Prime Time: Nightmare (1956)

I didn’t mean to watch two film noirs in a row that star Kevin McCarthy, but here we are. It isn’t a problem though, largely because of how much I love Kevin McCarthy, and it helps that he gets to share the lead duties with Edward G. Robinson in this twisty tale.

McCarthy plays Stan Grayson, a musician who has just experienced a very vivid nightmare in which he killed a man. The problem that Stan has is that he isn’t sure it was just a dream. Although he hasn’t experienced any overwhelming urge to kill someone, Stan starts to realise that certain details are pointing towards him having actually committed murder. Fortunately, his brother-in-law (Rene, played by Robinson) is also a police officer, and the two start trying to figure out if any crime has occurred, and how it happened.

Directed by Maxwell Shane, who also adapted the Cornell Woolrich novel into screenplay form (for a second time, having turned it into Fear In The Night about ten years before this), Nightmare is a fun little thriller that feels like some great feature-length TV show episode. There’s no big spectacle, and viewers are welcomed in at the very start with the lure of a mystery due to be solved, but the script is fun, and the cast do well to ensure that it’s never a slog.

McCarthy is constantly nervous and tense, a man struggling to believe the unbelievable as evidence around him starts to mount up. Robinson is a good contrast, confident and curious about where the journey will take them, but always having faith that there is a strange truth to be discovered . . . even if that truth is the guilt of his brother-in-law. Virginia Christine and Connie Russell are the two main women alongside the male leads, although they’re not given too much to do, and Gage Clark comes along just in time to kickstart the chain of events leading to a revelatory finale.

I enjoyed Nightmare, but it doesn’t do enough to save it from feeling just a bit too slight. It’s fun, and thrilling, but far from the best of film noir from this era. McCarthy and Robinson ensure it is always watchable though, and any fans of those actors should give 90 minutes of their time to checking this out. You’ll probably never rewatch it, but viewing it once is recommended. Just.

6/10

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The Killers (1946)

Burt Lancaster made his screen debut in this fantastic film noir, and it's easy to see why he went on over the next couple of decades to become such a major star. Even in his first movie role he has a presence and charisma that's hard to beat. It helps that he's surrounded by a great cast, but there's no doubt that his performance in the lead role is a big plus for the film.

Lancaster plays Ole 'Swede' Andreson, a man who is, at the very beginning of the movie, killed by the killers of the title. Just who killed him, and why? That's what insurance investigator Jim Riordan (Edmond O'Brien) wants to find out when he is given the task of finding the man's beneficiary and paying her a lump sum. As he uncovers the story leading up to the killing he starts along a path that may just lead him back to a major, unsolved crime from a number of years ago.

Based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway, The Killers was adapted for the screen by Anthony Veiller and directed by Robert Siodmak. From beginning to end, it's a great mix of grim moments and surprisingly deft humour that makes the runtime just fly by.

Ava Gardner is the other main draw, and she's fantastic as the potentially dangerous Kitty Collins. Lancaster and O'Brien are both great, and Albert Dekker, Sam Levene, Vince Barnett and Jack Lambert portray a number of very memorable supporting characters, with Lambert particularly memorable as the gruff 'Dum-Dum' Clarke.

Finding out the events that led up to the opening killing is a very interesting and entertaining journey. The twists and turns may not be entirely unpredictable, especially nowadays, but the whole thing is tightly put together and never feels implausible or illogical.

Lancaster may seem to be a bit too much of a schmuck at times, but the world of film noir is full of schmucks, proving time and time again that there's a sucker born every minute. But, then again, who wouldn't risk being a sucker to stay in the good favour of the gorgeous Ava Gardner?

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Film-Noir-Collection-Kirk-Douglas/dp/B000UWXM1C/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1383510857&sr=1-1&keywords=film+noir+box+set