Fox Film Noir, Wave Two
House of Bamboo (July 18/05)
House of Bamboo is a gritty, surprisingly violent little film from acclaimed director Samuel Fuller, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Robert Stack stars as Eddie Spanier, a military officer who must go undercover as a seedy criminal to infiltrate a ruthless gang of thieves operating out of Tokyo. His primary target is their leader, Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan), a charismatic criminal who has come to believe that his group is unstoppable (this is partly due to his policy to kill injured cohorts, in order to prevent them from talking to the police). There's also a subplot revolving around Eddie's relationship with Mariko (Shirley Yamaguchi), a widower whose husband was killed by Sandy during a high-profile robbery. It's that aspect of House of Bamboo that drags the film down, as it's melodramatic and dull; Fuller spends far too much time in the movie's midsection dealing with their relationship, resulting in a number of sequences that are completely superfluous (exemplified by a pointless scene in which Mariko makes Eddie breakfast). Having said that, the positives here outweigh the negatives - ie Fuller's fluid camerawork, the action-packed conclusion, Stack's tough-as-nails performance, etc - and you just have to admire the idiocy of Sandy's elaborate but incompetently-executed scheme to get back at Eddie.
out of
Nightmare Alley (July 23/05)
Based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley casts Tyrone Power as Stanton Carlisle - a low-level carny who eventually learns enough tricks of the trade to go out on his own. It's not long before he's calling himself The Great Stanton and pulling in high-profile audiences - but things begin to get out of hand once Stanton begins seeing an unscrupulous psychiatrist named Lilith Ritter (Helen Walker), leading to an expectedly grim finale (this is a film noir, after all). Despite a meandering opening half hour, Nightmare Alley eventually becomes entertaining enough; this is particularly true of a fascinating sequence about midway through the film, in which Stanton - using the various tricks he's picked up - convinces a police officer not to arrest him. Unfortunately, the movie's dramatically uneven storyline becomes more and more pronounced as it progresses - something that's exacerbated by the increasingly heavy-handed, overly talky tone. Still, Nightmare Alley is worth a look, if only for Power's engaging, electrifying performance.
out of
The Street with No Name (July 22/05)
In The Street with No Name, Mark Stevens stars as Gene Cordell - an up-and-coming FBI agent who is ordered to go undercover and infiltrate a gang of criminals, led by the ruthless Alec Stiles (Richard Widmark). Cordell, now called George Manly, buddies up to Stiles, eventually gaining his trust - though it's clear that some of Stiles' men have their suspicions about the new guy. Though The Street with No Name features a few conspicuously dated elements (particularly the gruff, overly emphatic narrator), the film remains engaging thanks to some expectedly hard-bitten dialogue and Widmark's charismatic, sinister performance. Widmark is so effective, in fact, that Stevens - though he's far from terrible - can't help but come off as bland in comparison. It's interesting to note that just a few years after its release, The Street with No Name would be remade by Sam Fuller as House of Bamboo (see above). While both films share key story details - including a violent showdown between the two central characters - Fuller's addition of an entirely needless romantic subplot ensures that The Street with No Name will generally be remembered as the better film.
