TV and Movies

[Oznell]

Midnight Eastern Tonight and 10:00 a.m Eastern Sunday--  "The Hunted"  Preston Foster, "Belita"

Am interested to see what Eddie Muller has up his sleeve in "Noir Alley" with this late Forties film noir.  A scrupulous police lieutenant (yeoman actor Preston Foster) sends his girlfriend ("Belita") to prison for robbery when all evidence points to her involvement.  It understandably wrecks their relationship (duh!) and she threatens to kill him, but must serve her years-long sentence.

Flash forward four years, she's out, and she shows up in his life again.  Passions seethe.  What're her intentions?  What are his?  

Previously seen in "The Gangster" with the fabulous Barry Sullivan, Belita was a stand-out ice skating star and ballet dancer, but oddly made a big impression in crime movies.  She had a vaguely exotic air (she was a Brit, working hard to produce a pretty creditable Yank accent), was thin and  tow-headed.  She wore all those Forties' clothes with panache, as you can see in the TCM clip. 

Belita had a spark on screen, unlike the other ice skating star of the period, toothy, dimpled and placid Sonja Henie.  Nevertheless, the filmmakers hedged their bet by actually working a skating sequence into this serious suspense movie!  That alone will make Eddie Muller's sardonic commentary before and after the film worth the price of admission... 

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/1443673/Hunted-The-Movie-Clip-I-Promised-To-Kill-You.html

[spiderw]

I watched the clip not being at all familiar with this movie and it held my interest.  I'll be taping it for a future date to watch.  

I have to admit I wasn't familiar with Eddie Mueller and finally I recently saw him on TCM.  I can see he is another movie buff who knows his stuff as they say!  

The atmosphere of the forties movies, the settings, hairstyles which I always liked from that decade, the clothes, add in some great acting, equals worth while movie watching.

[Oznell]

Oh, yeah, astute @spiderw,  Eddie is huge fun to listen to, due to his encyclopedic knowledge and his humor.  His books are great too-- I really recommend them to all classic film buffs.

[Judaline]

Well, I've heard of Valli (also known as Alida Valli) but have Never heard of Belita. Worth a look since it's noir and has Preston Foster. I like him-ever since the Flicka movies which I'm in the mood for right now!!!

[Oznell]

Yeah, @Judaline, he has an attractively seasoned, weary solidity in this, that plays off well against Belita's mercurial waif...