Directed by:
Tay GarnettScreenplay:
Niven BuschCinematography:
Sidney WagnerComposer:
George BassmanCast:
Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, Audrey Totter, Jeff York, Byron Foulger, Jeffrey Sayre, Harold Miller, Frank Mayo (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
The sign outside the roadside diner says Man Wanted. Drifter Frank Chambers knows the sign has more than one meaning when he eyes pouty, luminous Cora, the much-younger bride of the diners proprietor. Based on the same-titled novel by James M. Cain, this quintessential film-noir classic combines studio-system gloss with Cains hard-bitten tale of murderous attractions. John Garfield and Lana Turner give career-benchmark performances as Frank and Cora, illicit lovers who botch a first attempt to bump off Coras hubby, pull it off, betray each other at trial and yet wriggle free. But their volatile tale does not end there. As the films metaphorical title indicates, fate is sure to ring again. (Warner Bros. AU)
(more)Reviews (2)
It's relative, but there are times when even Lana is able to please. Yet I must be overwhelmed by the obligatory screenings outside my genre. Then again, even iconic noir can dazzle just by the way Lana wears all those white costumes and only exceptionally dons black... As a whole, the film is extremely overcomplicated, but it has an excellent atmosphere and absolutely ideal performances. I'm looking at you, Leon Ames.
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I can't help it, but I was really expecting much more here. First of all, it's Lana Turner, who just didn't click with me, and because of that, I didn't really enjoy the whole movie. The performances are not something that impressed me here at all. The source material seems good, the story itself is not bad, but this execution, I really don't consider it exceptional.
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