tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post2385831286314652496..comments2024-03-26T10:40:02.173-07:00Comments on Films From Beyond the Time Barrier: Not so Good Cop, Very Bad Cop: Shield for MurderBrian Schuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08463833554200343247noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post-7041821984479879002023-11-29T17:02:29.825-08:002023-11-29T17:02:29.825-08:00Escaping to the suburbs, owning a home with a whit...Escaping to the suburbs, owning a home with a white picket fence and having 2.5 children seems to be a recurring theme of '50s nostalgia, and at least these two films bear out that there was something to it. I haven't seen Tension in awhile, and had forgotten that this particular American dream cropped up in it too. Thanks for visiting!Brian Schuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08463833554200343247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post-89927357731424533942023-11-27T12:36:05.625-08:002023-11-27T12:36:05.625-08:00Thanks for the exceptional review of an overlooked...Thanks for the exceptional review of an overlooked (well, overlooked for me at least) noir! I need to seek this out. I couldn't help but notice that the theme of purchasing a tract house was a big point in another overlooked noir, Tension (1949), with Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter. I wonder how many times the theme of escaping the city for the suburbs has been employed? Just a thought... Barry P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11251536316431708240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post-20509572687323109972022-11-07T13:01:38.622-08:002022-11-07T13:01:38.622-08:00Hi John! The Jones scene is one of several that ar...Hi John! The Jones scene is one of several that are worthwhile, as is O'Brien's overall performance as his schemes backfire and he becomes increasingly unglued.Brian Schuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08463833554200343247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post-27414340268899075032022-11-07T09:21:01.042-08:002022-11-07T09:21:01.042-08:00Interesting review, brian!
DOA might be the only ...Interesting review, brian! <br />DOA might be the only film of Edmond O'Brien that I've seen! I may have to give this one a look at, if anything for the scene with Carolyn jones! John L. Harmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356443071657836985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post-40530541459297599982021-11-24T17:36:18.736-08:002021-11-24T17:36:18.736-08:00Yes, there was definitely a dark undercurrent to t...Yes, there was definitely a dark undercurrent to the supposed suburban bliss of those post-war years, and Hollywood's crime dramas tapped it very well. ANYONE was capable of the most heinous acts in order to score big. It wasn't "trust but verify," it was "trust no one." The poster and taglines for Shield do indeed go over the top, sensationalizing what turns out to be a pretty sophisticated (by Hollywood standards) portrait of a man having the mother of all breakdowns.Brian Schuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08463833554200343247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4846293972880517466.post-89463089546823069692021-11-24T12:17:58.796-08:002021-11-24T12:17:58.796-08:00"Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk" - ..."Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk" - any movie with a tagline like that has to have SOMEthing going for it, even if it does sound a bit like overkill. Both O'Brien and Jones were excellent actors (I think Jones was really underrated), and I always enjoy watching them. What I like about a lot of 1950s noirs is how grungy and cynical they were, as if daring to look under the flip side of the rock of 1950s culture. Many of them have downbeat endings (eg, Private Hell 36) that go against the grain of the decade's optimism, as if willing to look harder at the world around them.grandoldmovieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10773085288675763855noreply@blogger.com