Product Description

Lucille Ball has a change of pace role as the loyal secretary of a private eye in this brooding film noir about a man being set up for a murder rap. Framed by his partner years ago, hard-boiled detective Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) served a two year stretch for manslaughter. Now trying to start over, he spends his time serving his clients and romancing his new secretary, Kathleen (Lucille Ball). But everything changes with the appearance of a sinister man in a whit suit (William Bendix) who's apparently working for Galt's ex-partner, Tony Jardine. When Jardine is killed, the police blame Galt. It's another frame, but if Galt can't prove he's innocent, this time he's headed for death row.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12240 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-12-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 99 minutes

Amazon.com
The Dark Corner can't seriously be proposed as a great film noir, but it's one that people cherish. For one thing, it's unique in having Lucille Ball--who has absolutely no "splainin'" to do--as the smart, resourceful, devoted secretary of beleaguered private eye Mark Stevens. Lucy actually rates top billing, with Clifton up-to-his-old-Laura-tricks Webb and William vicious-brute-in-a-white-suit Bendix also getting their names above that of the hero in the credits. In this, there's a certain justice; they all deliver the goods, whereas Stevens seems a tad lightweight as the hardnose, Phil Marlowe type cracking wise and punching his way through the mean streets. His character comes burdened with more backstory than usual for movie detectives; this time, the case the private eye has to solve is his own. The intriguingly convoluted screenplay (by Jay Dratler, who co-wrote Laura, and Bernard Schoenfeld, from a story by Leo Rosten) takes hold like a vise and sustains the tension even though, by rights, its credibility should be shrinking with each passing reel. Henry Hathaway's direction is crisp, and the cinematography by Joe MacDonald (who would next shoot John Ford's My Darling Clementine) is both pungent and gorgeous. With Cathy Downs, Kurt Kreuger, and Reed Hadley, who plays a police detective here but more often supplied the voiceover on Fox's semidocumentary thrillers and Anthony Mann's T-Men. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Fun Film Noir!
Good performances and a good film noir movie for Mark Stevens and Lucille Ball. Has a great cast!

Good noir, but could have been much better
"Dark Corner" is a perfect example of a B noir: strong in parts (gorgeous cinematography, some good acting, effective writing) but weak in others (sloppy editing at times, Clifton Webb's pallid re-creation of "Laura"'s Waldo Leidecker, and an ending that seems tacked on). But even with the inconsistent quality, there are unexpected pleasures to be found, as in most noir films. Among my favorites: the snappy, natural way Mark Stevens and Lucille Ball flirt on their first date; the grace-note humor in several scenes (e.g. an eavesdropping movie cashier, the weird little girl with the slide whistle); a brief but satisfying encounter with jazzman Eddie Heywood.

I like "Dark Corner", but it cries out for the extra care that a bigger budget would have provided. Oh well, they can't all be "Laura"!

A Great Little Noir
A private dick in deep trouble, a beautiful secretary, Clifton Webb is
playing his role to the hilt and there seems to be no way out for our de-
tective hero. Plenty of dark atmospheric background.
This movie has everthing you need for a thrilling nights entertainment
in the "Dark City". It's a well acted and perfectly paced story seasoned with action and some surprisingly stark violence.
The DVD is crisp and clear, excellent video and sound quality. I liked
the commentary that comes on the dvd and find this to be a movie every noir fan should own.