Product: Too Late for Tears (1949)
Rating: 3.0
Good noir, DVD quality suspect. 3.5 stars
While some elements of Too Late for Tears seem to be implausible, the film really is a nice little noir, with intrigue and building suspense that leads to a solid, tense conclusion. Starring Lizabeth Scott, Don Defore, Alan Kennedy and Dan Duryea, the film examines the nature of how money affects a couple when money literally lands right into their car. With the mysterious $60,000 in cash right there, Alan and Jane Palmer disagree with what they should do with the money. Alan takes the moral approach, wanting to report it to the police, whereas Jane, with visions of living a carefree life, wants to keep it, or at least wait it out for a week. As the days pass, Jane's greedy and somewhat unstable nature becomes apparent, and she intends on keeping the money--at any cost. The plot gets a little more interesting when Danny, a man pretending to be a private investigator, shows up and begins asking questions about the money. It is clear that Danny has a criminal past and some knowledge of the money. From here, both Jane and Danny try to find ways to outduel each other in hopes of securing the cash. Things get even more intriguing when Don, a man claiming to be a friend of Alan's, comes into the scene to investigate the whereabouts of Alan. From here, plenty of mind games and deception ensue.I will echo many of the other reviewers' complaints about the DVD's quality. The picture is grainy, murky and jumpy, and the sound is sort of jumbled at points.Still, Too Late for Tears is a solid noir for the fan of this genre.3.5 stars