Ted North

The Devil Thumbs a Ride

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Lawrence Tierney in a publicity shot thumbing a lift

It’s only in B movies that the bad guy gets top billing. That’s the case with The Devil Thumbs a Ride, a showcase for Lawrence Tierney, playing a villain who looks like he’s been lifted out of the 1930s and dropped into this 1947 noir. Cold and deadly, side-of-the-mouth diction. He fits in perfectly with this mix of the ugly and the quaint, the terse and the acidic. The whole thing is a cliché, but a cliché done with a considerable amount of flair. Tierney plays a hood, a murderer who shoots a man in cold blood and then flees the scene of the crime by picking up a lift with a drunk … Read more

The Unsuspected

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Victor and his ward Matilda

Very meta, especially for 1947, The Unsuspected is a crime thriller about a murder at the home of the host of a true-crime podcast – whoops, radio show. The show is called The Unsuspected too, and is hosted by Victor Grandison, those names suggesting he’s both victorious and grandiose. It’s obviously him wot dunnit, innit? Even though he was live on air at the time? Let’s see. Victor is played by Claude Rains. And if there was just one reason for watching this fast and fun thriller he’d be it. But in fact there are plenty. Big-house murder-mystery is the big idea, with lots of suspects to point the finger at once murder – … Read more