This highly atmospheric film noir thriller is one of the best attempts yet at capturing the dark dreamworld of Cornell Woolrich on the screen. Robert Cummings is an ex-GI with memory lapses who finds himself involved with Miami gangster Steve Cochran, his beautiful wife Michele Morgan, and evil henchman Peter Lorre. Director Arthur Ripley has something of a cult following, and Dennis Jakob explains its basis: "Arthur Ripley (director also of Thunder Road, Voice in the Wind) was the master of the 'hook,' the retrospect, the nightmare. He had a deep feeling for music and an understanding of narrative voice completely lost in film production today." (Note: Thunder Road screens August 15 at PFA.)