John Alton Films Noir
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- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsConrad VeidtTrude von MoloHeinrich GeorgeThe Marquis de Sévigné is put in a difficult position when he falls for the lovely Lady Falkland, a married woman whose husband, the strict Lord Falkland, subjects her to constant abuse.
- DirectorJohn AltonLuis SaslavskyStarsLibertad LamarqueAngelina PaganoAgustín IrustaNina Miranda leaves after spending 20 years imprisoned for a murder that she insists she did not commit and recalls the time of her youth. He remembers the boyfriend who chose his love despite the threat of his millionaire aunts to disinherit him if he married the artist. Her brother Vividor, pressed her to continue acting but her boyfriend was strict: the theater or me, and she agrees to leave his profession. Already married, Nina thinks she is abandoned because of a misunderstanding caused by her brother and returns to the theater, where she sings the tango, La morocha, even though she knows she can provoke a scandal. There is a fight between her husband and brother during which the latter wields a revolver and she accidentally kills her husband and is doomed because they do not believe his version. Already free, when a criminal shoots his son, who ignores that it is his mother, to steal it, she interposes and receives the shot. His son holds up his arms and orders that the door of the family mansion that has always been closed be opened and there dies happy.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsVera RalstonRichard ArlenErich von StroheimDeresco, owner of a night club in neutral Portugal, works as a free-lance spy for everybody who can afford his price. He tries to get information from US agent John Craig with help from immigrant dancer Maritza, but she falls in love with him. Craig becomes a special guest at Deresco's casino, but there you can't be sure of the occupation of everybody, as well as in their political intentions.
- DirectorAlfred ZeislerStarsClaudia DrakeWolfgang ZilzerDonald WoodsYoung Dr. Paul Joseph Göbbels, an unsuccessful playwright, is forced, in order to support himself, to take a position as tutor in the household of Herr Quandt. His first attempt to force himself upon women comes when he becomes interested in a young actress, Maria Brandt, daughter of Colonel Brandt at whose home he is lodging. He is driven from the house by Colonel Brandt. That night, acting as an usher for a meeting of the new German Socialist Party, Göbbels hears Hitler speak, and becomes an ardent follower. He is made propaganda head, becomes known as the "Scoundrel of Berlin", and his machinations strike terror into the hearts of innocent girls. Maria Brandt, who is working as a bit player in a theater in Hannover, again meets Göbbels. Through his efforts, although unknown to her, Maria is made an overnight star. He then procures a contract for her at the famous UFA studios of Berlin. Maria, who has become interested in a young doctor, Hans Traeger, shuns the attention on Göbbels.
- DirectorGeorge ArchainbaudStarsLynne RobertsVirginia ChristineMarion MartinA college professor's well-bred daughter assumes the name of Jeanne Crail to date Earl Williams, a slick con artist who frames her for robbery. Rather than have her father find out about her plight, Jeanne confesses to the crime. Believing she is covering for a known criminal, the district attorney has Jeanne sent to a tough women's prison, where she comes to know fellow inmates Bernice, who pines for Smiley, her boyfriend on the outside; and Alma Vlasek, who awaits her execution for mistakenly killing a detective while lying in wait for her husband and his girlfriend. Jeanne tries to mail a letter to her father through the prison doctor, Gale Warren, but Warren refuses to go against regulations. Desperate, Jeanne breaks out of jail to be present at her father's induction ceremony as college president. Jeanne spends two days with her father and her attorney boyfriend Barton Sturgis before secretly returning to prison. Before she goes back, however, she manages to arrange to have letters sent to her father at regular intervals from a post office outside the prison. Upon her return to prison, Jeanne is punished for her escape, rousing the sympathy of Bernice, who finds out Bart's name and sends him a letter asking him to help Jeanne. Bart, who has been suspicious of Jeanne's abrupt disappearance, is confused by the letter, as he does not know who "Jeanne" is. Nevertheless he investigates and comes to the prison. In the meantime, when Smiley visits the prison and pays unwanted attention to Jeanne, Bernice is overcome with jealousy. She attacks Jeanne with a knife, which is later hidden from the matron, and Jeanne is accused of starting the altercation. Placed in solitary confinement, Jeanne is grilled about the whereabouts of the knife, while Bart meets with Dr. Warren to plead for help. Alma then discovers that Bernice is her husband's girl friend and kills her with the knife. Alma clears Jeanne of any involvement in the earlier knife fight, and with Bart's help, Jeanne is ultimately vindicated and freed.
