Drunken Dane Clark is picked out one night by a British socialite (Belinda Lee) who wants a marriage of convenience in order to receive an inheritance. This results in the murder of her father and the exposure of a sinister scheme for the villain to get control of the estate. Clark gets more than he bargained for as he tries to keep his name out of the list of suspects, questioning witnesses before he learns the not-so-surprising truth. A notch above the usual puzzling structure of similar tales (a staple of noir), this retains interest through a variety of eccentrics, dropping clues here and there to keep you guessing. Nobody is a shoe-in when it comes to being revealed to be the mastermind behind all the intrigue, and nobody is obviously innocent, either. That makes things much more intriguing and keeps the element of surprise always at a high. It softens a bit when Clark introduces Lee to his estranged family, but it doesn't remain soft for long.
Review of Blackout
Blackout
(1954)
An all-over-the-map film noir with assorted sinister folk and convoluted story telling.
17 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers