FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA; Somewhere in The Night

Ed here: The movie poster for Somewhere in The Night pretty well captures the dark storyline that director Joseph L. Mankiewicz brought to this noir tale set soon after the vets came back from the big war in 1946. Amnesia is the hook here, as its was in many novels and films of the time, but Mankiewicz ups the ante by using several surreal touches to reflect the confusion felt by protagonist John Hodiak.

Hodiak first has to find out who he is and then h find out if he's a murderer. It's a very slick and successful piece of work. One of the many perfectly staged scenes has a young Sheldon Leonard doing his Sheldon Leonard impression as a thuggish husband who may or may not have been cuckholded. Lloyd Nolan is third billed but that had to be his agent's doing because he isn't on screen that often. But when he is he's the pro he always is, slick and wry. Nancy Guild has a really cool voice, can act and is beautiful in a somewhat studied way. Hodiak could have become THE Cornell Woolrich actor the way Jason Robards became the Eugene O'Neill actor. There's a weakness, a panic in him that is common to all of Woolrich's men. He pretty much sweats all the way through the picture and there's a genuine hunted quality to everything he does

There's one especially moving scene when he comes across a somewhat older woman who is still in love with him. She's a very delicate actress and the gentle way he responds to her melancholy and sense of loss show the two to be kindred spirits.

As a story, it's relentless and just about perfectly wrought. Well worth seeing.


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FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA Comicbook Artist Storyboard Artist Illustrator

He's illustrating Nightmare Town by Dashiell Hammett and it's knockout work. As is everything else on his two websites. Check him out..

-for the rest go here:
http://pulpsunday.blogspot.com/2010/04/nightmare-town-it-begins.html
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