Michael_Elliott New Orleans After Dark (1958) * 1/2 (out of 4) A woman is brutally murdered and soon afterwards another is. Two cops get involved to try and track down the murderers and soon they discover a drug racket.NEW ORLEANS AFTER DARK is an extremely low-budget movie that doesn't have too much going for it. I don't think it's fair to call this a "B" movie because the budget, look and style of the picture is more along the lines of a "C" or "D" movie. The movie appears to have been shot silent and the narration, sound effects and vocal work added in much later. The film has an very cheap feel to it and in all honesty it just doesn't work on any level.The biggest problem with this film is that there's simply nothing overly interesting going on. The film starts off with a pretty bloody murder, which has a bit more blood than you'd typically see but after this it's all by-the-numbers. None of the criminals are entertaining and I'd argue that the detectives are even less entertaining. There's certainly no drama or tension to be had and everything just has a very cheap look and feel to it.

XhcnoirX After a nightclub dancer is murdered, detectives Stacy Harris and Louis Sirgo are put on the case. They find a suspect who matches a description given, but then the real killer strikes again. This last murder was seen by a musician however, and both the detectives, as well as the killer, are trying to find him. Before the killer gets his shot at the musician, Harris & Sirgo kill him. But they realize the killer was part of a larger heroin-smuggling ring, using cigars to stash the merchandise in, and they decide to go undercover in New Orleans's seediest district.The story is pretty basic and straight-forward with no real surprises, which is probably because this movie is essentially an entire episode of the short-lived TV series called 'N.O.P.D.', the episode called 'The Case Of The Missing Cigars', with additional scenes and plot lines added to make up for the longer time frame.If you look up the main actors and crew of this movie on IMDb, you'll find that most of them have very few, if any, credits outside of the 'N.O.P.D.' TV series and the movies that followed it (there's also 1962's 'Four In The Morgue'). Harris and Sirgo also starred in the TV series, but they're not exactly good actors. Heck, Sirgo was a cop in real life and never trained as an actor. Harris (who appeared in several 'Dragnet' episodes) is slightly better, but has a tendency to go over-the-top tough in his delivery of the somewhat hokey hard-boiled lines. The mobster behind the crime-ring, Wilson Bourg, gives the best performance, I was surprised that outside of this 'franchise' his only other credit is a bit part in 1950's 'Panic In The Streets' (which also takes places in New Orleans!).Despite its lack of budget and talent in front of the camera and in the writing department, this is a fairly entertaining movie. And the camera work by DoP Willis Winford and his team deserves praise. It makes great use of location shooting in New Orleans, and there are nice shadows and moody shots during the great-looking nighttime scenes. His work alone elevates this movie a notch, which is otherwise an entertaining but run-of-the-mill movie made on a shoestring budget. Not recommended, but oddly endearing, and worth watching for the visuals. 6+/10

filmnoirfilms-1 I recently watched this 1950 pot-boiler when I got it as a trade from another film noir collector. It's truly classic bad cinema - unknown and never going anywhere actors, hard-over-boiled dialog, minimalist acting, cheesy production values, poor film stock and a script that seems to have been put together on the fly. Nevertheless the direction and editing are not bad, on location shots of N.O. are excellent and the sleazy story is worth watching.Essentially two NOLA cops go under cover to track down a Mafia drug kingpin who has re-entered the country to sell "junk" to the prostitutes and "hopheads" on Bourbon Street. Highlights include a cowboy boot killer, assorted lowlifes, strippers being slap around and murdered by Mr. Big, cop beatings and colorful Negros playing and singing their hearts out.A train-wreck of a movie - highly recommended for us who love this stuff.