Attention U.S. TCM Subscribers: Some of the films previously listed at the Cinema Cafe as "Hidden Gems" are today not so hidden due to their release on home video and that's a good thing. One praiseworthy "diamond in the rough" is 1951's Cry Danger, as solid and black as the pressurised lump of coal from whence it came. (More here without spoilers including Saturday evening and Sunday morning's showtime information throughout the U.S):
This really is a fine little film; Powell and Erdman really play off each other beautifully and generate some great dialogue. Erdman damn near steals the movie. Screenwriter William Bowers is at the top of his form.
A novel setting for an LA crime film: An urban trailer park and the surrounding Bunker Hill neighborhood. As mentioned above, Erdman is great - and Powell gets to slap William Conrad around. I wish there were an Ellroy/Muller commentary track for this, but then I also wish those two made a commentary track for every noir movie of the 40s and 50s.
