Fear (1946)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Fresh and Exciting

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of those "could have happened" film noir characters where the dark side of the protagonist is revealed to show exactly what somebody is capable of when pushed to the edge. The surprising element of it is that it came from the lowly Monogram studios, best known for the Bela Lugosi "mad doctor" movies, a series of hundreds of B grade westerns, and the Bowery Boys comedies.Medical student Peter Cookson is having financial difficulties and living a life best described as a mess. Landlady Almira Sessions is constantly badgering him for the rent and the state of his room, and he is in hock up to his neck. Learning that a local professor (Francis Pierlot) has stashed cash, he decides to plot the perfect murder, but it appears that once the crime has been committed, his sanity begins to suffer as well. Seemingly friendly police captain Warren William begins to "invite" Cookson down regularly to police headquarters while detective Nestor Paiva begins to follow Cookson and his new girlfriend (Anne Gwynne) around on their dates. Cookson's paranoia begins to grow as the police seem to be closing in on him. And then, bang, crash, the big twist. That's what gives this above average film noir a touch of class, along with the sly way William moves in on the troubled Cookson.The aging William, in his second to last film, gives a humorous and sly performance as the always happy police captain, carrying a pole and a hook as he tries to catch Cookson with the bate of evidence. Cookson seems to be on a front burner of the stove of sanity, getting hot and bothered by every little question that the police ask of him and every knock on his door from the sour pussed Sessions, a delightful character actress who could get laughs simply by sneering at the person she was snooping on and judging. Pierlot, as the victim, may look like some cute little old man, but his character is filled with darkness as well. This is smartly directed by Alfred Zeisler, an American born producer and director with much experience in Germany who used a lot of expressionism in his work especially as evidenced here. Many have pointed out the similarities to Fritz Lang which is evident in the elements Zeisler incorporates. Even at just 68 minutes, this compact little feature oozes in detail and keeps you glued, with top notch camera work by Jack Rose and brilliant editing by Ace Herman. In fact, it is so notable that this is one of the few times in my reviews that I wanted to single out the photographer and editor. The film noirs made by Monogram and Producers Releasing Corporation in the mid 1940's have completely withstood the test of time and deserve to be listed among the classics. "Fear" indeed is one of the very best of them.

Extremely Low-Budget Film-Noir that manages to entertain due to a strong Storyline (cribbed from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment) and some nifty Camera Work and a creative overall Style. What it lacks in slickness it makes up for in Mood and some expressionistic flourishes.There is a rather tacked-on, weak ending that is a misstep of the first order, but that disappointment aside, this is one of the better attempts at Bargin Bin Noir. There is a sombre and fatalistic tone throughout and there is much more Psychology found here than in most Bottom Rung Programmers. There is a good deal of Cat and Mouse and a lot of Soul Searching. Despite its restrictions, this can entertain at a deeper level than a lot of Major Studio B-Movies. In fact it is downright amazing how well it works its Magic through tone, style, and execution. This is not to be missed by Fans of Low-Budget Noir's.

***SPOILERS*** Updated version of the Fyodor Dostoevsky crime classic novel "Crime and Punishment" as well as Fritz Lang's 1931 classic crime film "M" but with a major twist in the end. The person committing the crime does get what's coming to him but not the way he and we watching the film expected it to be. Medical student Larry Crain, Peter Cookson, is down to his last dollar and about to be evicted from his boarding house and thrown out of medical school for not being able to pay the tuition. Desperete for cash to pay his bills and stay afloat Larry goes to collage Prof. Stanley, Francis Preriot, who besides teaching medicine is also the school's unofficial loan shark as well.Things don't go that well with Larry and Prof. Stanley who demands a cut of 20% for every dollar he lends him even before Larry has a chance to pay it back. Talking things over with his fellow students about Prof. Stanley Larry hears that the professor doesn't believe in banks and has all his cash in his apartment. This gives Larry the bright idea of whacking Prof. Stanley and taking his money the next time he sees him to pay him back what he loaned him. Tricking Prof. Stanley to turn his back on him by trying to pawn off a silver ashtray Larry smashes his skull in with a fireplace poker killing him. But as Larry soon finds out the place where Prof. Stanley keeps his cash a steel safe-box isn't that easy to open. And when Larry finally opens it a number of Prof. Sanley's customers, fellow medical students, are banging at his door trying to get a loan from him.It's all downhill for Larry from then on with after whacking Prof. Stanley in his hast not taking a cent of the what seems like thousands of dollars that was in his safe-box but also freaking out the next day when an article he wrote for a local crime magazine was accepted and him being given a $1,000.00 check for it! There's also the fact that the police are now on the case of Prof. Stanley's murder with Larry feeling that their on to him as well and he'll soon to be arrested for it.****SPOILERS*** Guilt ridden and at the point of hysterics Larry's consciences starts to take over. With Det. Shaffer, Naston Paiva, seeming to stalk him at every turn and police Captain Burke, Warren William, taking a keen interest in him in the Prof. Stanley murder investigation. Larry now feels for certain that his goose or butt is going to soon be cooked in the state's electric chair. The surprise ending in the movie takes a while to digest in that it come on so unexpectedly that all the characters in it have to be reintroduced to us. That's after Larry gets away Scott-free as an innocent but mentally unstable man the house painter,Earnie Adams, confessed to the murder that he in fact committed!

Maltin's summary, and his star-and-a-half rating, for this quickie film noir fails to put it in the context of other, far more dismal Monogram productions. "Fear" has lots of interesting camera-pushes, nice use of close-ups, relatively interesting lighting, and a great nightmare montage. Plus, an expressive touch at the moment the key murder takes place (which I won't reveal) is just brilliant. Three things link this film to Fritz Lang's work--the marked coat (from "M") the dream-frame ("The Woman in the Window"), and perhaps most explicitly the palmreading of Larry's hand, revealing an "M", which stands for. . . . [supply your own dramatic music here]. Noir fans should seek this one one out for sure. Others may not be so impressed.