The Narrow Margin.

Review #870: The Narrow Margin.

Cast:
Charles McGraw (Det. Sgt. Walter Brown), Marie Windsor (Mrs. Frankie Neall), Jacqueline White (Ann Sinclair), Peter Virgo (Densel), Gordon Gebert (Tommy Sinclair), Queenie Leonard (Mrs. Troll), David Clarke (Joseph Kemp), Don Beddoe (Det. Sgt. Gus Forbes), and Paul Maxey (Sam Jennings) Directed by Richard Fleischer.

Review:
With a cast of unknowns and a low budget, this is a film that manages to be a serviceable efficient little film noir. There is some sense of suspense within itself, not spending too much time wasting away, establishing characters without much effort. They have the characteristics of ones you might notice in other noirs of the time, but this manages to click at the right points in part due to its cast. McGraw is a pretty good everyman, and Windsor is also pretty alluring as well. They have a fine amount of banter mixed with bits of cynicism that is engaging enough to work. White is also pretty interesting, having some decent chemistry with McGraw. The rest of the cast also does fine (Maxey stands out in part due to his scenes with McGraw), and even the kid actor (Gebert) isn't too annoying. The train setting helps keep the movie compressed and interesting. There is some action (and at least one fight on a train), which is nice and dandy to watch. The twist at the end is pretty clever as well, not being too far fetched or too unknown. On the whole, this is a nice flick because of it goes through the motions in a satisfactory manner.  As such, the directing is good for the time, having some fairly decent shots and a fairly balanced plot that more often then not knows what it wants to be. Quite simply, if you like film noirs, old cinema, or movies that don't overstay their welcome, this is the one for you.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Cat-Women of the Moon.

Review #668: Cat-Women of the Moon.

Cast
Sonny Tufts (Laird Grainger), Victor Jory (Kip Reissner), Marie Windsor (Helen Salinger), William Phipps (Doug Smith), Douglas Fowley (Walt Walters), Carol Brewster (Alpha), and Suzanne Alexander (Beta) Directed by Arthur Hilton.

Review
You're probably wondering if the Cat-Women in the title have tales or do anything cat-like. Sadly, no, which means I can't do any effective cat puns, which would've been fun, especially during the fights (a cat fight, you might say *rim shot*). But that aside, what we have here is a sci-fi flick from the 50's that apparently had such a good story that it would be remade five years later with Missile to the Moon. Is it any good though? With 50's flicks, you could be entertained in a variety of ways, even if the movie isn't that good. Heck, the fact that these Cat-Women are the last of their civilization is sort of creative. The rubber spider on the other hand makes me giggle. The acting is fine (William Phipps is in it, more notable for his work as Prince Charming in Cinderella - #373), they certainly carry their lines well enough. The movie isn't bad, it's pretty passable. You could do better (or worse, if that's your preference) with this time of month, and I know my picks for the rest of the month (and the month I love most) will probably be better (and worse) than this, but as someone once said, it is what it is.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.