), The Night of the Hunter (1955), The Big Knife (1955), I Died a Thousand Times (1955), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)) as Fay Estabrook, Harold Gould (The Satan Bug (1965)) as Sheriff Spanner, Roy Jenson (The Harder They Fall (1956), Al Capone (1959)) as Puddler, and Strother Martin (The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Scandal Sheet (1952), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Brainstorm (1965)) as Claude. Harper (Newman) & 1955 Porsche 356 A Speedster "The Moving Target" was set in 1949, Harper moves the action up to the 65-66 (present at the time), with the only throwback to the 50s being the robin's egg blue 1955 Porsche 356 A Speedster that Newman drives, which I also see as a nod to 1955's Kiss Me Deadly opening sequence with Meeker driving a 1950 Jaguar XK 120 Roadster. This film is in the Classic Hollywood style of P.I. flicks, Newman's Harper is almost in the same mold as Sam Spade, and Philip Marlowe. Harper has that same quality of wisecracking cool, that's essential for your classic P.I. Though Harper doesn't drink a lot or smoke, he's more of a habitual gum chewer, the various ways he disposes of his wads are good for a few chuckles. Southern California The local is also Chandleresque, Southern California with its beaches rising up to yellow burnt grasslands, oak savannas, chaparral, and pine hillsides that are populated with millionaires, movie folk, sleazy lawyers, lustful lassies, jazz junkies, kooks, and weirdos. One of the classiest parts of Harper is the opening credit sequence which depicts Harper as a less than successful private eye living in a combo office/crash pad. He's got a desk, a convertible sofa bed, a small fridge, a hot plate and an adjoining bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower. He wakes up, soaks his head in ice water, and boils water to make coffee, only to find he's out of coffee, so he snatches up yesterday's filter paper and used grounds out of the trash. Café avec des ordures, Starbucks it ain't. Harper is on his way to a gig laid on him by his shyster pal Albert Graves (Hill). The client is Elaine Sampson (Bacall) a rich woman whose husband is missing. Rounding out the household is Miranda Sampson (Tiffin) the **** daughter who we first see jiggling about in a skimpy bikini, and Allan Taggert (Wagner) the family's private pilot. Elaine Sampson (Bacall) When Harper first meets Elaine the dialog in the film pokes a bit of fun at the genre. Elaine Sampson: Drink, Mr. Harper? Lew Harper: Not before lunchtime. Elaine Sampson: I thought you were a detective. Lew Harper: New type. Elaine is concerned because when Ralph Sampson gets drunk he does silly things the latest is giving away a mountain top to a dubious looney holy man (Martin). Elaine Sampson: Los Angeles is the big leagues for religious nuts. Lew Harper: That's because there's nothing to do at night. Robert Webber and Shelley Winters Julie Harris Janet Leigh The plot is very convoluted but not confusing. It's got quite a few Classic Noir actors to provide some cinematic memory. If the film has one fault it's that it doesn't quite go Noir enough. Looking back Harper is a little too old fashioned for its own good, it's got a classic Hollywood score by Johnny Mandel that's too flaccid for the material, it's honestly a bit of a snoozefest. There are also a few segments that feature what's supposed to be rock bands with folks dancing to what sounds like your typical generic hollywood hip gogo elevator music track, completely disregarding what instruments are being played on screen. This is a case where I'm spoiled by today's easy use of the real recording artists of the time used in period films. The music also, is more reminiscent of what you would hear in that time periods comedies, so that, along with the presence of Robert Wagner just back from his signature The Pink Panther performance gives the film a bit of an off genre vibe. Had Wagner built upon his bad boy persona from his noir debut in A Kiss Before Dying with similar hardboiled fare, it may have been different. There are also some lite comedy sequences between Harper and his estranged wife Susan (Leigh). Combine all of the above with the ambiguous ending and Harper is at best soft boiled and noir lite. Screencaps are from the Warner Brothers DVD. 7/10 The full review with more screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/harper-1966-hired-by-****-to-find-scum.html

I've heard the term "quotes" used also.

Yea that's the one I remember laying on the kitchen floor as a little kid and looking up at it.

