Product: Too Late for Tears (1949)
Rating: 4.0
An ice-cold femme fatale makes this movie worth watching in spite of a poor DVD transfer.
This review is for the 2003 Alpha DVD.The movie opens on a deserted California highway where Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott) and her husband Alan (Arthur Kennedy) have a small suitcase thrown into the backseat of their convertible from another car passing in the opposite direction. They immediate check the suitcase and find it full of money. They realize that they probably were given the money by accident and drive off in a panic but are chased by another car for a short while before eluding it. When they return to their apartment, Jane and Alan are worlds apart with their expectations on what to do with the money totally $60,000. Jane is dead set on keeping it, but Alan realizes the potential danger and possible legal repercussions of keeping the cash and believes its best to turn it over to the police. They reach an impasse and decide to keep it, and agree not spend any of it until they know more about the people and circumstances involving the cash. But shortly thereafter, it's clear that Jane has her own plans for the money. This sets up the rest of the film where the passion for the money becomes so insatiable, that murder becomes the means and method for securing this large stash.Overall, I enjoyed the movie. It does a great job of holding the viewer's attention. All of the characters did a good job in their roles - especially Lizabeth Scott. She does a superb job as a money-driven woman who will resort to any means of keeping the accidentally received $60,000. Don DeFore plays a mysterious man who suddenly shows up shortly after Jane and Alan obtain the money, but it's not until the end of the movie do the viewers know why he's involved in the story. Without playing spoiler, once it is determined who he is, the timing of his arrival is just too coincidental and his level of involvement seems too improbable, which slightly blemishes an otherwise excellent plot.The Alpha DVD release of film is a disappointment. The B&W; picture lacks sharpness, there are plenty of short skips due to splicing, and there is noticeable film damage throughout the presentation. It's a shame that a major studio hasn't picked up this film and released a restored version of it.Movie: B+DVD Quality: D+