“The Killer That Stalked New York” (1950)
Let’s simply say after COVID — I take advantage of the phrase “after” very loosely — Earl McEvoy’s pandemic thriller “The Killer That Stalked New York” hits a bit in a different way. Primarily based on a 1948 Cosmopolitan article by Milton Lehman, it follows Sheila Bennet (Evelyn Keyes) — who has lately returned from Cuba, the place she illicitly shipped stolen diamonds within the mail to her no-good husband Matt Crane (Charles Korvin). When she returns, not solely is she being trailed by a Treasury agent, she additionally finds Matt in a relationship along with her youthful sister Francie (Lola Albright). To make issues worse, she is gravely ailing. Sheila seeks assist from Dr. Ben Wooden (William Bishop). At his workplace she meets a younger woman, who, with by her contact with Sheila, contracts smallpox. The illness begins to unfold throughout New York Metropolis, spurring Ben and the Division of Well being to seek for affected person zero: Sheila. It is a pro-vaccine movie, one which captures an appropriately shaken authorities able to spring into motion to forestall additional pointless loss of life. Whereas the movie is a socially acutely aware work, as Khoshbakht observes in his essay in The Woman With The Torch, it additionally represents how Columbia produced administrators and stars. Its director McEvoy moved up from second unit work to helm this image, one in all his few directorial efforts.
“Pickup” (1951)
I’ve slowly been working my means by Hugo Haas’ directed works, beforehand watching “Bait,” “One Woman’s Confession,” and “Maintain Again Tomorrow.” So I used to be instantly eager to catch “Pickup,” his directorial debut in America (he beforehand loved a large movie profession within the Czech Republic). Together with directing, Haas self-produced, co-wrote with Arnold Phillips, and starred within the image as Jan Horak — a tender-hearted railroad dispatcher who attends a carnival searching for a canine however comes dwelling married to the gold digging Betty (Beverly Michaels). Jan is simply too candy of a person to see that Betty, who’s depressing dwelling in the course of nowhere at his depot, not solely doesn’t love him, however is obsessed on his younger assistant Steve (Allan Nixon). When Jan instantly goes deaf, Betty sees the incapacity as her likelihood to steal his cash and bolt. Her plan goes awry, nonetheless, when Jan, after he miraculously regains his listening to, pretends to be deaf. “Pickup” options a formidable sound design, counting on high-pitch squeals to unmoor the viewer, and excels at a psychological seediness that’s lean and imply but full of immense coronary heart and heat.
“The Glass Wall” (1953)
Taking part in at Locarno for the primary time because it gained the Golden Leopard in 1951, Maxwell Shane’s “The Glass Wall” is a vexing story that places America’s damaged immigration system below the highlight. Peter Kuban (Vittorio Gassman) is a Holocaust survivor who has stowed away on a ship heading to New York Metropolis. As soon as in America, he’s detained, the place he tells the story of how he helped save an American G.I. in the course of the battle. Sadly, he solely is aware of the soldier’s first identify — Tom (Jerry Paris) — and that he is a clarinet participant dwelling in New York. None of these particulars are sufficient to ensure his place in America; he wants to search out the actual Tom inside 24 hours or he’ll be deported. Peter breaks out of custody towards Time Sq. to seek for Tom, the place, alongside the way in which, he meets useful souls like Maggie Summers (Gloria Grahame) and a burlesque dancer named Nancy (Robin Raymond).