The general consensus is that Neo Noir (i.e. new noir) are those Film Noir made post studio noir which like I mentioned is that 1941-1958-59 time period, any noir made after 1958-59 are called Neo Noir. The studio production numbers are from Spencer Selby's Dark City : The Film Noir. What I'm saying is going against that convention and that maybe a better way to look at it is to say that Color Film Noir starting with Leave Her to Heaven (1945) was actually the first of the Neo Noir, and that Neo Noir and Noir existed side by side sharing most of film noir characteristics until the final B&W productions. It makes sense that the major studios would be able to switch to color earlier and that independants/poverty row studios would hang on to B&W.

I never saw it, but I'll be on the lookout for it, thanks for the heads up.

It didn't disappear, it sort of dribbled off into TV in Crime/Suspense/Thriller shows, i.e., Suspense (1949–1954), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962), Mike Hammer (1958–1959), Peter Gunn (1958–1961), Naked City (1958–1963), Johnny Staccato (1959), Johnny Midnight (1960) and some of the popular Anthology series, with probably quite a few more that have no existing tapes left I am not aware about. The rise in the popularity of TV impacted the studio B film production which pretty much shut down with a lot of the talent associated drifting to the new medium. In the many and varied books written about Film Noir the often quoted time frame that these films fit into is usually 1941 to 1958 some occasionally stretch to 1959. Who came came up with this initially, and why is it so strictly adhered too? Maybe it's limited to major studio productions rather than independent and low budget productions. The more Noirs from the late 50s early 60s I watch the more I'm questioning this. I'm beginning to come around to a different thought, and that is that Classic American Film Noir stretched from say 1940 to 1968 (1968 being the last general use of B&W film in production) here is the breakdown by year of Black & White Noirs (there may be a few more to add in, in that 1959 to 1968 stretch that haven't come to my attention yet: 1940 (5) 1941 (11) 1942 (5) 1943 (5) 1944 (18) 1945 (22) 1946 (42) 1947 (53) 1948 (43) 1949 (52) 1950 (57) 1951 (39) 1952 (26) 1953 (21) 1954 (26) 1955 (20) 1956 (19) 1957 (12) 1958 (7) 1959 (7) 1960 (2) 1961 (5) 1962 (6) 1963 (1) 1964 (4) 1965 (3) 1966 (2) 1967 (2) 1968 (1) I'm also thinking now that the Color Film Noirs within this 1940-1968 time frame were actually the first Neo Noirs so that the two sub genres actually overlap. The catalyst for this new alignment is when I read a quote about Neo Noir that said that if the filmmakers made a conscience decision to film in black and white when color was the norm then it was an artistic decision and not one of necessity for budget purposes, Same the other way if B&W was the norm for low budget B Noirs then it was an artistic decision to film it color. The color Film Noir (or Neo Noir) in the first 30 years (again there maybe a few more in these early years but they as a whole really up ticked in the 1980s and 1990's): 1945 (1) 1947 (1) 1948 (1) 1953 (2) 1955 (3) 1956 (3) 1958 (1) 1966 (1) 1967 (1) 1969 (1) 1970 (2) 1971 (4) 1972 (1) 1973 (0) 1974 (2)

Cop Hater (1958) 87th Precinct Noir A police procedural Film Noir, based on the 1956 novel "Cop Hater" by Ed McBain. It was the first in a series of books and films about the 87th Precinct in New York City. The film was produced and directed by William Berke (Shoot to Kill (1947), FBI Girl (1951)). The film was written by Henry Kane. Cinematography was by J. Burgi Contner. New full review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/cop-hater-1958-87th-precinct-noir.html

Shield For Murder (1954) O'Brien Breaks Bad This is O'Brien's film and he does a great job portraying a man whose life is coming apart at the seams. He goes from cool confident conniver to desperate desperado with both the hoods and the police after him. The last third of the film constantly escalates the suspense factor. Emile Meyer also put in a good solid showing as the police captain. Watch for a small cameo by Carolyn Jones as a B girl trying score a trick with Barney, and the stylistic brutal pistol whipping by Barney of the two PI's show only from the terrified perspectives of the restaurant's clientele. Shield For Murder has some innovative sequences and is an entertaining mid fifties Noir, full review with screencaps in Film Noir/Gangster Board and also here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/shield-for-murder-1954-obrien-breaks-bad.html

