For You I Die (1947)

People are voting emotionally.

As Good As It Gets

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Its basically the old story of some prisoners on the run but manages to rise above what you would expect. The leads, little known Paul Langton and beautiful smoky-voiced Cathy Downs, are terrific together and deliver quality performances. All of the acting is generally good and as the film progresses you will get interested in the characters and what happens to them.Much is said about the darkness of the film's available prints but it takes place mostly at night and to me the dark nature of the story is suitable for old faded dark film stock, but yes it does need a good restoration someday. The copy I bought was viewable and good enough.Somehow this film, rather than the usual claustrophobic look of many studio-bound cheaply made films of the era, has managed to convert the closeness and night into an intimacy and immediateness that uses the "smallness" to its advantage. Very few small films are able to achieve this.Taught and well-acted by an ensemble cast, "For You I Die" breaks out of the black and white cheapie mold and is far above being just another obscure second bill throwaway.

Arpi Productions only produced two movies. This one and the following year, Sophia. Both directed by the same guy.This film is a tight production however the public domain prints are horrible. They do not appear to come from a negative but from a direct transfer -- film to film.That's means all the grays bleed out and you are left with blacks and whites in high contrast. Not enjoyable to watch.Too bad. For a B picture it's not half bad.The synopsis:A young convict,Johnny Coulter, serving as a trustee and with only a year remaining on his sentence, is forced to participate in a prison break by one of the hardened criminals. They separate after the break but circumstances bring them together again. Johnny and a waitress, Hope Novak, fall in love and, together, they help the law recapture the escapee and his henchmen.

Unless you're a Mischa Auer fan (I'm not), your enjoyment of this minor 1947 film noir will depend on how eager you are to see every noir escapade that Hollywood ever made. True, the lovely Cathy Downs does make her presence felt when she's on screen, but that doesn't happen very often. Mostly the script focuses on the lead man, Paul Langton (competent but somewhat lacking in personality), or the garrulous Marion Kerby. Yes, super-sexy Jane Weeks gets an occasional close-up, and Mischa Auer certainly manages to waste a fair amount of our time with pointless "comedy relief", but it's mostly Langton's film and he lacks the charisma to carry it. Dull direction by John Reinhardt doesn't help, but cameraman William Clothier does his best to give this minor entry an appropriately dark, noirish atmosphere.

Another in the list of solidly made B movies, FOR YOU I DIE is very much worth seeking out. This taut little Film Noir has good actors and a fine, dark atmosphere. Paul Langton is excellent as down-and-out Johnny Coulter, newly escaped from prison, but basically a decent guy. His companion, seen briefly in the film's shadowy opening, is Mac (Rory Mallinson), a hard-as-nails con-type who instructs Johnny to head alone to the restaurant where Mac's girlfriend Hope works. Nervous Johnny arrives and is immediately misled by floozy Jane Weeks as Georgie, who pretends to be Hope in order to seduce handsome Johhny. As the real Hope (symbolic name, no doubt), Cathy Downs is a standout, avoiding all the good-girl clichés and creating a believable character. Other very good performers in the film are Marion Kerby, Mischa Auer and Roman Bohnen. These actors give their all in what was most likely just a low-budget production. Director John Reinhardt keeps the pace fast and the details interesting, and William Clothier does some nice things with obscure, Noir lighting effects. A top-notch minor Noir, whose theme is the enjoyment of what life offers for free.