downahatch

As a teen in the 80's I used to watch The Uncle Floyd Show and the Joe Franklin Show on WGN out of New York. Joe was like no other talk show host. If his guests were a ballerina and a dentist, he would ask the dentist about ballet. If he had a rock band on, rather than have them.perform or lip sync, he would play one of their records and flip through photographs either before or after asking their opinion of 40's singer Russ Colombo. He talked about Russ Colombo every night. Joe was an aficionado of early 20th century culture and he would subject his guests to a trivia quiz every night. The questions were invariably about songs and movies of the 30's and 40's and Joe would answer all the questions. You never knew who you'd see on there because he'd been on the air so long many celebrities had grown up with him. An utterly unique television pioneer.

Forget the generic title, this is one noir you don't want to miss. Based on Sam Fuller's novel The Dark Page (more fitting title), the film explores the junction of jaded cynicism and sociopathy and is gripping from the beginning. The black and white cinematography grabs you first, it leaps off the screen. Broderick Crawford is a terrific sweaty mess, and John Derek and Donna Reed generate considerable heat at arm's length. The plot is intricate but never confusing or implausible. Eye-opening scenes abound but the collection of character actors brought in to portray the local alcoholics must be seen to be believed. It's gritty and lurid but also one of the most entertaining film noirs I've ever seen.

Rod Taylor is terrific here as John McDonald's anti-hero Travis McGee, a performance that borders on parody but never crosses the line. Like all private dicks in the movies, he sticks his nose where it doesn't belong, drinks to excess, beds a couple women and gets pummeled, most notably by Big Bill Smith as a muscle-bound psychopath. No matter, he maintains his casual demeanor even when he's bleeding all over the place. He has a rich and knowledgeable friend, played by Theodore Bikel, to help him out of plot holes but I had to wonder what was in it for him.

The soundtrack and location shots have a TV-movie feel to them but otherwise this is an enjoyably gritty 70's crime flick.