Shield For Murder (1954) O'Brien Breaks Bad Directed by Edmond O'Brien (Man-Trap (1961)) and Howard W. Koch (Crime Against Joe (1956), The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)). Screenplay by Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins, it was based on the novel of the same name by William P. McGivern. Cinematography was by Gordon Avil (Big House, U.S.A. (1955)). The film stars Edmond O'Brien veteran of 12 Classic Film Noir as Lieutenant Barney Nolan, Marla English as Patty Winters, John Agar (The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)) as Sergeant Mark Brewster, Emile Meyer another late Classic Noir vet (Panic in the Streets (1950), Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951), The People Against O'Hara (1951), The Mob (1951), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Lineup (1958)), as Captain Gunnarson, Carolyn Jones (The Big Heat (1953)) as Beth, Claude Akins (Down Three Dark Streets (1954)) as Fat Michaels, Lawrence Ryle as Laddie O'Neil, Herbert Butterfield as Cabot, Hugh Sanders (Storm Warning(1951), I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951), The Sellout (1952) The Steel Trap (1952), I Died a Thousand Times (1955)) as Packy Reed, William Schallert as Assistant District Attorney Andy Tucker, Joe Ploski as Man Eating Spaghetti and Vito Scotti as Joe the Bartender. Lieutenant Barney Nolan (Edmund O'Brien) Police Dick Lieutenant Barney Nolan has put in a sixteen year slog with the LAPD. He's fed up with getting nowhere fast. In Barney's world dreaming big is buying a new fully furnished track house gashed into some LA hillside where he and gal pal Patty can make an LAPD Blue Heaven. Barney hatches a plan to jumpstart his dream. He whacks a bookie carrying a 25G payoff to gangster Packy Reed. Barney also makes it look like The bookie tried to escape from justice. When the police and his partner Sergeant Mark Brewster arrive Barney tells them that he was going to take the victim in when he suddenly made a break for it. The coroner's report lists the victim having only $300. Packy Reed suspects Barney stole the cash and sicks two shady PI's Fat Michaels and Laddie O'Neil on his tail to recover what's his. When they brace Barney he tells them he doesn't know anything about any stinking 25Gs. Barney takes Patty (who lives in an apartment) up to the dream house. There he asks her to marry him. While she's digging on the house he slips outside and digs a hole and buries the envelope with the loot. Of course everything goes to Noirsville when a deaf mute shows up claiming to have witnessed the murder of the bookie. Barney tries to buy him off but when he refuses, a hefty shove from Barney causes his head to bounce off the metal footboard of his bed. Barney arranges the body to make it look like an accident and then skedaddles. Unfortunately Barney's protege Sergeant Mark Brewster finds the deaf mute's written account of the murder that pins Barney as the killer. Noirsville Barney & Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) Barney and B-Girl Beth (Carolyn Jones) This is O'Brien's film and he does a great job portraying a man whose life is coming apart at the seams. He goes from cool confident conniver to desperate desperado with both the hoods and the police after him. The last third of the film constantly escalates the suspense factor. Emile Meyer also put in a good solid showing as the police captain. Watch for a small cameo by Carolyn Jones as a B girl trying score a trick with Barney, and the stylistic brutal pistol whipping by Barney of the two PI's show only from the terrified perspectives of the restaurant's clientele. Shield For Murder has some innovative sequences and is an entertaining mid fifties Noir 7/10. More screencaps are from the Kino Lorber DVD here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/shield-for-murder-1954-obrien-breaks-bad.html

I haven't seen One Way Street either.

In the fifties in my aunts kitchen they had a one of those circular fluorescent tube fixtures similar to your bottom image.

Fluorescent Lamps/Lighting - Really came widely used in the early 50s, but you don't see a lot of them in film noir, The Asphalt Jungle has a shot with one that I remember, there may be a few others,

Yea, it was a zenith remote.

The Case Against Brooklyn (1958) Pseudo NYPD Noir The story is a quasi police procedural, about the investigation of a breaking news story about police corruption infesting Kings County (Brooklyn). Police corruption was already addressed in earlier Noir films such as The Big Heat (1953) - Philadelphia, is probably the first film that comes to mind, but we also have The Turning Point (1952) - Los Angeles, Rogue Cop (1954) - New York, and Shield for Murder (1954) - Los Angeles that all travel to some extent down the same track. Darren McGavin is excellent, you can see why he was tagged to play Mike Hammer in the 1958-59 TV series, which BTY in case you are interested has quite a few noir-ish episodes The series is available on DVD. Harris goes around with a chip on his shoulder, a hair trigger temper and a Colt .45 Automatic (too bad the Mike Hammer series didn't include the .45). The rest of the cast is good, my only small quibble is with the female leads, you mean to tell me Columbia couldn't come up with some of their better known female talent, Kim Novak, Anne Bancroft, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, or Felicia Farr? I guess they were cutting costs all down the line. The film uses plot points and stylistic devices from other films noticeably The Big Heat, and Desperate. It's entertaining enough, 7/10. More screencaps from the SPHE DVD in Film Noir gangster thread and here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-case-against-brooklyn-1958-pseudo.html

