Note: Buffs of classic Hollywood know that Raymond Burr played the murdering husband identified by apartment-bound James Stewart in Hitchcock’s Rear Window. But only hardcore readers who have somehow found their way to this blog know that before he landed the Perry Mason role in 1957 that was to be his ticket to immortality, Raymond Burr was the Prince of Noir.
Please
Murder Me
1956 / 1:20
Tagline: “You Are Going to Commit Another Murder...”
[internet archive]
Raymond Burr unexpectedly takes the lead role as a good guy, trustworthy and warm, though a movie-goer has to grant everybody has their shortcomings, since he’s got to tell his fellow Marine and war buddy, “My brother, your wife and I are in love.” His battle companion ends up shot dead by the wife Angela Lansbury. During her trial criminal lawyer Burr argues self-defense.
But the wife’s innocence is called into question. Burr is persuasive as he gradually realizes he’s being played for a fool. As fine an actress as she is, Lansbury still can’t do much with an underwritten part; the lines don’t allow her to be as persuasive compared to what she summoned for The Worst Mother in the World in The Manchurian Candidate.
This is an entertaining way to wile away 80 minutes on a cold winter’s evening. The gritty city streets and the opening sequence of “preparing the gun” fulfill our noirish expectations. Oddly enough, the poor quality of the print adds to the movie watching experience. The monochrome murkiness gives a feeling that we were watching the struggles of people abandoned by their Creator in a corrupt world of deception.
As for the connection with the Perry Mason TV series, veteran actors are Robert Griffin (perp twice) and Denver Pyle (victim once, accused twice, perp thrice).
No comments:
Post a Comment