Hollywood Story

+

I watched this 1951 noir thriller the other day. In 1929 a silent movie director is killed in his home, and the murder goes unsolved. Twenty-one years later a Hollywood producer decides to do a film about it, and inadvertently stirs up trouble. 

Richard Conte is the lead - you'd know him best, as I do, as Barzini in The Godfather, and I've got no complaints about his performance. Julie Adams, three years shy of starring in Creature from the Black Lagoon, plays one of the suspects/romantic interest for Conte, and Jim Backus (Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island) has a bit role as comic relief and gives a pointless, but thankfully nominal, narration to the film.

Overall I liked the film quite a bit, although no part of it rises beyond the scope of a "made for basic cable" production. 

I will say, applause applause applause for black and white film. This picture is 73 years old and looks crisp and sharp. Now go watch a film from the '80's, where the colors are washed out and the appearance is decayed. 

I grade this a solid B