Directed by Joseph Losey • 1957 • United Kingdom
Starring Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo McKern
On the day before his estranged son is scheduled to be executed for a murder he didn’t commit, an alcoholic writer (a riveting Michael Redgrave) embarks on a last-ditch attempt to save him, journeying into England’s criminal underworld in order to prove the young man’s innocence—and he is just unsteady enough in his thinking to make every twist of this powerful noir drama a source of ever-tightening suspense. Joseph Losey’s second British film after being blacklisted from Hollywood is forged with a feverish intensity, wringing maximum impact from the ticking-clock premise to make the audience feel the passage of every desperate second.
Up Next in Noir
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All Night Long
Directed by Basil Dearden • 1962 • United Kingdom
Othello is translated to the world of sixties London jazz clubs in Basil Dearden's smoky and sensational All Night Long. Over the course of one eventful evening, the anniversary celebration of the musical and romantic partners Aurelius Rex (Pau...
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Niagara
Directed by Henry Hathaway • 1953 • United States
Starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean PetersMarilyn Monroe dazzles in her star-making turn as a devious femme fatale in this sultry tale of seduction and murder. While on vacation at Niagara Falls, Rose Loomis (Monroe) plots to murder her...
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Miami Blues
Directed by George Armitage • 1990 • United States
Starring Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fred WardBased on the novel by crack crime writer Charles Willeford and produced by Jonathan Demme, this marvelously offbeat, black-comic caper features a totally unhinged performance from Alec Baldw...
