Product: Too Late for Tears (1949)
Rating: 4.0
You couldn't miss the beauty of Lizabeth Scott no matter the
condition of Too Late for Tears. There were a lot of splices & a missed word here & there. But I was satisfied with the dvd Classic Film Noir collection from Amazon. The movie was obviously made on the cheap in 1949 & with the others in the collection it was a good deal. Ms. Scott was Jane Palmer. She was as beautiful as she was avaricious. I've rarely seen greed played so well. She seemed to have power over men she had contact with. Her husband Alan (Athur Kennedy) had no balls & soon she had her partner in crime Danny(Dan Duryea) doing her binding. He was transformed from a ruthless thug intent on beating the money out of her to a spineless drunk doing her bidding. A satchel with $60,000 was tossed into Alan & Jane's car while they were driving down a deserted road. Alan wanted to turn it into the police. She, of course, starts to spend it before they had decided what to do with it. Danny tracks them down to their home & demands his money. Without her husbands knowledge, Jane makes a deal with Danny to split the money. She has to overcome her husband honest streak. Jane & Alan quarrel & he ends up dead. Danny is dragged into the murder. Soon Alan's loving sister, Katy (Kristine Miller)gets supicious about the strange disappearence of her brother. Don (Don Defore) comes into the movie posing as Alan's war buddy. Apparently he's got wind of the money too. He & Katy promptly fall in love. It really has little to do with the story. Now Jane wants to kill Katy because she is asking too many embarassing questions. She also plans on double crossing Danny, killing him if necessary & escaping to Mexico. Eventually, she gets to Mexico with Don hot on her trail for the final confrontation. Remember, this is noir & happy endings are not required. An excellent movie & affordable, in glorious black & white.