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Reviews
Dillinger (1945)
Inaccurate and clumsy, yes, but entertaining
I was aware of Tierney from Reservoir Dogs and "Seinfeld", but not his early career until I saw Dillinger and Born to Kill. He is one of the great, largely unrediscovered actors of postwar, tough guy films -- with a fascinating way of switching from menacing psycho to hurt little boy and back again, all within seconds. Hopefully, more of his movies will be released on DVD.
In Dillinger, when Tierney first meets Anne Jeffreys, the clock in back of her box office booth clearly says Gruen (the manufacturer) on its face. But when Tierney goes in to see the movie, there's a dissolve to what is obviously supposed to be the same clock, indicating passage of time. In the second clock shot,however, there is no Gruen label.
The movie makes a point of telling us most of the action takes place in the Midwest, specifically Indiana -- with the help of at least four newspaper mockups: the Indiana Journal, the Evansville Courier, the Indianapolis World and the South Bend Daily Press. But when a "be-on-the-lookout", all-points bulletin is issued for Dillinger, a montage of the dragnet features a city map clearly labeled as Los Angeles and showing the Southern Calfornia cities of Inglewood and El Segundo.
Check out Anne Jeffreys going into the Biograph with Tierney near the end. Shot from the rear, the only word to describe her is 'steatopygous'.
The Street with No Name (1948)
The Fine Print
At one point in the movie, Mark Stevens walks down a street preoccupied and is startled when a passing car tosses a bundle of morning newspapers onto the sidewalk. For less than three seconds, there is a close-up of the front page. I froze the frame and read two stories that could be the starting point for other movies.
One headline reads: "PRISON FOR ELOPING WITH SISTER-IN-LAW"
Another reads: "NEW INVENTION FACES DEMONSTRATION TODAY - Professor Gorp's Inability to Speak English Keeps Veil of Mystery About New Machine"
Also, doesn't the "underworld" neighborhood where Stevens rents a room and masquerades as a criminal seem more Disneyland Main Street than genuinely lowlife? Especially that tinkly "old tyme" piano music, which is either being played on the loudest spinet in town, or else is piped through the area by hidden speakers, since you can hear it wherever Stevens walks.
The Best of Everything (1959)
the Jacko connection... Stonewall... and random thoughts
Watching this hilariously retro but very entertaining career girl tale, I was floored by Joan Crawford's first appearance. All I could think initially was, "My God, it's the same face as Michael Jackson in his notorious booking photo!"
About 34 minutes into the movie, Diane Baker and Hope Lange get out of a cab in Greenwich Village. As they walk down the street, you can see part of a sign in back of them for the Stonewall Bar -- scene of the epochal "riots" that are considered the trigger for the modern gay rights movement.
Speaking of Baker and taxis, I had to laugh when she gets into one and tells the cabbie, "56th and Sutton Place, please -- and be careful of the bumps." Can you imagine the reaction to that from a driver in today's Manhattan?! She says that, of course, because she's pregnant and doesn't want to hurt the fetus. But that doesn't stop her from JUMPING OUT OF A MOVING CAR when she finds out Bob Evans wants her to have an abortion! Well, they had to find a way for her to lose the baby (1959 and all).
Sue Carson is delightful as Mary Agnes. Why was this her only movie? There is no biographical information on her in IMDb.