Hangover Square (1945)

 

A promising classical musician finds his life poisoned by a music hall dancer -- and by the strange gaps in his memory.

Unusual Noir melodrama nicely staged in period London has a quite unconvincing plot, but Laird Gregar is fascinating as the madman musician, and Bernard Herrmann's score is excellent as always.

Halliwell*: "This rather empty melodrama has almost nothing to do with the book from which it is allegedly taken, but the Hollywoodian evocation of gaslit London is richly entertaining and good to look at."

Maltin***: "Cregar (in his final film) is delicious...result is still entertaining, with superb Victorian London sets and evocative Bernard Herrmann score." 

This Gun for Hire (1942)

When an assassin shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.