Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Organnall Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

weezeralfalfa Quite a few reviewers complain that the title bears no connection with the screen play. As One reviewer wrote "It makes the film sound like a cheap horror film". A agree with these assessments. I suspect it was chosen as suggesting an enticing murder mystery: which it is.. .Several reviewers also question the appropriateness of "Over the Rainbow", as a frequent background song for a film noir. The lyrics(not included) emphasize a dream of a more exciting life. This certainly applied to Vicky(Carol Landis): the murdered girl, after she was encouraged to try becoming a glamour girl. Perhaps less obviously, it can apply to sister Jill(Betty Hutton) and promoter Frankie(Victor Mature) with regard to their growing relationship. It might even apply to the psychopathic police detective Cornell(Laird Cregar), who dreamed of marrying Vicki. Speaking of music, Carol gets to sing "The things I Love", whereas Betty's song: "Daddy" was deleted, but can be seen at YouTube.The cat and mouse game between Frankie and police detective Cornell constitutes the heart of the drama, along with identifying the killer. We learn that Cornell has 2 related obsessions: 1)marrying an unglamorized Vicki 2)pinning her murder on Frankie, who promoted her as a potential glamour girl, even though Cornell knows the identity of the real killer. Frankie and Jill have to discover the identity of the real killer for themselves. They got a confession out of a suspected killer by having Jill mimic over the telephone the voice of the supposed deceased Vicki. This freaks out the murderer, and Frankie, with some encouragement, gets a confession out of him(very unlikely).It's interesting that Vicky claimed that Jill was in love with Frankie. They both denied it, but later events would prove her right. Later, Frankie told Jill he didn't love Vicky, he just wanted to promote her new ambition to become a glamour girl, instead of only a waitress. Again, I don't believe that, because he was mighty upset when she said she was leaving for Hollywood. Seems like all the men loved her, and were upset that she was leaving. There was an odd episode where Jill was moving out of the apartment she had shared with Vicky. When she arrived home from work to pack her things, she was astonished to find that the front desk person had already packed them and had her suitcases ready to put in the taxi! I'm surprised she wasn't more angry. I can only assume that he wanted her gone as soon as possible for whatever reason. There are various other weird or improbable happenings, some of which are detailed by another reviewer. But, it's unusual not to have a few of these in this kind of film. For Carol Landis and Betty, this was a reunion, having costarred earlier in 1941 in the romantic musical "Moon Over Miami"....Neither Carol nor Cregar would live many more years. Cregar would die from complications from his crash diet, to try to change his image from a heavy heavy....Carol would nearly die of several tropical diseases while entertaining the troops overseas, never fully recovering her health. The remainder of her short life reads much like that of Marilyn Monroe in her later years. She had numerous short marriages and affairs, but was unable to complete a pregnancy due to endometriosis. With her film carrier in limbo, and in debt, Rex Harrison's ending of their affair was the last straw, and she finally succeeded in killing herself, after several failed attempts. The B&W copy shown at YouTube is in excellent condition. Also , available as a DVD or Blue Ray.

krocheav It was the dynamic title that drove me to this oddity. Then there was also the cast, Betty Grable in a noir drama? She's very pleasing in her early strait role (was that magnificent blond hair truly real?) Victor Mature demonstrates his increasingly nervous discomfort throughout the progress of this story via his iconic facial expressions, belying his characters over-confident exterior. The cause of this discomfort comes in the form of a creepy Laid Cregar, a strange detective who is determined to nail Mature for a serious crime. An interesting scene has him wake to the sense of an ominous presence in his apartment that would have had me screaming too - I can't too readily recall another actor that could signal fear, with just one instant facial expression.Carole Landis, who tragically took her own life at only 29, following a scandalous affair with married philanderer Rex Harrison, is OK in the part of Grable's sister. With so many others in the support cast also being noteworthy, this just had to be seen.The Director; Bruce Humberstone, whom I had associated more with comedies, musicals, and outdoor actioners (Tazan and westerns) seems to be in his element with this fast moving crime story by prolific writer; Steve Fisher ("Lady in the Lake" '46) Good one liners come rapidly and often.It gets off to a cracking opening with striking sets by multi award winning Thomas Little; "Grapes of Wrath" '40 ~ "Razors Edge" '46 ~ Viva Zapata" '52. With Art Direction by two up and coming directors, Richard Day, and Nathan Juran. Another veteran, Director of Photography; Edward Cronjager, "Roberta" '35 ~ "House by the River" '50 ~ "Relentless" '48 ~ "Beneath the 12 mile Reef" '53, all combine to assure this film a stylish look and feel.It may not always work as well as you might like, but it keeps you watching and guessing to the end. The biggest draw back for me was the musical direction by English born Cyril J. Mockridge. He must have been given only a few days to prepare a score and I don't think he wrote a note of original music. Instead, he uses music tracks from the library of popular standards. The best of these is Alfred Newman's "Street Scene" put to good use under the opening credits. Another is Harold Arlen's immortal "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Both these melodies keep popping up at the most unnecessary moments during the story, so much so, that by the time the end title arrives you may well wake up screaming too...Not great, but still good entertainment.

drystyx Film noir is one of the most difficult genres to do, because it is very tough to hold a normal person's interest with nothing more than tough talk.And that's why good noir has more than just tough talk.This one is about a pair of sisters, one of whom is killed before she can do a screen test to become a star.The suspects number a half dozen principle players, but three of them are obviously red herrings (the sister, the older actor, and the newspaper man). Of the other three, we know that usually in noir movies, it is typically the little timid guy played by Cook, but it becomes evident that this is a long shot, and would be a contrived ending when we see the conflict between the two chief suspects.This is because the hero awakens to find the creepy detective in his room, the same detective who was known to stalk the murdered girl. And later the detective and a cop produce the alleged murder weapon from the hero's room, which the hero says was planted.This happens about half way through the film, and it obviously infers that either the hero is guilty or the detective is insane. If the detective is insane, and not guilty of the murder, that would be a little too Hollywood in "contrived and coincidental" outcomes.So not to spoil the ending, I won't say how it does end. I will say the film holds your interest, because there is a good mixture of charm, wit, action, and drama. It is smartly directed.

BILLYBOY-10 Nice Betty Grable and her slightly younger trashy sister Carol Landis share an apartment in NYC. While Betty is a home typist, Carol is a waitress in a joint downtown. Vis-a-vis police interrogation flash backs we find that One night three pals (a fight promoter, a has- been actor & a gossip columnist) make a bet how they can turn Carol from a two-bit hash slinger into a society page talk of the town. They succeed altho sister Betty is skeptical. Overnight Carol does become a sensation and next thing you know Hollywood beckons so she blows off her 3 benefactors to head for tinsel town. Next day Betty finds the fight promoter, Victot Mature bending over sister Carol's fresh corpse. Naturally he claims he didn't do it.Enter spooky homicide cop Lard Kruger. He has a notorious track record within NYPD for solving murder cases. His conviction rate is something like twenty thousand in favor, no failures. He says Victor Mature is guilty and that's that. He looses this one tho and in the end proves just how creepy he really is.Well, after an hour or so of more suspects, red herrings, plot twists, endless shots of Betty Grables famous legs and one unnecessary public swimming pool scene (more Gable gam & meaty Victor Mature in spandex), the real killer is revealed and Betty &Vic find true love. The end. Since this movie had a murder in it, by todays criteria, it is called noir. I call it a pretty good murder mystery. Sure, it's contrived but it's very well produced/ directed so worth a view. I can't recall any scene where someone wakes up screaming or anyone remarking the had, so I guess the title was a marketing ploy.