Greenstreet and Lorre

 

 (imdb)

THE VERDICT-1946-English police superintendent Grodman (Sydney Greenstreet) sends an innocent man to the gallows and is replaced by the inferior John Buckley (George Coulouris). After his friend Kendall is murdered in his room locked from the inside, Grodman assists his replacement in finding the murderer. Victor (Peter Lorre) is Grosman's friend who Buckley suspects of the murder. There's also Kendall's dance hall girlfriend Lottie (Joan Loring). Suspicion then falls on Clive Russell (Paul Cavanagh) who's convicted of murder and sentenced to death. But Grodman knows who the real murderer is…

Milton Parsons in one scene as an undertaker. Arthur Shields in one scene as a minister. Ian Wolfe in one scene as a jury foreman. 

Interesting murder mystery with a twist ending directed by Don Siegel in his feature length debut. This is the last of 9 movies Greenstreet and Lorre made together between 1941 and 1946. The screenplay by Peter Milne is based on a novel of which an earlier version was made as THE CRIME DOCTOR in 1934. That version has a far different ending.

Thanks for reading!

Space and The World

RIDERS TO THE STARS-1954-Scientist Herbert Marshall needs a meteor from outer space. He and a group of scientists set out to find three men to fly rocket ships (with wings) into space a get one. William Lunigan (a busy TV actor at the time) is the scientist most qualified. He’s also Marshall’s son. He falls in love with Martha Hyer while being trained. Richard Carlson (who was in THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON the same year) co-stars and directs as well. I’ve read “film doctor” Herbert Strock directed some scenes un-credited. It’s an early serious science fiction tale (based on a story by Ivan Tors) and it’s in color! Curt Siodmak wrote the screenplay.

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS-1944-Excellent but overlooked fantasy from Warner Brothers.

A group of people is killed during an air raid attack in London. They wind up on a mysterious ship along with a couple (Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker) that committed suicide. The ship’s steward (Edmund Gwenn) eventually informs them they are dead and on their way to meet The Examiner (Henreid’s CASABLANCA co-star Sydney Greenstreet) who will decide if they will go to heaven or hell (but it’s actually the same place). As The Examiner states “You see my son, you make your own heaven and hell for yourselves on Earth, you only bring it with you here”.

John Garfield headlines as a cynical reporter. George Coulouris is an industrialist who realizes too late money can’t buy everything. Faye Emerson is a fame hungry actress. George Tobias, Isobel Elsom, Dennis King and Sara Allgood are the others. The second half when the groups’ lives are “examined” is the best part. It’s based on the play OUTWARD BOUND first produced on Broadway in 1924 and revived in 1932. Director Edward A. Blatt was usually a dialogue director and directed only three films.

Thanks for reading!