- DirectorWilhelm ThieleStarsFrancis LedererGail PatrickAnn RutherfordThe sister of a murdered model poses for the same artist to try to catch her killer.
- DirectorGeorge BlairStarsDale EvansWarren DouglasJanet MartinStevie Carson, a newspaper reporter, and Denny Butler, the feature editor on the same newspaper, set out to track down a gang of literary forgers who are making a fortune off of selling fake first editions.
- DirectorW. Lee WilderStarsAlbert DekkerCatherine CraigCharles DrakeBanker Kenneth Holden (Albert Dekker) steals funds from an estate and decides to marry the heiress, Claire Worthington (Catherine Craig), to safeguard his position. He arranges for her fiancé to be killed but does not state the fiancé's name. Claire, meanwhile, has a change of heart and marries Holden, so he now becomes the target of the killer and attempts to cancel the deal--except he doesn't know who the hired killer is.
- DirectorBernard VorhausStarsCathy O'DonnellJune LockhartHugh BeaumontBarbara Carlin attends her own funeral and returns home suspecting that her husband, Rod Carlin, had tried to do away with her, and is also (rightfully) curious as to just who was the woman buried under her name. She learns that the victim was glamor girl Helen Lawrence, with whom her husband had been having an affair. Complications come from her sister Rusty, who, it turns out, is not her real sister and also doesn't like her a whole lot, and from a dim-witted prize fighter, George Mandley. The family attorney, Michael Dunn, stands around and provides little in the way of help or reason for being there, until...
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsDennis O'KeefeWallace FordAlfred RyderTwo U.S. Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsDennis O'KeefeClaire TrevorMarsha HuntJoe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) has taken the rap for Rick (Raymond Burr), who double-crosses him with a flawed escape plan and other means intended to get rid of him.
- DirectorCrane WilburStarsScott BradyJeff CoreyWhit BissellTwelve inmates plan a prison break from the Colorado State Penitentiary but one of them reluctantly joins the group.
- DirectorBernard VorhausStarsTurhan BeyLynn BariCathy O'DonnellOn the beach one night, Christine Faber, two years a widow, thinks she hears her late husband Paul calling out of the surf; then meets a tall dark man Alexis, who seems to know all about such things.
- DirectorSteve SekelyPaul HenreidStarsPaul HenreidJoan BennettEduard FranzPursued by the big-time gambler he robbed, John Muller assumes a new identity, with unfortunate results.
- DirectorAlfred L. WerkerAnthony MannStarsRichard BasehartScott BradyRoy RobertsThis film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a resourceful criminal who shoots and kills a cop.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsJohn PayneSonny TuftsEllen DrewWar hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsRobert CummingsRichard BasehartRichard HartRobespierrre, a powerful figure in the French revolution, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked for the guillotine.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsRicardo MontalbanGeorge MurphyHoward Da SilvaMexican and American federal agents tackle a vicious gang exploiting illegal farm workers in southern California.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsRicardo MontalbanSally ForrestBruce BennettA small-town policeman is assisted by a Harvard professor after the discovery of a human skeleton on a Massachusetts beach.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsRobert TaylorLouis CalhernPaula RaymondAfter the Civil War, a highly decorated Shoshone Indian veteran plans to raise cattle in Wyoming but white farmers plan to grab fertile tribal lands by pitting the whites against the Indians.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSpencer TracyPat O'BrienDiana LynnJim Curtayne, formerly a successful defense attorney who is now a recovering alcoholic, attempts a comeback when he defends a neighbor's son facing a homicide charge.
- DirectorDavid BradleyStarsGeorge MurphyNancy ReaganBilly GrayIn an idyllic setting, a likable but dangerously volatile twelve-year-old boy tries to settle a score with his disagreeable, mysterious neighbor.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsTeresa WrightMacdonald CareyDolores MoranLawyer defends migrant worker falsely accused of two murders.
- DirectorHarry EssexStarsBiff ElliotPreston FosterPeggie CastleDectective Mike Hammer is determined to catch and kill the person who shot his close friend dead, so he follows clues that lead to a beautiful, seductive woman.
- DirectorWalter DonigerStarsLouis HaywardJoanne DruPaul KellyA group of prisoners are planning an escape. They take hostages. Warden Duffy tries to convince one of the inmates that their plight is useless, and to give up.