Welcome! The lobby of the Deranged L.A. Crimes theater is open. Grab a bucket of popcorn, Milk Duds, a Coke, and find a seat.
Tonight’s feature is THE GLASS KEY [1935]], starring George Raft, Edward Arnold, and Claire Dodd.
Dashiell Hammett, author of THE GLASS KEY, and THE THIN MAN
Based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, THE GLASS KEY was remade in 1942, and starred Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd.
TCM says:
Crime boss Paul Madvig, who has been running the city for ten years, decides to reform and joins the campaign to re-elect Senator John T. Henry, whose daughter, Janet, Paul hopes to marry. When bibulous gang member Walter Ivans kills a man in a car accident, Paul refuses to help clear him. Paul then threatens gangster Shad O’Rory, who runs a gambling house called the Four-Leaf Clover, that he is going to close down his club and clean up the town.
Welcome! The lobby of the Deranged L.A. Crimes theater is open. Grab a bucket of popcorn, some Milk Duds and a Coke and find a seat.
Tonight’s feature is EYES IN THE NIGHT [1942], directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed and Friday (the dog–who plays himself and steals the show).
Enjoy the movie!
TCM says:
New York detective Duncan Maclain refuses to allow blindness to interfere with his work, which is aided by his faithful dog Friday, his butler, Alistair, and his assistant, Marty. One day, actress Norma Lawry, an old friend, visits Mac and asks him to help her prevent her stepdaughter Barbara from doing something foolish with actor Paul Gerente. Paul, a cad who had once been Norma’s lover, has convinced Barbara that Norma only married her father Stephen for his money. Mac tells Norma that she doesn’t need a “gumshoe” and suggests that she talk to Paul herself. Paul refuses to listen to Norma’s pleas and insists that he loves Barbara, who is appearing in a local theatrical production with him, even though she is only seventeen. That night, Stephen has to go away on a business trip to test a secret formula on which he has been working for the government. Because Norma is worried about Barbara, she decides not to accompany him and goes to Paul’s apartment. When Barbara arrives, she finds Paul’s dead body and thinks that Norma has killed him, even though Norma insists that he was dead when she arrived.
Welcome! The lobby of the Deranged L.A. Crimes theater is open. Grab a bucket of popcorn, some Milk Duds and a Coke and find a seat.
Tonight’s feature is SABOTEUR [1942], directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Norman Lloyd and Otto Kruger. This is a fantastic WWII era thriller by the master of suspense.
Enjoy the movie!
TCM says:
Munitions worker Barry Kane is falsely accused of setting fire to the Stuarts Aircraft Factory in Los Angeles, a fire that caused the death of his best friend, Ken Mason. Barry realizes that the real saboteur is Frank Fry, the man who handed him a fire extinguisher, which turned out to be full of gasoline. Remembering that Fry had an envelope addressed to him from the Deep Springs Ranch in Springfield, California, Barry goes there to find the killer, but the ranch’s owner, Charles Tobin, tells him that he does not know Fry. Tobin’s granddaughter, however, hands Barry a telegram addressed to Tobin from Fry stating that Fry is going to Soda City. Although Tobin has Barry arrested, Barry manages to escape from the police by jumping off a bridge.
I’ve been crazy busy the last couple of weeks so I slept right through Film Noir Friday! But the projector is back up and running, the popcorn machine is heating up and the sodas are chilled.
Put your feet up and get ready to enjoy a double feature.
Since it’s Sunday I thought it would be nice to offer a light weight film selection. So find a seat and join me in the Deranged L.A. Crimes screening room for a couple of WWII era BOSTON BLACKIE films starring Chester Morris.
Our first feature is ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE.
TCM says:
Prompted by the sentiment of Christmas, reformed safecracker Boston Blackie persuades the cast of a musical comedy company to help him entertain the inmates at his “alma mater,” the state prison. The stars of the troupe are Roggi McKay, the famous clown, and a young dancer, Eve Sands, whose brother, Joe Trilby, is an inmate at the institution. Eve is anxious to see her brother, who was jailed on false evidence and who now he seeks revenge on Duke Banton and cab driver Steve Caveroni, the two men who framed him.
TIME FOR INTERMISSION! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS–LET’S ALL GO TO THE LOBBY!
Now for our second BOSTON BLACKIE feature, AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE.
When Diamond Ed Barnaby is paroled from prison after serving a sentence for stealing diamonds, his fellow gang members, Joe Herschel, Sammy Walsh and Marty Beck, spring into action to reclaim the jewels. Anticipating trouble from Herschel and his gang, Diamond Ed tells his daughter Betty that he must leave town but will meet her at the Arcade Building on Friday. After retrieving the gems, Diamond Ed locks them in a safe deposit box at the Arcade Building, intending to give them to Betty. Several days later, a porter with a telegram for reformed jewel thief Boston Blackie pages him on a train. Inspector Farraday, Blackie’s nemesis, who is also a passenger on the train, identifies himself as Blackie and accepts the telegram.
Welcome! The lobby of the Deranged L.A. Crimes theater is open. Grab a bucket of popcorn, some Milk Duds and a Coke and find a seat.
Tonight’s feature is the KID GLOVE KILLER starring Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt, Lee Bowman and Samuel S. Hinds.
Enjoy the film!
TCM Says:
With the help of Gerald I. Ladimer, a slick young attorney, Mayor Daniels and Turnley, the district attorney are elected on a reform ticket to smash the rackets that have been dominating their city. Unknown to the new mayor and district attorney, Jerry is in league with underworld boss Matty, who has promised to back him for the United States Senate in return for political favors. When Jerry realizes that the district attorney is serious about instituting reform, he notifies Matty and soon after, the district attorney is found murdered.
The lobby of the Deranged L.A. Crimes theater is open. Visit our snack bar for a fizzy beverage, a big bag of popcorn and a candy bar.
Tonight’s feature is This Gun for Hire, a 1942 film noir, directed by Frank Tuttle and based on the novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene. The film stars Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd.