The Case Against Brooklyn (1958) Pseudo NYPD Noir Here is a late "Classic Noir" cop film that has great cinematography, a decent story about NYPD police corruption undercover work fifteen years before Serpico, and the always enjoyable Darren McGavin in the title role. It's missing one thing.... B R O O K L Y N ! ! ! Now how the hell can you make a film about corruption in the NYPD Brooklyn precincts and NOT have any second unit or even stock footage establishing shots of the boro the film is set in? I'm spoiled, I guess after seeing the likes of The Naked City, Odds Against Tomorrow, and Blast Of Silence, backlot NYC just doesn't float my boat. You expect more not less. No footage of the Brooklyn, Manhattan or Williamsburg bridge, no East River, no skyline, no subways, no avenues. A two second clip of Brooklyn Boro Hall is it. It's a big omission. It's not as if they couldn't afford stock footage, they actually have a clip of a truck going off a curve and turning over from Thieves Highway (1949). It's jarringly out of place, and looks like California where it was shot, lol. A token second unit footage sequence of an el train What they have is a few pathetic still shots of Grand Army Plaza, either the Gowanus Canal or Newtown Creek, a still of part the Brooklyn Bridge and some anonymous avenue but all of these are hidden behind the opening credits. All this spells out cheap. The film does at least have some cuts to an el train going by along with the audios of passing subway cars during one sequence, but again, it needed a lot more sprinkled here and there, if it was going to compete on a level playing field with all of the more well known New York City noirs, The Naked City, The Window, The Dark Corner, Kiss of Death, Where The Sidewalk Ends, Cry Of The City, The Unsuspected, The Glass Wall, The Killer That Stalked New York, Sweet Smell Of Success, etc., etc. If those are all considered "B" Noirs The Case Against Brooklyn, A Columbia Pictures release, looks like a "C" Noir. Hell even cheapo "D" noir, Blast Of Silence has beaucoup more New York City ambiance, of course it had the advantage of actually being shot in New York. Because of the lack of second unit footage the film has that "stylized" almost dreamlike, depopulated, relatively garbageless, antiquated backlot city look and feel, hell they don't even have the old bishop's crook street lamps, they give us these "California" globe type lamps. You get this exact same look and feeling when viewing The Man With The Golden Arm, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rear Window, and the weird split personality look of The Money Trap (1965) which jarringly segues between real LA and a backlot New York brownstone street. That film sorely missed using the old Bunker Hill Locations. But I'm digressing. An antiseptic New York City backlot, note the globe street lamp, I never saw those in NYC. Also MIA is any New York/Brooklyn accents, you'd think it would have been a casting concern for a film set in NYC, even that would have helped more with the ambiance. Other than those minuses The Case Against Brooklyn is a tight little film directed by Paul Wendkos who gave us (The Burglar (1957) and that film did include location shots of Atlantic City). The story was by written by Ed Reid based on his story “I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal”, Daniel B. Ullman (screen story), Bernard Gordon (screenplay) (originally as Raymond T. Marcus) and Julian Zimet. Cinematography was by Noir, Crime, and SiFi vet Fred Jackman Jr. (Dangerous Passage (1944), Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), The Night Holds Terror(1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957). Franklin (Stevens) and drop collector (Herb