SnoopyStyle A bank robbery ends with the killing of a security guard. Sexy Lona McLane (Kim Novak) in a crippled car is saved by Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) and they have a fling. He's a cop assigned to stakeout a known robber's girlfriend who turns out to be Lona. She sets out to corrupt the pushover cop in her own scheme. Police Lieutenant Karl Eckstrom (E.G. Marshall) is his boss.Fred MacMurray continues his noir leading man and Kim Novak is the breakout star. She definitely has all the star qualities. She is sexy, alluring, superior, innocent, and devious. It's an all-around performance. MacMurray is doing compelling work. It does need more tension especially in the first half. Maybe make Paul the lead investigator in the case and start with him at the bank investigating. There is too much waiting for the situation to develop although I'm not sure how to speed it up.

Cowa Bunga I enjoyed this movie, as I think Fred MacMurray is one of our great actors, with a wide range. Comedy to drama. Happy nerd to hardened cop or lower level establishment man. Clearly he is bored with his mission in life in this film and the great Double Indemnity.Possible Spoilers: OK. why a 7 and not an 8? I felt Paul Sheridan's (MacMurry) disgust with his life and his apparent loneliness could have used more development. He falls too easily for Kim Novak's character, even if she is strikingly beautiful. She too easily goes with him the first night they meet. It would be more believable, and more sensual, if there were two meetings at least, to pulse his desire for her. Now, I don't particularly like films where the male star is a little long in the tooth for his paramour.This was common in the 50s and 60s when Male stars of the 30s and 40s were cast with much younger female leads, presumably because of the men's star power. I put forward Bogart,and Bill Holden with Audrey Hepburn (totally unbelievable) in Sabrina, Bogart being 55 and Hepburn 25.Or Rear Window with an older Jimmy Stewart, age 47, and Grace Kelly, 25.With some suspended belief, this is a very enjoyable movie. I love noir.The story lines of noir are simple and pure and the mood dark. I believe this movie pulls it off though it was the waning period of noir: 1954;

Jimmy L. This was a pleasant surprise. I'd never heard of this film and gave it a try. It's the classic noir set-up of a plan that goes awry due to unforeseen variables. There are flashes of DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), as Fred MacMurray and a beautiful woman (this time Kim Novak, in her breakout role) plot to get their hands on some money that isn't theirs, but only if they act their parts right.The movie centers around an all-night police stakeout of Novak's apartment, after her boyfriend robs a bank and takes it on the lam. MacMurray is a cop and figures his inside knowledge of both sides of the investigation should allow him to pull off the proverbial "perfect crime": lifting the loot while delivering the crook.There's some great suspense as things unravel and the 1950s black & white photography is great. There are hints of REAR WINDOW (1954) as the police watch the apartment during the stakeout. Dorothy Malone is adorable as Novak's next-door neighbor, who catches the eye of one of the cops through his binoculars. (It's a sweet romantic plot, not a creepy one.) E.G. Marshall heads a solid supporting cast. A very enjoyable film noir that may go under the radar. Check it out.

dougdoepke Really taut little thriller, with enough cat and mouse to satisfy fans of the old Tom and Jerry. Fred Mac Murray's cop starts out as a professional but ends up in a vortex of crime thanks to the compelling allure of the shapely Miss Novak. Good thing she's called on to do little more than stand around looking sexy, because her bad, breathy imitation of Marilyn M. in the opening garage scene had me reaching for the off button. I gather Columbia (read Harry Cohn) had high hopes of launching Novak's career with this role. Too bad she had to compete with a hundred other bosomy blonde Marilyn's for the honor. I like the seduction scene with its subtly unzipped zipper, about as far as the screen could go at that time. The plot wrinkles get pretty complicated at times, but the pace keeps moving nicely along. Then too, the final line presents a poignant slice of ironic insight.There's the inevitable comparison here with the thematically similar Double Idemnity, but then Novak is no Stanwyck and MacMurray is a ten dissipated years older. Still, this little suspenser needs no help from the past and can stand firmly on its own.