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Alias Nick Beal

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1949 / 1.33:1 / 93 Min.

Starring Ray Milland, Audrey Totter

Cinematography by Lionel Lindon

Directed by John Farrow

The most sinister light comedian in Hollywood, Ray Milland was never more charming than when he was fixing to cut your throat. In John Farrow’s Alias Nick Beal, the actor dropped that two-faced mask to play an unambiguous villain—Nicholas Beal, a well-tailored but malevolent entity who makes his first appearance from behind a curtain of fog. As we begin to understand the tricky Mr. Beal, we realize that it isn’t fog swirling round his shoulders, it’s sulfur, billowing up from a pit of brimstone. Unfortunately Joseph Foster, an ambitious district attorney, understands it too late. When Foster decides to run for governor, Beal materializes to offer his own kind of campaign advice. Beal’s plan comes with a high price tag but he makes...

Your weekly fix of great movies made before you were born that you should check out before you die. All this month, Old Ass Movies will be celebrating the 103rd anniversary of Bette Davis‘s birthday. The iconic film star acted in far too many movies to care to count, but it seems as though she’s been reduced to a pair of eyes in popular culture. She’s the subject of a 80s pop tune, not the star that she should be recognized for being, and that needs fixing. This is our last week of exploration, and even though we’re not ending on the last film in Davis’s career (or even her last iconic role), we’re ending on the last time a character matches the actress. She would go on to such triumphs as Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Hush…, Hush Sweet Charlotte and Return to Witch Mountain (seriously), but Bette Davis playing...