The Web
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
Ella Raines
Noel Faraday
Edmond O'Brien
Bob Regan
William Bendix
Lt. Damico
Vincent Price
Andrew Colby
Maria Palmer
Martha Kroner
John Abbott
Charles Murdock
Fritz Leiber
Leopold Kroner
Howland Chamberlain
James Nolan (as Howard Chamberlin)
Tito Vuolo
Emilio Canepa
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
I'm a lawyer not a bodyguard. The Web is directed by Michael Gordon and collectively written by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser and Harry Kurnitz. It stars Edmond O'Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix and Vincent Price. Music is by Hans J. Salter and cinematography by Irving Glassberg. A good and solid film noir from one of the golden years of the film making style. Plot pitches O'Brien as a small time lawyer, who after impressing crafty businessman Vincent Price with his commitment to his work, gets hired as a minder since Price is worried about an old associate who has apparently issued a death threat. Sure enough all is not as it seems and before long O'Brien finds himself under scrutiny for the death of the associate. The writing isn't great as per the twists and turns, they are all signposted and lit up in bold letters, yet this is a small complaint because the fun is in the characterisations and the scripted dialogue. O'Brien has the quips and bravado, Raines the sexy smoulder and Price the weasel machinations. Bendix as a good cop is a little too out in the periphery of things to truly impact on the narrative in the way his fans would like, but his scenes with O'Brien are a joy and sparkle with prickly sarcasm, while Gordon and Glassberg bring the film noir style via the requisite amount of shadow play and camera tilts (love those slats and balustrades). Nifty noir tech credits cosy up with a likable hero, a sassy femme, a slimy villain and big bad Billy Bendix = Score! 7/10
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder while looking out her bedroom window.
A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine, and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin, team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, who is Martin's wife.
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Remake of the 1931 Fritz Lang original. In the city, someone is murdering children. The Police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.
An insurance man wishing for a more exciting life becomes wrapped up in the affairs of an imprisoned embezzler, his model girlfriend, and a violent private investigator.
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Ex-con turned private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Kathleen Stewart, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.