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Thursday, Sep 10, 2009
8:20 pm
Noose
“We don't have any gangsters here,” claims a London newspaper editor to his hot-to-trot reporter from Chicago at the beginning of this energetic programmer, a fascinating combination of American noir aesthetics with British slang, style, and location. Yankee fashion hound Linda Medbury (Carole Landis, who died tragically after the film was made) quickly proves her boss wrong, uncovering a ruthless London crime ring led by the fast-talking Bar Gorman and the slick Sugiani, neither of whom will stop at killing women to keep their empire going. Fortunately Linda's got her British hubby on her side, an ex-commando who's organized a gang of his own (complete with Chelsea jerseys) to help smash the syndicate. A John Alton–esque sense of light and shadow, as well as director Edmond Greville's impressive visual flourishes, provide a flair that's pure Hollywood noir, but the zippy insults, class concerns, and seedy postwar settings are as British as they come.
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