The Line-Up – Above-average police procedural from 1958 from
Don Siegel. Eli Wallach is a killer/smuggler trying to recover a cache of
heroin, and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. A couple of veteran San
Francisco detectives (Marshall Reed and Emile Meyer) are hot on his tail. Like
most of Seigel’s work, this one is told without fluff or pretense – It’s just
good, straight-ahead storytelling. The film makes terrific use of the SF locale
with some great location shots, and culminates in a scintillating car chase on
an unfinished highway overpass. Recommended.
Moontide – Apart from a cool title, there’s not too much to
recommend about this 1942 Noir-ish entry from director Archie Mayo (who
replaced Fritz Lang at the helm). The great Jean Gabin made his Hollywood debut
as a party-loving drifter who may or may not have committed a murder during a
drunken binge. Ida Lupino plays a girl he rescues from a suicide attempt and
falls in love with. The film has an interesting premise, but unfortunately
doesn’t do much with it. The actual murderer is fairly obvious to anyone who
applies Roger Ebert’s Law of Economy of Characters, and after her life is
saved, the film forgets that Lupinos character was ever suicidal. Gabin is OK,
and the films’ climax on a windswept breakwater is nicely shot, but overall,
this one is a no.
Eva – Cool and cruel 1962 drama from the great Joseph Losey.
Stanley Baker plays a caddish writer who treats everyone he meets with distain,
all the while carrying a shattering secret. Jeanne Moreau plays a high end
prostitute who he becomes obsessed with. This one is interesting for the strange
chess game between the two leads. Bakers Tyvian is engaged to a beautiful, successful
woman who worships him, but is strangely drawn to the coldly sensual Eva, who
treats him with distain. There is an undercurrent of self-flagellation in
Tyvian's character, who is secretly a fraud. He seems to subject himself to Eva’s
abuses willingly, seemingly as some sort of penance. Not an easy film to warm
to, but worth the effort if you stick with it. Recommended.
