I’m almost ashamed to admit it but until yesterday, I’d never seen this Hitchcock noir.
Stupid question: anybody else seen it? Thoughts? Opinions? Apparently Scorsese said it was an inspiration for his Taxi Driver (1976)…although I’m struggling to see the connection.
Image: © Warner Bros., Inc. Artists(s) not known. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Wow! Less of a stupid question than I thought! Nobody’s seen it?
In any case… It’s one of Hitchcock’s lesser works: beautifully shot, the style is patent “Hitchcockian”, but maybe because it’s pre-Miranda, maybe even though it’s based on a true story (“every word is true!” swears the master in his prologue) the portrayed willingness of all involved is next to implausible by today’s standards…I don’t know. There’s something that just doesn’t click the way, for example, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder or North by Northwest do. It’s—as they say—Kafkaesque but almost frustratingly so.