Rent The Dark Corner (1946)

The Man in a White Suit - The Dark Corner review by CH

“I'm going to play it by the book, I'm not even going to trip over a comma.” So private investigator (Mark Stevens) informs a police detective (Reed Hadley) after relocating from San Francisco to a rundown New York office with the sound and sight of the elevated railroad a few yards away. Oh, and between times, he has been in stir, stitched up by former business partner, a suave Kurt Kreuger.

He is, evidently, used to the rough and tumble of his trade. In adding to this, The Dark Corner (1946) plays by the noir book, with many commas along the way. Here are such noir tropes as shadows, staircases, wet streets, venetian blinds, outstretched nylons – and a jazz band (a chance to see Eddie Heywood).

What one might not expect to be part of these captivating chapters is Lucille Ball. First seen at desk with the word private in reverse on her side of the glazed office door, she is the newly-hired secretary to Stevens with scant knowledge of what his work involves.

She is set to learn far more as the elements of the plot cohere and her fast typing is outpaced by her talking: wisecracks are as much in Manhattan's water supply as its gin joints. Stevens's erstwhile partner has not gone away but is entangled with the wife of a Fifth Avenue art dealer so elegantly sinister that Clifton Webb was best placed to play the rôle. He and Lucy do not get to share a scene; that would be too heady a cocktail, especially one with an ingredient which is William Bendix: outsize, he sports a white suit which makes him an even more obvious tail as Stevens goes about the next job: saving his own life.

All this is accomplished with style, even if the film could have lost some of its running time to regain the spirit of its inspiration: a story by Leo Rosten which had appeared in Good Housekeeping. Goodness knows who plays a briefly-glimpsed taxi driver but he taught me more than any of his cohorts have done: the phrase “to take a brodie”, which, I find, means to endure a fall.

Forties Noir. - The Dark Corner review by Steve

This golden age film noir begins inauspiciously but develops into a pretty exciting thriller. The early scenes feel like they are made up of other better noirs. The pessimistic, wisecracking gumshoe with an office bottle is pure Raymond Chandler. And Clifton Webb duplicates his role from Laura (1944) to the extent of actually repeating dialogue.

Henry Hathaway starts in the documentary style he often adopted after WWII with a location shoot around New York. But later on we get some classic noir photography. The familiar Fox library music (first used in Street Scene in 1931) gives way to ambient sound. And a decent plot kicks in about the PI getting framed for murder.

Mark Stevens is too lightweight for the tough detective but Lucille Ball delivers as his girl Friday. Webb as a rich jealous, art dealer is a limited actor, though Cathy Downs is an unexpected bonus as the sexy bad girl married to his money, but playing around. William Bendix is authentically brutal as the hired muscle paid to do the dirty work.

Leo Rosten's narrative about an innocent man trying to clear his name with the assistance of a resourceful, lovestruck colleague evokes Cornell Woolrich. And like his stories, this film noir has aged well. The familiarity becomes part of the pleasure. The genre archetypes and the crimes that connect the rich with the underworld always seem to engage.