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The Brasher Doubloon (1947)
Third time's the charm
I disliked this film the first couple of times I saw it, mostly because George Montgomery's performance seemed to me too mannered. Well, I just watched "The Brasher Doubloon" again, and I was wrong about Montgomery. This time, I realized early in the action that he's channeling Clark Gable -- so his approach to the part provided me with a fascinating insight into how Philip Marlowe might have come across if Gable had portrayed him. Possibly because I was no longer annoyed by Montgomery, I was able to appreciate the plot in a way I hadn't before. It's a solid, atmospheric mystery, with particularly fine performances by Florence Bates and Fritz Kortner. Live and learn.
The Nuisance (1933)
Tracy in top form
Lee Tracy is perfect as an ambulance chaser who plagues a streetcar company with phony lawsuits that prove so successful, the business strikes back with an undercover beauty (Madge Evans).
This sharply written comedy/drama takes a tragic turn at one point, and the Tracy-Evans relationship gets convincingly intense toward the end when one of the characters runs afoul of the law.
"The Nuisance" boasts strong performances from Tracy and Evans, with standout support from Frank Morgan as an alcoholic doctor who's Tracy's partner in unethical behavior and from Charles Butterworth as a con man.
Strongly recommended to all Tracy fans.
The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958)
Taut oater
I just watched this film for the first time since 1958, and it's much better than I thought it was when I was a 12-year-old. It's fast-paced even at 101 minutes, more violent than I remembered, and consistently well played. I find Robert Evans chillingly credible as psychotic killer Felix Griffin -- perhaps closer to Peter Ustinov's Nero in "Quo Vadis" than to Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo in "Kiss of Death" (on which this film is based), but certainly not "ludicrous," as one critic whose opinions I respect has written. Hugh O'Brian and Stephen McNally also deliver strong performances, and the rest of the cast is fine. Recommended for fans of Westerns and brutal crime films.