Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17442 in VHS
• Released on: 1989-09-23
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 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

My first Film noir!
This is the first film noir movie I ever watched and it hooked me on to the genre. It is a superb movie with it's assortment of characters that often populate the film noir genre. Lucille Ball was excellent as the trusting secretary! Another movie to see of Miss Ball's that displays her acting ability is the Big Street with Henry Fonda. Mark Stevens was an actor I had not heard of before. He was suprisingly very good in his role of Brad. Many people think this is the only film-noir done by William Bendix. It is not. He is also in The Big Steal with Robert Mitchum. Clifton Webb is always delightful and his presence in this movie makes you compare this and his other noir classic Laura. He plays the same kind of character - obbessed with a much younger woman when he himself is an aging prudish man. The plot itself is good with some good dialouge and all the actors are in top form! I am sixteen years old and am a BIG classic movie fan and really enjoyed this movie. I reccomend it to any age group.

DEFINITELY BELONGS IN ONE'S FILM NOIR LIBRARY!
Why? Because of a script which constantly rivets one's attention, and with many a surprise along the way.

And because of the sterling performances, especially by a young and gorgeous Lucille Ball and the ever professional Clifton Webb, almost recreating his role of Waldo Lideker in the top-notch classic film, "Laura." His acting is superb in both films.

Cathy Downs, who usually did not play glamorous women, shines in her role of an unhappily married (to an older man) woman. Dressed in gorgous gowns, and with untypical deep brunette upsweeped hair, I barely recognized her in this fragile, true- to-form, performance.

Mark Stevens also fares well as the much beleaguered private detective trying to start a new life in the Big Apple. He has just the right amount of spunk and sincerity.

And let's not forget the legendary-by-now cast of character actors: William Bendix terrific as usual, Donald McBride in a brief scene, Reed Hadley, Constance Collier and even Ellen Corby in another brief scene.

Perhaps not as great or blockbusting as "The Maltese Falcon" or "Murder,My Sweet," this film has a truth of its own and Ms. Ball's performance is something to write home about!

A Dark One For Lucy
This often over-looked film noir is a near classic and although it dosn't quite make it to greatness, it does hold up very well against many other better known films in this fasinating genre.

The story centers around a down and out gumshoe (Mark Stevens) who after serving time for a crime that he had been framed for, finds himself being setup for murder by someone who seems bent on destroying his life. Along the way he is stalked by the menacing "White Suit" (William Bendix) and helped by his true blue secretary (Lucille Ball) who is the only one who believes his innocence.

Mark Stevens is excellent as the put-up-on detective who can't understand what is happening to him, and Lucille Ball is very much at home in her role as the love interest.

The "The Dark Corner" is by far one Lucille Ball's best films, it along with "Lured" are a rare look at the mostly untapped dramatic acting ability of an actress who sadly was over-looked as a major film star during Hollywood's golden age.

The production values in this movie are very good the sets, dialog, and lighting are all top-notch although I found the music a little heavy handed.