Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 11-May-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The Dark Corner (1946)

"The Dark Corner" lends evidence to opposing thoughts about convention, namely that it enhances a movie and that it dampens it. Directed by Henry Hathaway (who also helmed the fine subject of last week's Spotlight), "The Dark Corner" exemplifies those classic detective shows that everyone could recognize even if they had never seen one. It concerns a private eye named Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) who is trying to make good after some hard knocks. Brad is a tough but decent guy who sports a steely jaw and battered fedora and mixes drinks by tipping two bottles in one hand, leaving the other free to light cigarettes. As the movie unfolds, doling out bits of information to keep one's interest piqued, he tries to figure out why an old nemesis (Kurt Kreuger) has hired a thug (William Bendix) to tail him. When he wakes from being knocked out to find a corpse in his apartment, his quest for answers becomes desperate. It's a cruel world where a fella can't be left alone to go straight, and so, being drawn to metaphor, Brad likens his predicament to the titular dead end.

The format of the flick is entertainment in itself, an argument for a convention that has been burnished by time. It resides chiefly in the character of the protagonist, who slings metaphors at the leading lady as well. (He tries to ward her off from his kind of trouble with images of a fatal game of pool.) As played by Lucille Ball, this lady has the potential to become a real treasure, but she is sadly held down by tradition. From his secretary she becomes Brad's love interest and helpmeet. They go after each other in the most standard of ways, he by admitting that he is trying to score and she by admitting that she is gunning for a husband. Where they might have dazzled with a combination of camaraderie and sexual tension, they merely act out the stereotype of a man chasing a woman until she catches him. (I would have liked to see her come through for him in an unexpected fashion.) Despite Ball's abundant charm and the hero's underdog appeal, their relationship fascinates less than the one between a wealthy art dealer (Clifton Webb) and his trophy wife (Cathy Downs) which lies at the heart of the mystery. That an arid approach to romance leads nowhere is attested by the ending, where ducks and picket fences fall neatly in a row and happily ever after never looked so dull. Some conventions lead into a corner. Good thing a gumshoe's hard-boiled bachelor days are reliably worth a look.

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