Directed by Arthur Ripley • 1946 • United States
Starring Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Steve Cochran
The noir genre is known for its labyrinthine plots, but Arthur Ripley’s THE CHASE takes the “wrong man” premise to delirious extremes. Robert Cummings stars as Chuck Scott, a down-on-his-luck veteran who lands a job as chauffeur to a sadistic millionaire (Steve Cochran) and his reptilian bodyguard (Peter Lorre). Scott plays white knight to his boss’s suffering wife (Michèle Morgan), stealing her away to Cuba. But when she is fatally stabbed in a crowded nightclub, Scott is accused of murder and must flee through the shadowy streets of Havana in a reckless attempt to prove his innocence. Adapting a novel by hardboiled existentialist Cornell Woolrich, screenwriter Philip Yordan introduced a number of twists to the original story, including a third-act surprise that transforms what might have been a conventional story of doomed love into something truly mind-bending and surreal.
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger • 1948 • United Kingdom
Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring
THE RED SHOES, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Tech...
Directed by Jean Renoir • 1951 • France, United Kingdom, India, United States
Starring Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight, Arthur Shields
Director Jean Renoir’s entrancing first color feature, shot entirely on location in India, is a visual tour de force. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden, the fi...
Directed by John Huston • 1952 • United States
Starring José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon
The bohemian decadence of fin de siècle Paris blazes to life in glorious Technicolor in John Huston’s evocative (albeit largely fictionalized) look at the life and world of celebrated painter Henri d...
