Sydney Greenstreet

The Mask of Dimitrios

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Pter Lorre grabs Sydney Greenstreet's lapel

Writer Eric Ambler was the British spy guy in the mid 20th century and The Mask of Dimitrios is a good example of what he was about – sinister people in exotic locations doing dastardly things. Ambler followed John Buchan’s lead in that respect – don’t trust a foreigner. It took until John LeCarré – who’d actually been a spy – for portrayals of fictional foreign spies to come in human shape, though Graham Greene was a useful warm-up act. The oddballs and gooks are out in their droves in this not entirely gripping but highly flavoured meta-fiction about crime writer Cornelius Leyden, played by Peter Lorre, chasing across Europe in search of … Read more

The Maltese Falcon

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Joel Cairo is threatened by Sam Spade

Not a bad way to start. The Maltese Falcon, one of the most highly acclaimed films ever made, was John Huston’s directorial debut. He also wrote the screenplay, adapting Dashiell Hammett’s hard-boiled thriller into a lean piece of cinema that stands the test of time. In the 21st century if you want to watch something that’s a piece of surefire entertainment from front to back, The Maltese Falcon will not let you down. It’s a simple story, not really a story at all, more a contrivance just sturdy enough to hold together a series of interactions between people, about three desperados all in search of a fabulously ornate bejewelled bird – the so-called … Read more

The Velvet Touch

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Rosalind Russell and Leo Genn

In The Velvet Touch, a Broadway star accidentally kills the impresario who made her a star after arguing with him about whether she should abandon frothy comedy (and him) and pursue a noble career in serious theatre. That’s the opening scene dealt with. The rest of the film concerns itself with the actress’s fate. Will she get caught, confess the crime or get away with it? Whether it indicates her character’s superior opinion of herself or masks her own incipient double chin, Rosalind Russell plays Valerie as a head-held-high kind of gal, an actress who saw herself starring in an upcoming production of Hedda Gabler. But impresario Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) had other … Read more