Mexican cop Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) and his new American wife (Janet Leigh) are crossing the border into California as Orson Welles executes a 3 1/2-minute continuous crane shot, one […]
Terry Meehan Film Series—Film Noir in the Fifties: Cops, Commies & Corruption
Film Noir emerged as a popular cinematic style in the forties and continued well into the fifties when the cycle concluded late in the decade. The fall guys and femme fatales are still with us, but now joining the cast are corrupt cops, communist spies, cynical columnists and even a doomed accountant. Terry Meehan introduces each film with an original video followed by audience reaction and a lively discussion.
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
J. J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is a Walter Winchell-like columnist who abuses his power as though he were, well, Walter Winchell. Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) is a sycophantic press agent […]
Pickup on South Street (1953)
On a New York subway, FBI agents are shadowing Candy (Jean Peters), a femme fatale who is delivering stolen government microfilm to her communist boyfriend. Pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) […]
The Narrow Margin (1952)
Hardboiled detective Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) is assigned to protect a tough-as-nails gangster’s moll (Marie Windsor) from mobsters who want her silenced. On a train from Chicago to an L.A. […]
D.O.A. (1950)
A man walks through the long corridors of a police precinct until he finally reaches homicide headquarters. “I want to report a murder” he says. “Who was murdered?” they ask. […]