clanciai It's impossible to get at the mystery here. Like the three main suspects find themselves in a maze of trouble in having no idea of what is going on, so will the audience find themselves in hopeless bewilderment that just gets worse all the time for the towering confusion. At the same time, this film is hilariously witty and surprising all the way - the odd twists and turns of this outrageously baffling mystery never stop coming up with new surprises, while the greatest one awaits you in the end. There is a lot of house-breaking in this film, and none of the actors seem surprised or even to mind that people keep breaking in at midnight to keep them company in their bedroom. Victor Mature is the lead as the most harassed suspect, but Laird Cregar as the inspector general gets the better of the whole show - if ever you were troubled by nasty policemen, they will all appear like angels in comparison with this awesome smiling sadist, who enjoys subjecting you to interminable psychic torture, and he is sure to get you in the end - his record is perfect, there is not a trace of a flaw in his long career, and everyone hates him, including his fellow policemen, especially his chief. This policeman could make you hate all policemen forever. It's a fascinating character performance that you will never forget.Victor Mature is hardened enough by his long association with difficult people in publicity business to be able to cope with him endurably, while he scares both Betty Grable and Alan Mowbray. Elisha Cook is scary in the other direction, while the blonde sisters Betty Grable and Carole Landis are too pretty and easily carried away not to end up in trouble. Carole Landis is the beauty whom you only meet in flashbacks, while her sister is less convincing as a blonde bombshell - how could anyone fall in love with her? The main attraction and asset of the film is the brilliant script and story with a dialogue that will send you flying with delight over and over again. Everyone is witty, and the sparkling humour is a startling contrast to the sinister dark mystery of the murder, perfectly unsolvable, and yet the logic of the story couldn't be more impeccable and natural.

weezeralfalfa Quite a few reviewers complain that the title bears no connection with the screen play. As One reviewer wrote "It makes the film sound like a cheap horror film". A agree with these assessments. I suspect it was chosen as suggesting an enticing murder mystery: which it is.. .Several reviewers also question the appropriateness of "Over the Rainbow", as a frequent background song for a film noir. The lyrics(not included) emphasize a dream of a more exciting life. This certainly applied to Vicky(Carol Landis): the murdered girl, after she was encouraged to try becoming a glamour girl. Perhaps less obviously, it can apply to sister Jill(Betty Hutton) and promoter Frankie(Victor Mature) with regard to their growing relationship. It might even apply to the psychopathic police detective Cornell(Laird Cregar), who dreamed of marrying Vicki. Speaking of music, Carol gets to sing "The things I Love", whereas Betty's song: "Daddy" was deleted, but can be seen at YouTube.The cat and mouse game between Frankie and police detective Cornell constitutes the heart of the drama, along with identifying the killer. We learn that Cornell has 2 related obsessions: 1)marrying an unglamorized Vicki 2)pinning her murder on Frankie, who promoted her as a potential glamour girl, even though Cornell knows the identity of the real killer. Frankie and Jill have to discover the identity of the real killer for themselves. They got a confession out of a suspected killer by having Jill mimic over the telephone the voice of the supposed deceased Vicki. This freaks out the murderer, and Frankie, with some encouragement, gets a confession out of him(very unlikely).It's interesting that Vicky claimed that Jill was in love with Frankie. They both denied it, but later events would prove her right. Later, Frankie told Jill he didn't love Vicky, he just wanted to promote her new ambition to become a glamour girl, instead of only a waitress. Again, I don't believe that, because he was mighty upset when she said she was leaving for Hollywood. Seems like all the men loved her, and were upset that she was leaving. There was an odd episode where Jill was moving out of the apartment she had shared with Vicky. When she arrived home from work to pack her things, she was astonished to find that the front desk person had already packed them and had her suitcases ready to put in the taxi! I'm surprised she wasn't more angry. I can only assume that he wanted her gone as soon as possible for whatever reason. There are various other weird or improbable happenings, some of which are detailed by another reviewer. But, it's unusual not to have a few of these in this kind of film. For Carol Landis and Betty, this was a reunion, having costarred earlier in 1941 in the romantic musical "Moon Over Miami"....Neither Carol nor Cregar would live many more years. Cregar would die from complications from his crash diet, to try to change his image from a heavy heavy....Carol would nearly die of several tropical diseases while entertaining the troops overseas, never fully recovering her health. The remainder of her short life reads much like that of Marilyn Monroe in her later years. She had numerous short marriages and affairs, but was unable to complete a pregnancy due to endometriosis. With her film carrier in limbo, and in debt, Rex Harrison's ending of their affair was the last straw, and she finally succeeded in killing herself, after several failed attempts. The B&W copy shown at YouTube is in excellent condition. Also , available as a DVD or Blue Ray.

dougdoepke Studio thick ear doesn't come any slicker than this. It's TCF's second unit hitting on all eight cylinders, from casting to directing to story telling, all expertly done. And that's despite the dismal comic book title.So who killed fun-loving Vicki (Landis). Could it be the blonde lovely's visual opposite, the dark featured Frankie (Mature). Probably not since he's the male lead. More likely, it's scrawny fall-guy Elisha Cook as the hotel deskman. After all, Cook's taken more movie dives than a washed up boxer. But don't forget the snobbish gossip columnist (Joslyn) or the hammy actor (Mowbray). Frankie sure better figure it out because gruesome cop Cornell (Cregar) has him slated for the kind of seat you don't get up from.The photography's early noir all the way. Catch the many interesting shadowy angles, especially with the thick featured Cregar. Too bad he died so young (crash diet) because there's been no one since who could project such hulking decadence. Speaking of unfortunate early deaths, Landis sparkles in her lively role. Too bad she too left us early, apparently from a broken heart. Here, she and Grable really do look like sisters.Anyhow, the whole thing is really smoothly done, in a way that keeps you riveted to the screen, including the lighter moments with a well calibrated Joslyn and Mowbray. All in all, it's Hollywood slicksters at their professional best.

ctomvelu1 War-time film noir has small-time promoter Frankie (Mature) accused of murdering a young client (Landis) just as she is leaving him for Hollywood. A brutish police inspector (Cregar) is convinced Frankie did the dastardly deed, and hounds him. The dead woman's sister (Grable), at first skeptical of Frankie, comes to believe him and helps him as the police tighten their net. It will be evident who the real murderer is from the moment he appears on screen, but the fun here is in following the tense cat and mouse game between Frankie and the obsessive inspector. Cregar steals every scene he is in. And pinup queen Grable ain't half-bad as the conflicted sister. Colorful supporting cast includes Alan Mowbray as a washed-up actor, William Gargan as a society columnist, Charles Lane as a florist, Morris Ankrum as an assistant DA and Elisha Cook Jr. as a front desk man. Well worth a look.