A silly film
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ilpohirvonen — 13 years ago(March 30, 2013 03:30 PM)
I don't know why people feel the need to complain about the silliness of noir films. To me it's cinematic poetry. Visual aesthetics, milieu and atmosphere are more important than story lines. The plot becomes less and less important. I found the self-hypnosis scene extremely intriguing and captivating. The close-up of the mirror really got to me.
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mojo2004 — 12 years ago(May 22, 2013 05:53 AM)
I saw this on TCM yesterday and thought it was one of THE dumbest movies ever.
When the film first came on I thought Korvo was a doctor? He wasn't! Why the hell was Ann seeing him if she felt she needed help?
In a second someone has concluded exactly what happened-that Ann was hypnotized and sent to the victim's home.
Once Korvo had the recordings why didn't he destroy them?
Why didn't Sutton give them to the police immediately knowing they could help his wife?
Ann going back & forth with telling her husband what happened is easily one of the most annoying scenes in a movie ever! She hasn't told him one thing yet she starts screaming about him not believing her!
The detective changing his mind in the middle of the night was ..???
This movie was a mess!
Richard Conte wasn't believable as the doctor and jumped off the screen as the gigolo hypnotist even though he wasn't. While Ferer should have been cast as Dr Sutton.
Sheldon:"Was the starfish wearing boxer shorts? Because you might have been watching Nickelodeon." -
mam13143 — 10 years ago(October 15, 2015 08:39 AM)
Watching it now and the biggest flaw is the fact that Korvo has the records and doesn't destroy them. ????? That makes no sense for a guy who was so good at figuring out all the angles. Then he goes back out of the hospital bed to listen to them. Crazy. Only crazier than the cop bringing everyone to his house in the middle of the night (he had the key?) lol. Really falls apart at the end.
Otherwise you have to remember that back then people believed a lot of the hypnotism stuff. Have to say that Tierney and Conte were not on par with Ferrer either, at least in this film. Still, watched the film to the end mostly because of Lorre. -
marbleann — 12 years ago(June 24, 2013 04:49 PM)
I liked the flick. And people commenting on Richard Conte playing a doctor. Well in my experience doctors act like everyone else. I am not sure what a doctor is suppose to act or look like. I had a doctor who saved my life and he looked like he just left Woodstock. So I am not sure why Conte is so bad playing a doctor.
Years ago people were really into that mind reading occult stuff. Especially the rich. So I can see the hypnotist being treated like a star. Heck we do that today with those nut cases who believe they talk to the dead. But I did think he was a doctor at first. She had problems anyway and she was venerable for a shyster like that hypnotist.
There was a Columbo episode like this. A deadly State of Mind Leslie Ann Warrren and George Hamilton was in it. and the plot was almost the same. But in this case it was the Warrens husband who was killed and she took the blame for it though. Geroge Hamilton's character was the famous hypnotist and she was his patient/lover/. Columbo was a very good show. And this movie came out long before Columbo -
Ironman54 — 12 years ago(March 10, 2014 08:31 AM)
I lost it when Ferrer announces, in front of strangers, that socialite whats his name (prince whatever) has made a recent suicide attempt - Ferrer even takes the mans arm and shows those assembled (including this mans new bride) the cuts on his wrist from the suicide attempt (not to mention a 'diagnosis' of manic/depressive and violent). To top it off, the man confirms these are all accurate and and he is delighted to have this told revealed about him !! WTH ??
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franzkabuki — 9 years ago(January 04, 2017 11:11 AM)
Tierney and Bickford were very good as well and Conte in his straight-forward, even somewhat wooden performance anchored the thing emotionally. It's got believable dialogue and characters up to a point, and Preminger's direction gives things a reasonable sense of gravity until the bottom falls out in the final lap. Up until then, it's a very watchable noir.
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan -
Woodyanders — 10 months ago(May 28, 2025 12:14 AM)
Yeah, the story is pretty implausible, but the uniformly excellent acting compensates for said implausibility. Jose Ferrer in particular makes for a deliciously slimy villain.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything.