To Be or Not to Be (1942)

To Be or Not to Be (1942)

starring Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack

written by Edwin Justus Mayer

produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch

99 minutes

A troupe of Polish actors in Warsaw at the beginning of the Second World War help Lieutenant Sobinski (Robert Stack), a bomber pilot, intercept Professor Siletsky, a Polish spy who is working for the Germans, from handing over the details he has about the Polish Resistance.  The troupe of actors are led by Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) whose wife Maria (Carole Lombard) began an affair with Sobinski just before the war began. The actors lure the professor into a trap but once he realizes that it is a trap, he tries to shoot his way out and winds up dead. Joseph impersonates Siletsky but things get a bit tricky after the Germans discover Siletsky's body.

The Set-Up (1949)

The Set-Up (1949)

starring Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter

directed by Robert Wise

73 minutes

Boxer Bill "Stoker" Thompson (Robert Ryan) shows up for a fight in Paradise City unaware that Tiny, his manager, has taken money to ensure that Stoker only makes it through the first two rounds before getting knocked out. Tiny figures that with Stoker's history he will probably lose anyway and doesn't tell him about the money.

Julie (Audrey Totter), Stoker's wife, is so sick of watching him get beaten up that she walks around town rather than go to see him fight. Stoker, feeling like he's got something to prove, gives it his all and wins the fight in the fourth round. He knows by then about the fix but he doesn't care, until Little Boy, the gangster who paid for it, comes to pay him back for not sticking with the plan.

Lady Gangster (1942)

Lady Gangster (1942)

starring Faye Emerson, Julie Bishop, Frank Wilcox

based on a play by Dorothy Mackaye

directed by Robert Florey

62 minutes

Unemployed actress Dorothy "Dot" Burton (Faye Emerson) helps a gang of three men to rob a bank.  Something goes wrong during the heist. The men get away but she gets nabbed by the police. They don't have anything concrete to prove that she was in on the job until she finally tells them part of the story. She gets locked up in prison but before she loses her freedom she manages to steal the stolen loot from the gang of three and hide it.

Bataan (1943)

Bataan (1943)

starring Robert Taylor, George Murphy, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Nolan

directed by Tay Garnett

114 minutes

Sgt Bill Dane (Robert Taylor) leads a team of about a dozen men (two Filipino and the rest American) in early 1942 as they first blow up a bridge (in the Philippines) and then prevent the Japanese from building a new bridge to replace it. The officer in charge let's Dane take run the small unit shortly before he is shot and killed by a Japanese sniper. Dane and the others dig in and do their best to hold their position, as ordered. The superior numbers of the Japanese troops proves to be too much. One by one the men are killed directly or indirectly by the enemy troops. Dane contemplates having the unit pull out but deicides that orders and orders.

Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity (1944)

starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson

directed by Billy Wilder

107 minutes

Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) teams up with Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), the unhappy second wife of one of his clients to murder her husband and collect the loot. Everything goes to plan up to a point. Neff murders her husband and then they dump the body in such a way as to make it look like he fell from a moving train.

Walter's boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), suspects foul play. His investigation into the death of Mr. Dietrichson causes the murderous pair to ultimately turn on one another.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

produced and directed by Frank Capra

130 minutes

Angel Second Class Clarence Oddbody learns about the life of George Bailey (James Stewart). He sees George's progression from a young boy of about 10 to a man in his 30s. George always wanted to leave his hometown of Bedford Falls but circumstances conspire to keep him there. George becomes the president of the Bedford Falls' Savings and Loan which stands in direct opposition to the owner of the bank, Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore).

Out of the Past (1947)

Out of the Past (1947)

starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas

directed by Jacques Tourneur

97 minutes

Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) hires private investigator Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) to find Kathie Moffatt (Jane Greer). She shot Whit and ran off with $40,000 of Whit's money. Jeff finds her in Acapulco. He falls for Kathie and they are getting ready to run off together to South America when Whit unexpectedly shows up in Acapulco.

Jeff lies to Whit, tells him that he couldn't find Kathie, and then Jeff and Kathie run off together. They have fun together but their relationship falls apart after she shoots and kills Fisher, Jeff's former business partner. She runs away, leaving Jeff to dispose of Fisher's body.

Mary Ryan, Detective (1949)

Mary Ryan, Detective (1949)

starring Marsha Hunt, John Litel, June Vincent

directed by Abby Berlin

68 minutes

Policewoman Mary Ryan (Marsha Hunt) is assigned by Captain Billings (John Litel), her boss, to some undercover work. The first part of her assignment has her being placed in a prison cell with a known thief.

Intel she picks up from the thief leads her to a ring of thieves who steal jewelry from rich people. That gig leads to her losing contact with the police department and working for a larger operation that is based out of a turkey farm.

Tension (1949)

Tension (1949)

starring Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse, Barry Sullivan

directed by John Berry

91 minutes

Drugstore manager Warren Quimby's (Richard Basehart) marriage to Claire (Audrey Totter) is on the rocks. She regularly goes out with other men. She leaves him and moves in with Barney Deager, one of those men, which pushes him into desperate territory. 

Warren gets another apartment and establishes himself there under the identity of Paul Sothern. He claims to be a traveling salesman and only stays in the second apartment on weekends. His plan is to kill Barney Deager and have everyone think that it is Paul Sothern that did it.

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley

directed by Edward Dmytryk

95 minutes

Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) finds himself caught between opposing forces when he tries to work two different cases only to discover that they are interrelated. First, Moose Malloy hires Marlowe to find Velma, his girlfriend from years ago. Second, less that a day later, Lindsay Marriott hires Marlowe to help him facilitate the payment of a ransom for a stolen necklace.

Marriott turns up dead. Marlowe gets knocked out and gets caught between various parties who want the missing jade necklace. One of those parties is Helen Grayle (Claire Trevor) the rightful owner of the missing necklace, who hires him to find it but then pulls a disappearing act.

Raw Deal (1948)

Raw Deal (1948)

starring Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt

directed by Anthony Mann

79 minutes

Pat (Claire Trevor) helps Joe (Dennis O'Keefe), her boyfriend, break out of prison. They have to abandon their car when it runs out of gas. They turn to Ann (Marsha Hunt), Joe's attorney for help. She tries to encourage Joe to return to prison but that's out of the question as far as he and Pat are concerned.

Joe and Pat take Marsha with them as they head for San Francisco. They have tickets on a ship that's headed to South America. Joe has plans to stop and see Rick (Joe's business partner who managed to evade capture when Joe went to prison) on his way to Frisco. Rick hears about Joe's escape from prison and sends some of his men to kill Joe.

Fear in the Night (1947)

Fear in the Night (1947)

starring Paul Kelly, DeForest Kelley

directed by Maxwell Shane

72 minutes

Vincent (DeForest Kelley) has a dream that he murdered a man. He wakes up the next day with bruises and a couple pieces of evidence that he recalls from the dream.

Police detective Cliff Herlihy (Paul Kelly), Vincent's brother-in-law, wants to write off the story as a bad dream but then evidence starts to accumulate that indicate that there might be something to his wife's younger brother's story.

A Woman's Face (1941)

A Woman's Face (1941)

starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Conrad Veidt

directed by George Cukor

106 minutes

Anna Holm (Joan Crawford), a facially disfigured woman, meets Torsten Barring (Conrad Veidt). He is not put off by her face. She doubts his sincerity at first but soon finds herself craving the attention he gives her. She warns him that she isn't a good person but that doesn't scare him away.

Anna is in the process of blackmailing Vera Segert, when she gets caught by Vera's husband, Dr. Gustaf Segert (Melvyn Douglas). Gustaf decides not to turn her over to the police. His specialty is reconstructive surgery. He offers to fix her face. She accepts his offer and travels from Sweden to Switzerland where the surgery takes place.

Lady in the Lake (1947)

Lady in the Lake (1947)

starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter

directed by Robert Montgomery

106 minutes

Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter) hires Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) to find Crystal Kingsby, her employer's wife, who has been missing for two months. Marlowe visits the Kingbys' vacation home and discovers that the body of a woman, but not Crystal, was recently found in a nearby lake.

His investigation leads to conflict with a suspect, the police, and Adrienne Fromsett. She eventually tells him to drop the case but then Mr. Kingsby hires him to continue searching for his wife. The suspect with whom Marlowe talked earlier in the movie later turns up dead, Marlowe finds the suspect's landlady rooting around his place, and a police detective tries to kill Marlowe.

They Won’t Believe Me (1947)

They Won’t Believe Me (1947)

starring Robert Young, Susan Hayward, Jane Greer, Rita Johnson

directed by Irving Pichel

95 minutes

Larry Ballantine (Robert Young) is getting ready to leave Greta (Rita Johnson), his wife of five years, for Janice Bell (Jane Greer), her friend. Larry calls off his plans abruptly after Greta reveals that she knows all about it. Greta convinces him not to leave her after suggesting that they should move from New York City to Los Angeles where she has already bought a home and bought him into a stock trading partnership.

The Enchanted Cottage (1945)

The Enchanted Cottage (1945)

starring Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Herbert Marshall

directed by John Cromwell

91 minutes

Oliver Bradford (Robert Young) and Beatrice Alexander make plans, on the eve of World War II, to spend their honeymoon in the New England cottage where Laura Pennington (Dorothy McGuire) works. Oliver is about to join the Army Air Corps and gets called up before he and Beatrice can get married.

Olive returns from the war scarred. He moves into the cottage. He contemplates suicide. He is pulled back from the brink through his relationships with Laura and John Hillgrove (a neighbor).

Phantom Lady (1944)

Phantom Lady (1944)

starring Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis

directed by Robert Siodmak

87 minutes

Carol "Kansas" Richman (Ella Raines) tries to figure out who framed Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis), her boss, for the murder of his wife. All the evidence seems to point to Scott being the murderer but Carol is convinced, possibly in part because she is in love with him, that he in innocent.

Scott's alibi is that he was went to a show with a woman whom he met in a bar. He didn't get the woman's name (the titular phantom lady) and has no way of contacting her to back him up. He gets put on trial and sentenced to death.

D.O.A. (1949)

D.O.A. (1949)

starring Edmond O'Brien

directed by Rudolph Maté

83 minutes

Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) goes to San Francisco on a vacation. He hangs out with some people he doesn't know when he gets there. He wakes up the next morning with a pain in his stomach. He goes to see a doctor and learns that he has been poisoned. The poison has been in his system too long for the doctor or anyone to do anything for him. He has only a day or two to live.

Christmas Holiday (1944)

Christmas Holiday (1944)

starring Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly

directed by Robert Siodmak

93 minutes

On Christmas Eve, Charlie, a serviceman who has just learned that his fiance has married another man before he could get home on leave to marry her, meets Abigail (Deanna Durbin), whose husband Robert (Gene Kelly) is in prison for murder. Abigail feels as if she didn't do enough to help guide Robert away from the path that he chose to take.

Abigail's been suffering internally for the two-and-a-half years since Robert was locked up. She changed her name and been working as a nightclub singer. She unburdens herself by telling Charlie her story but then Robert returns, after breaking out of prison. He is convinced that she is to blame and is looking for payback.

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

starring Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin

directed by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim  Whelan

107 minutes

Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), the Grand Vizier, tricks Ahmad (John Justin), the king. Ahmad is forced to flee Bagdad or face execution. Ahmad is accompanied by Abu (Sabu), a thief. Ahmad and Abu make their way to Basra where Ahmad meets and falls in love with a princess (June Duprez), the daughter of the Sultan of Basra.

Jaffar visits Basra. He offers the sultan a magical flying horse if exchange for his daughter. The sultan agrees to the offer. The princess flees rather than marry Jaffar. Ahmad and Abu are caught by the sultan's guards. Jaffar uses magic to blind Ahmad and transform Abu into a dog and then throws them .

The princess is eventually found but she falls into a deep sleep. She can only be awakened by her true love. Jaffar tricks Ahmad into helping him awaken the princess and then throws him out.