Better Late Then Never

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Insurance Fraud Investigator Dick Powell (John) is fed up with his life. He has a perfect wife in Jane Wyatt (Sue) and a son, a good job and everything is just the same - and it's stale. It's doing his head in. One day he arrives at the office and takes over a case from private investigator Raymond Burr (MacDonald) which involves retrieving goods from Lizabeth Scott (Mona). Her boyfriend Byron Barr (Smiley) bought her gifts with the proceeds of an insurance scam and he is currently serving time in jail for it. Still, Powell must do his job and take back anything bought with the proceeds of the crime. Just one problem, Lizabeth Scott is a babe and he falls in love with her. As does the thuggish Raymond Burr. That's all three male characters in love with the same girl and the boyfriend is due out of prison shortly.It's an ok film that doesn't quite make it into the definite solid good category but it's worth a watch and keeping onto for a future viewing. The cast are good apart from Barr who isn't. He overacts. The film has a message of forgiveness and puts forward the reality that everything in life just doesn't get neatly resolved. It scores a point for that and this gives Wyatt her best moments.What do you do if you are fed up with the way your life is going? Don't do what Powell does. Just stick with that well-paid job and crack on. Then you can dream of a lovely retirement. Err...........on second thoughts.......break free...go for it......! This film hints that things may work out ok even if you screw up.

Right down the middle noir! A very simple tale of jealousy, desire, and longing over a girl who, of course, has a dark side. Played by Lizabeth Scott, the femme fatale delivers stinging lines in the most stylish fashion. Powell is also great and so is the rest of the cast. Some nice scenes indicative of the noir aesthetic with Powell driving home the alienated feeling amidst an unconcerned metropolis backdrop. If you like noir, this is a decent one. You really can't ever go wrong with Scott.

Why are descriptions of this movie so damned inaccurate? Forget film noir. This is *not* film noir. What this is, really, is a stalker movie. One of the first ones ever. Dick Powell has a lovely family but he's bored, so he goes and has a brief but intense fling with Lizbeth Scott. Raymond Burr, who loves Scott, tries to scare him away, then he starts stalking her. Constantly. Then he befriends Scott's former boyfriend, a volatile ex-con, and fills his ears with poison so he'll murder Dick Powell. The guy doesn't succeed, but that doesn't mean things don't end tragically for all concerned. Hardy a perfect crime film, but still worth seeing.

Though many people deem this late 40s film a "film noir" it has only a passing resemblance to the classic noir films. There is a basically good guy (Dick Powell) who is led astray by a woman (Liz Scott) but she's not exactly the femme fatale we expect. There is a bad guy (Raymund Burr) but he is alone and there is not the usual assorted character actors comprising his gang. The star is an insurance agent, but the beat is not the naked city but the bright and shiny suburbs. Even worse, there is no rain, no back streets, very few night shots, and at the end, the hero doesn't get what one comes to expect from a classic film noir. Film noir it ain't, at least not in the classic sense.Director Andre de Toth (1913-2002) is best known for "House of Wax" and his westerns, although he did do a classic film noir ("Crime Wave" in 1954) and many of his films did have noir elements, probably as a result of his European film background. The film does have a film noir cinematographer, Harry J. Wild (1901-61) who shot such classics as "Murder My Sweet" (1944) and "Cornered" (1945), both of which starred Powell.If you're looking for classic film noir, look elsewhere.