TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

mark.waltz How to get rid of a wealth y wife in five easy lessons. When I first saw this film some thirty years ago, I didn't quite get it. I assume from having grown up and gotten a bug for film noir in the intervening years that I wasn't nature enough to grasp the intrigue of that genre. Now, having seen it once again since then (maybe about 15 years ago) that it is a smart thriller with all the stops pulled out in creating a diabolical drama of masterminded evil that grabs you and doesn't release you until the final seconds.Claudette Colbert plays a Sutton Place socialite who finds herself on the train to Boston, unaware of how she got there. Her husband indicates shock over her disappearance to investigator Raymond Burr but is he sincere? The presence of a pesky but friendly old lady Queenie Smith adds to the intrigue as she is obviously a part of a scheme, while Ameche is soon revealed to be involved in an clandestine affair with the sinister Hazel Brooks, one of the most evil predatory women ever to grace the screen.Robert Cummings is added into the plot, playing his usual happy go lucky good guy, befriending Colbert and escorting her around while Ameche plots with Brooks. Colbert, taking a break from the light-hearted comedies she was best known for (or long suffering mother roles), is sensational. Ameche is quite different than any role he had played up to this point. Produced by retired silent movie star Mary Pickford, this is dark and sinister, and above all, gripping and powerful.

funkyfry The best scenes in "Sleep, My Love" come right away -- awaking on a train, our heroine (Claudette Colbert) can't remember how or why she got there, although an old woman on the train swears she saw her get on in Baltimore. Later, it turns out the woman is a plant, part of a scheme dreamed up by the woman's husband (Don Ameche) and an unscrupulous passport photographer (Ralph Morgan).Sadly, many of the film's moments that seem to be designed to be creepy or disturbing are unintentionally humorous. Ameche has a book about how to hypnotize people, and he uses it to try to lure Colbert into suicide. It's impossible not to laugh as he whispers next to her head while she sleeps, "go to the window, jump! jump!" Robert Cummings is equally ridiculous for most of the film's running time, although he does allow some interesting moments to creep in after he's discovered Ameche's plot and tries to trap him into revealing himself (he reveals a more forceful side than we usually see from Cummings). I've never been a huge fan of Colbert in anything other than comedy, as she just doesn't seem to me to have the face or the style for drama. She's a fine actress, but I just didn't see what Cummings was so crazy about. She seems much too much of a square. Rita Johnson is more interesting to me, sorry..... wish we had seen more of her in films, but she definitely had some talent and was camera friendly.

Martin Teller Sirk delivers the goods. I don't know what it is about these "Gaslight" scenarios that I love so much, maybe it's just so delightfully devious. Okay, so the story is pretty damn predictable, but it's a really fun movie. Claudette Colbert (teamed up once again with Don Ameche, although in a far different way than MIDNIGHT) isn't great, but it's kind of a tricky role and she pulls it off pretty well. And for once, I enjoyed a Robert Cummings performance. Unfortunately, Raymond Burr doesn't get much to do and neither does femme fatale Hazel Brooks, although she does have a fantastic entrance, as we see her shapely legs coming down the stairs. But the performances aren't the film's strength. It has terrific pacing, some amazing shots (the whole thing is photographed very nicely) and even some good bits of comedy that manage not to undercut the tension. The Chinese wedding, for example, takes a good portion of time away from the action, but it's a delightful scene that establishes the relationship between Colbert and Cummings. Maybe this isn't a groundbreaking noir, but I really enjoyed it, especially for the entertaining (if somewhat routine) plot and superb cinematography.

kenjha A man plots his wife's demise while his lover waits impatiently. It treads familiar territory, with the story a variation of "Gaslight." However, it's a lot of fun, thanks to a good cast, a fast pace, and an engaging script. Colbert and Ameche collaborate for the third time ("Midnight" being the best) while Cummings plays a character similar to the one he later played in "Dial M for Murder." The tension is nicely balanced with touches of humor, with Johnson providing most of the comic relief. Before he became known for directing a series of melodramas in the 1950s, Sirk dabbled in some film noir, and this is his best, a big improvement over the previous year's "Lured."