Vigran) The film stars Darren McGavin (Fear (1946), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Mike Hammer (TV Series), The Outsider (1967 TV film and 1968-1969 TV), Kolchak: The Night Stalker (TV Series)) as Pete Harris. The supporting cast provides quite a bit of cinematic memory, Margaret Hayes as Lil Polombo (Saboteur (1942), The Glass Key (1942), ), Warren Stevens (Women's Prison (1955), The Price of Fear (1956), Accused of Murder (1956), The Twilight Zone (TV Series) ) as Rudi Franklin, Peggy McCay as Mrs. Jane Harris, Tol Avery (Where Danger Lives (1950), Gambling House (1950), His Kind of Woman (1951), Naked Alibi (1954), ) as Dist. Atty. Michael W. Norris, Brian G. Hutton as Jess Johnson, Emile Meyer (The People Against O'Hara (1951), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), Shield for Murder (1954), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Lineup (1958), ) as Police Capt. T.W. Wills, Nestor Paiva (The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Cornered (1945), Rope of Sand (1949), Split Second (1953), I, the Jury (1953), New York Confidential (1955). ) as mobster Finelli, Robert Osterloh as Det. Sgt. Bonney, Joe De Santis as Gus Polumbo, Herb Vigran, and Bobby Helms as Himself - Vocalist (his biggest hits were My Special Angel and Jingle Bell Rock). The story is a quasi police procedural, about the investigation of a breaking news story about police corruption infesting Kings County (Brooklyn). Police corruption was already addressed in earlier Noir films such as The Big Heat (1953) - Philadelphia, is probably the first film that comes to mind, but we also have The Turning Point (1952) - Los Angeles, Rogue Cop (1954) - New York, and Shield for Murder (1954) - Los Angeles that all travel to some extent down the same track. Rudi Franklin: You got that cop look Det. Sgt. Bonney: What's that? Rudie Franklin: Like you never missed a meal in your life. The film goes into high gear at the 13:50 mark when Ex-Marine Intelligence Sergeant, Pete Harris, is taken out of his Police Academy Graduating Class due to his undercover experience to investigate and identify police corruption in the 65th Precinct, Brownsville. Dist. Atty. Norris is in charge of the 40 man, police academy graduate, undercover squad. Harris is assigned to illegal betting parlors run by gangster Finelli and his second hand man Rudi Franklin. He also must get close to the widow of Gus Polumbo (a parking garage owner) who killed himself in a truck rollover to collect on a double indemnity policy so that his wife could pay off his gambling debts. When Pete's hand picked partner Jess Johnson is gunned down by a crooked cop, Pete becomes obsessed with avenging his death to the point of alienating himself from the undercover squad and his wife. Darren McGavin is excellent, you can see why he was tagged to play Mike Hammer in the 1958-59 TV series, which BTY in case you are interested has quite a few noir-ish episodes The series is available on DVD. Harris goes around with a chip on his shoulder, a hair trigger temper and a Colt .45 Automatic (too bad the Mike Hammer series didn't include the .45). The rest of the cast is good, my only small quibble is with the female leads, you mean to tell me Columbia couldn't come up with some of their better known female talent, Kim Novak, Anne Bancroft, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, or Felicia Farr? I guess they were cutting costs all down the line. The film uses plot points and stylistic devices from other films noticeably The Big Heat, and Desperate. It's entertaining enough, 7/10. Screencaps are from the SPHE DVD. Motre screencaps here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-case-against-brooklyn-1958-pseudo.html

