Too Late for Tears (1949)

 

Through a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder. 

Above-average low-budget Noir thriller gives Lizabeth Scott all the room to present her greedy, ruthless femme fatale character, and it helps that all the guys, especially Dan Duryea's smalltime crook, are weaklings and no match to her ambitions.

Halliwell (no star): "Silly melodrama, poorly cast." 

Maltin**1/2: "Atmospheric but muddled drama...Duryea is at his best as a heavy."

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband, who believe he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.

High-pitched melodrama with Noir elements takes its intricate plot to its bitter ending; the star cast make it work.

On rewatching: Indeed a pretty good Noir melodrama with a superb cast.

Halliwell**: "Irresistible star melodrama which leaves no stone unturned; compulsive entertainment of the old school."

Maltin***: "Gripping melodrama..."

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

A man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband, who believe he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.

High-pitched melodrama with Noir elements takes its intricate plot to its bitter ending; the star cast make it work.

Halliwell**: "Irresistible star melodrama which leaves no stone unturned; compulsive entertainment of the old school."

Maltin***: "Gripping melodrama..."

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Desert Fury (1947)

The daughter of a Nevada casino owner gets involved with a racketeer, despite everyone's efforts to separate them.

Unusual Noir melodrama in Technicolor has good story and atmosphere, and Lizabeth Scott holds it all together very well, but the male protagonists are all a shade sallow.

Halliwell (no star): "Muddled melodrama slightly helped by Arizona colour settings; unconvincing characters mouth unspeakable lines in an airless tedium."

I Walk Alone (1948)

A convict leaves prison expecting a share from his ex-partner but Prohibition bootlegging didn't prepare him for Big Business.