you asked a pretty question; I've given you the ugly answer

Average rating: 7.25 as I take a meandering tour through some classics

Another Man's Poison (1951) - "Mystery writer Janet Frobisher lives alone in a dark English country house, when she's not philandering with her secretary's fiancée. At an extremely awkward moment, she has an unwelcome visitor: George Bates, who claims to be the partner in crime of Janet's estranged husband. George insinuates himself into Janet's home and life despite her efforts to get rid of him; the tangled relationships develop into a macabre, murderous cat-and-mouse game."
length: 1 hour, 30 minutes

source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I'm into noir these days
IMDB: 6.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 63%
my IMDB: 6/10

MPAA rating: TV-PG

notable quote: "The husband is dead. Long live the husband!"

directed by: Irving Rapper

my notes: what a weird one. Bette Davis is Janet Frobisher, the famous mystery writer, living in a creepy house near a deep lake. She lives with her secretary, with whose fiancée Janet is having an affair. Janet's husband shows up, stuff happens, and then another guy shows up to take the place of the now-missing husband. It's all Very Dramatic and strange, excessively violent and overtly sexual. I'm just not sure I buy Davis as the femme fatale, capturing the attention of at least four of these guys—especially when the lovely Barbara Murray (as Chris Dale) is at least some of her competition. The bad guy (though, really, they're none of them too good), played badly by Davis' then-husband Gary Merrill, is the least interesting of the bunch. I did enjoy the scene-stealing Emlyn Williams as the local vet.

overall: sort of recommended

 

Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) - "John Wayne is Duke Fergus, a Montana rancher who heads West to collect a $500 debt owed him for a horse he sold. Turns out, the debt is owed by Tito Morell (Joseph Schildkraut), who owns one of the biggest gambling joints on San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Turns out, he has a pretty blonde entertainer Ann Tarry, known as 'Flaxen' (Ann Dvorak), who turns Fergus’s head with her beauty, then her song and dance routine."

length: 1 hour, 31 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I liked it the first time but it's been long enough that the description was unfamiliar

    (previously reviewed here)
IMDB: 6.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 34%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "'We're not going to like each other, are we.'

    'I'm sure we're not.'"

directed by: Joseph Kane

my notes: this is a peculiar one. I like it, but I'm not sure I could convey why. John Wayne is exuberant, fun and quite the handsome devil. Ann Dvorak plays a weirdly wishywashy showgirl whose affections cannot quite be believed. Joseph Schildkraut's Morell is an oddly-accented, suave, would-be criminal. The effects were mind-blowing for the time.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Sound, Recording—Daniel J. Bloomberg

• Best Music, Scoring of a dramatic or comedy picture—R. Dale Butts, Morton Scott
overall:  recommended

Call Northside 777 (1948) - "In 1932, Frank Wiecek is convicted of the murder of a Chicago policeman in a mob-connected speakeasy. Eleven years later, his mother, Tillie, takes out a newspaper classified ad asking for information about the crime. Hard-bitten city editor Brian Kelly assigns skeptical reporter P.J. McNeal to investigate. The first studio feature ever shot on location in Chicago, the film is based on a true story."
length: 1 hour, 52 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I've seen it a couple times before (previously reviewed here) and was in the mood for some righteous indignation
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 81% Audience: 74%
my IMDB: 8/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "'What's the matter, won't the pieces fit together?'

    'Some of them, but they make the wrong picture.'

    'Pieces never make the wrong picture. Maybe you're looking at them from the wrong angle.'"

directed by: Henry Hathaway

my notes: it's a tough story, well told. Helen Walker, in the regrettably small role of Laura McNeal, was great. I especially liked Lee J. Cobb as Kelly, the editor. I'd have liked to work for him! 

overall:  recommended

Dark Command (1940) - "As the Civil War erupts, the townsfolk of Lawrence, Kansas side with either the North or the South, and a deeply embittered sheriff allies himself to the South as a cover for his outlaw gang to pillage and intimidate those who support the North. When his wife realizes his true violent nature, he not only has to rescue her but save the town."
length: 1 hour, 34 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I love mustache-twirling anti-heroes - plus, it's based in Lawrence!

      (previously reviewed here)
IMDB: 6.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 69%
my IMDB: 8/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "'I don't think I got your name.'

    'It's Fletch McCloud.'

    'Fletch McCloud! You got a first name?'

    'Yeah—Cupid!'"

directed by: Raoul Walsh

my notes: an excellent cast in meaty roles, clearly having fun with this riot of a script.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Art Direction, Black and white—John Victor Mackay
• Best Music, Original score—Victor Young
overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Another Man's Poison]