OK finally saw a Film Noir with a bonafide rock and roll star sing a song to the accompaniment of a jukebox. It's in The Case Against Brooklyn (1958) and the artist is Bobby Helms famous for "My Special Angel" and "Jingle Bell Rock", however the song he sings is "Jacquelyn".

Cool, hope they put it out on DVD/Blue.

Abandoned (1949) Black Market Babies Moving along at a good pace Abandoned makes use of numerous Los Angeles' locations. The iconic LA City Hall looms ominously. A young woman Paula Considine (Storm) arrives at the Missing Persons Detail in search of her missing older sister and her baby. There she meets reporter Mark Sitko (O'Keefe) who takes it upon himself to assist her, it doesn't hurt that she is cute. Stiko spots a man tailing her who turns out to be a PI named Kerric (Burr). When Paula and Mark check the morgue's Jane Doe's they find her sister but not the baby. Through various channels, old newspaper articles and various tips they discover a black market baby racket that is protected by the mob. Its an entertaining film especially if you are not expecting much, could use a restoration. Full review with screencaps from a multigenerational file here : http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/abandoned-1949-black-market-babies.html

Abandoned (1949) Black Market Babies Directed by Joseph M. Newman (711 Ocean Drive (1950), Dangerous Crossing (1953), The Twilight Zone (TV Series)). Written by Irwin Gielgud (original screenplay), and William Bowers (additional dialogue). Cinematography by William H. Daniels (Brute Force (1947), Lured (1947), The Naked City (1948), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(1958). The film Stars Dennis O'Keefe (The Leopard Man(1943), T-Men (1947), Raw Deal (1948), Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Woman on the Run(1950)), Gale Storm (My Little Margie (TV Series)), Marjorie Rambeau, Raymond Burr (twelve classic Film Noir), Will Kuluva, Jeff Chandler (Johnny O'Clock (1947), Female on the Beach (1955), The Tattered Dress (1957), ), Meg Randall (Criss Cross (1949)), Jeanette Nolan (The Big Heat(1953), and Mike Mazurki (Murder, My Sweet (1944), Nightmare Alley (1947), I Walk Alone(1948), Night and the City (1950)). Paula (Storm) lt. Mark (O'Keef) Moving along at a good pace Abandoned makes use of numerous Los Angeles' locations. The iconic LA City Hall looms ominously. A young woman Paula Considine (Storm) arrives at the Missing Persons Detail in search of her missing older sister and her baby. There she meets reporter Mark Sitko (O'Keefe) who takes it upon himself to assist her, it doesn't hurt that she is cute. Stiko spots a man tailing her who turns out to be a PI named Kerric (Burr). P.I. Kerric (Burr) When Paula and Mark check the morgue's Jane Doe's they find her sister but not the baby. Through various channels, old newspaper articles and various tips they discover a black market baby racket that is protected by the mob. Mark (O'Keef), Paul (Storm), Kerric (Burr) Their next stop is the "Sally Ann" the Salvation Army where they discover that her sister was there, and after talking to one of her acquaintances discover that she hooked up with a woman who promised that she would find a home for her baby. Going to the district attorney they get the assistance of Chief MacRae (Chandler). Marjorie Rambeau Will Kuluva Burr & Mazurki Gale Storm is quite adequate as the girl from Beaver Brook searching for her sister. Dennis O'Keefe, comes off as your typical Film Noir hero. Chandler is good but underused as the D. A. Baby racket head, Marjorie Rambeau will remind you of Margaret Dumont. Will Kuluva, is mobster Little Guy Decola who bestows protection to the scheme with Mike Mazurki his enforcer. Raymond Burr, is in his trademark "heavy" role as a sleazy private dick, but it's interesting to note the Mazurki is even bigger than Burr. Its an entertaining film especially if you are not expecting much, could use a restoration screencaps are from an avi file. 6.5-7/10. Full review with more screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/abandoned-1949-black-market-babies.html

Just signed up for Sling TV $29 and change a month gets you Sling Blue - 40 channels and the Hollywood package with TCM.

Thanks for the link.

Yea I did research on the HD antenna it seems that you need a clear shot to a source, if I'm not mistaken. Here if you live along the Hudson River you can pick up Albany the antenna I looked at had a 65 mile range. If you are in the mountains you are out of luck, so I didn't go that route.

And go completely off the grid, did that for awhile in Montana and Idaho in the 70s. ;-)

Agree not a bad run RIP (I never knew that was his real last name, lol)

Back in September we cut the cord. I unplugged the DVR cable box unhooked the HDMI to the TV and dropped it all off at Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum) went cold turkey. The combined Cable-Internet-Phone bill went from $150+ to $31, lol. I still have Netflix on a Roku box, and waiting to see if Sling TV will have TCM back on. I purchased a Chromecast device just $35, that plugs into the HDMI on the TV which makes the TV a smart TV and I can now stream anything on Youtube from the computer to the TV via WiFi. If I want to watch a football game I go to the nearest sports bar, have a burger, a beer, and a good time. Morning news programs you can listen to on the computer. One word of warning though, for over the net viewing or listening, for some programs they want to know your subscriber (meaning your cable company), so if no cable TV no show, which is a load of crap if you ask me, and another reason to give the finger to your cable company. There are some workarounds, for instance you can listen to say Morning Joe without commercials a day after the show is aired, BTW without the commercials it only runs about 45 minutes. Of of all the channels we got we only watched the news, TCM, some TV Land, Antenna TV, Movies!, Get TV with any regularity, and occasionally shows like Pawn Stars, American Pickers, River Monsters, the last three you can probably find on Youtube. We pretty much used TCM when we was connected I'd say 75% of the time like a radio, 25% of the time a film that interested us came on and we'd get off the computer and watch, the rest of the time the films, the bumpers etc., etc., without the commercials were just innocuous background noise. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what is available on Youtube. So far so good.