Themes: Flight of the Innocent, Miscarriage of Justice
Main Cast: Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, Mark Stevens, William Bendix, Cathy Downs
Release Year: 1946
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
This grade-A example of "film noir" stars Mark Stevens as Brad Galt, an embittered ex-convict who returns to the private detective business upon his release. Sour and surly, Galt behaves himself only when he's around his faithful and adoring secretary Kathleen (top-billed Lucille Ball). When Galt's crooked former partner Tony Jardine (Kurt Krueger) inaugurates an affair with socialite Mari Cathcart (Cathy Downs), Cathcart's waspish art-collector husband (Clifton Webb) arranges Jardine's murder, carefully pinning the blame on Galt. On the lam from the cops, Galt must rely on Kathleen to help gather enough evidence to prove his innocence. Best scene: Cathcart's abrupt but chillingly casual murder of his partner-in-crime (William Bendix). The deliberate lack of background music serves to enhance the gloomy atmosphere of The Dark Corner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A fairly neglected exercise in film noir, The Dark Corner is a more than adequate if less than topflight example of the genre. Director Henry Hathaway was already familiar with crime thrillers, having helmed such previous efforts as Johnny Apollo and The House on 92nd Street, and he competently makes the shift to the edgier, more fatalist film noir game with ease and assurance, if little in the way of virtuosity. The screenplay is solid, hitting all the right plot points and keeping its cards appropriately close to the vest until it's time to spring a few surprises on the audience, and there's a good swift line of hardboiled dialogue hiding behind every corner. If Mark Stevens is not an immortal in the pantheon of screen tough guys -- his Galt is a little wan, a trifle lightweight -- he's more than credible and makes the character's tightlipped stoicism appealing. Lucille Ball assays one of her rare non-comedic roles and comes off very well; there's a welcome mixture of innocence and worldliness to her character that she manages to get across without getting mired down in either extreme. Clifton Webb is deliciously smarmy, a nasty piece of work that's a joy to watch. Corner misses out on being one of the majors, but as minor leaguers go, it's one of the best. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
James Basevi - Art Director, Leland Fuller - Art Director, Kay Nelson - Costume Designer, Henry Hathaway - Director, J. Watson Webb, Jr. - Editor, Cyril Mockridge - Composer (Music Score), Emil Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ben Nye, Sr. - Makeup, Bill Nye - Makeup, Joe MacDonald - Cinematographer, Fred Kohlmar - Producer, Paul S. Fox - Set Designer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Fred Sersen - Special Effects, W.D. Flick - Sound/Sound Designer, Harry M. Leonard - Sound/Sound Designer, Jay Dratler - Screenwriter, Bernard Schoenfeld - Screenwriter, Leo Rosten - Short Story Author
Ex con turned private investigator Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Lucille Ball, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.
