The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
by Henry Hathaway
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Actor: Clifton Webb, Kurt Kreuger, Lucille Ball, Mark Stevens, William BendixDirector: Henry Hathaway
Brand: Fox
Cinematographer: Joseph MacDonald
Editor: J. Watson Webb Jr.
Producer: Fred Kohlmar
Writer: Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Writer: Jay Dratler
Writer: Leo Rosten
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
DVD Review: From Prison to the Dark City. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire.
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Dark Corner" was released in 1946 as the film noir movement was approaching its peak. This is hard-core film noir with chiaroscuro lighting and fatalistic themes expressed through existential alienation. It is based on a short story by Leo Rosten that was published in "Good Housekeeping" magazine. Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) has established himself as a private investigator in New York after spending 2 years in prison for manslaughter. He has hired a friendly, loyal secretary, Kathleen (Lucille Ball), and opened his doors to clients. But Galt is being followed by a man in a white suit (William Bendix). When Galt confronts the man, he caves in to a beating and spills the name of his client. The White Suit says that Anthony Jardine (Kurt Krueger), Galt's former business partner, ordered the tail. Jardine was the man who framed Galt for manslaughter. Jardine denies knowing anything about the man in the White Suit, but he is unwittingly mixed up in Galt's problem. Jardine's affair with Mari (Cathy Down), the young wife of wealthy art dealer Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb), is more trouble than he knows.
Bradford Galt epitomizes the film noir protagonist. He is introverted, laconic, fatalistic, paranoid, and unable to shake his past. He was locked in prison for 2 years through no fault of his own. Then he was freed into a world of amoral characters, from street thugs to erudite aristocrats, who do whatever it takes to advance their own agendas. No matter how smart he plays it, Galt has no more control of his fate than he did in prison. He sees it coming: "I got a feeling something is closing in on me. I don't know what it is." And when doom shows itself: "I feel all dead inside. I'm backed up in a dark corner. And I don't know who's hitting me." Mark Stevens has a classic deadpan delivery, but, unlike some noir protagonists, the strain shows in more than just his brow. Galt gets pretty nerve-racked. He's a steely guy, but he appreciates his smitten secretary Kathleen's optimism, practicality, and industriousness. She's a no-nonsense gal, one of film noir's many helper-heroines whose level head and objectivity bolster the persecuted protagonists.
Clifton Webb plays the same role here that he did in 1944's "Laura": a refined older man whose obsessive love for a young beautiful woman -or for her image- overcomes all reason and compels him to do anything it takes to keep her. It's too bad his lines aren't as sharp as in "Laura". But no one played this role better than Clifton Webb, so I don't suppose there is any reason he shouldn't reprise it. Fans of 1940s cinema will recognize the name of Reed Hadley in the credits. Hadley's unforgettable voice delivered the stentorian narrations on several docudramas in the 1940s. We get to see his face in "The Dark Corner". He plays police Lieutenant Reeves, who periodically checks up on ex-con Bradford Galt. I don't know why Hardy Cathcart didn't simply pay Jardine to abandon his interest in Mari. And I don't know how Cathcart would know that Jardine framed Galt. The glaring illogic in Carthcart's motivation puzzled me. But Bradford Galt's predicament is deliciously cynical, entertaining, archetypal film noir.
The DVD (20th Century Fox 2006): There is a theatrical trailer (2 ½ min) and a worthwhile audio commentary by film noir historians Alain Silver and James Ursini. The commentary is nearly constant and provides technical details, background on Mark Stevens' career, analysis of the Galt and Cathcart characters and the relationship between Kathleen and Galt, comments on merging the footage shot on the studio lot with the 2nd unit footage shot on location, the chiaroscuro lighting, contrast between lavish production design for Cathcart's world and the grittiness of Galt's world, plot, and themes. Subtitles are available for the film in English and Spanish.
Description of The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
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