The Web (1947)

Lack of good storyline.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Saw this film for the first time last night. Nice little noir, and I genuinely liked the character played by Vincent Price. I mean I actually liked the guy, and I'm usually someone who goes for the good guys.Good performances all around, actually. Ella Raines was effective as the femme anti-fatale, William Bendix was great in a performance that reminded me of the work James Gandolfini would be doing 50-60 years later, and Edmond O'Brien was always a solid noir lead, without ever truly setting the world on fire.Two things bothered me. One was the ending, with the gambit about the dead body. It just didn't quite work for me.The other was the trick of using the friend to impersonate the late Victor Bruno and then simply assuming Colby wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't him. I understand it was different times, but it did seem to have a racist and xenophobic quality to it, relying as it did on the basic conceit that all 'foreigners' sound the same. The idea of getting anyone with any accent to impersonate a 'foreigner' - who you never heard speak and haven't the faintest idea what his voice sounded like - , and then just assuming the baddie won't be able to tell the difference, well, stupid writing, stupid characters, maybe hoping for a stupid audience, or maybe all three.But in all, a cool little movie, certainly a bit far-fetched, but nice atmosphere, brisk pace, and wonderful performances.

Edmond O'Brien who later starred in such noir classics as 711 Ocean Drive and DOA stars in this film with Vincent Price for Universal. The Web casts O'Brien as a young attorney and Price as a millionaire who is not above outright criminal activity as a way of supporting his lifestyle as we see.Sad to say the film while not bad in and of itself and its conclusion is quite interesting, it starts with one preposterous premise. O'Brien is rather brash and heavy handed and a bit stupid. Just what Price needs to slip into a neat frame. He hires and O'Brien accepts because business isn't too good a job as a bodyguard because an old business associate played by Fritz Leiber is threatening him.Sure enough Lieber shows up at Price's house and O'Brien shoots him to save Price. The police in the person of William Bendix aren't sure, but they can't prove anything. Later on Price commits another murder and this time he frames both O'Brien and his secretary Ella Raines for the crime. Quite The Web that O'Brien and now Raines are in, in this day we call it a jackpot.Granted I've known all kinds of lawyers including some of the stupidest people I've ever met. But I could never swallow a street smart guy like O'Brien being so easily manipulated. It prevents The Web from being a truly great noir film.

Surprisingly good unknown noir, featuring fine work from noir regulars Ella Raines, William Bendix, Vincent Price and Edmund O'Brien. Taut, well-acted, although rather unsurprisingly plotted and photographed, this is quite a satisfying diversion.Ms. Raines, a competent actress, seems to have relied on her 'ironed' and particularly sleek tresses to carry her career forward. Price, always elevated because of his voice, poise and diction, carries another role both admirably and distastefully. Edmond O'Brien, oleaginous and plump, doesn't sweat as much as usual, although he is subjected to a hotter than usual roasting from... William Bendix, who many of my generation recall as the harmlessly bumbling Riley in 'The Life of Riley' TV series of the 1950's, once again reprises his role as a hard as nails, street-wise tough guy as the police detective.Great ensemble cast of noir regulars, good pacing and direction, mostly mediocre dialog and music and cinematography, yet still a joy to watch.

Michael Gordon's 'The Web (1947)' is an obscure crime thriller, but you wouldn't have guessed it from the cast list. Edmond O'Brien can always play an unconventional noir hero – not the sort who is continually in control, but one with a accidental tendency to get into more trouble than he can handle. Vincent Price originally made his name with a string of devious supporting roles in 1940s dramas, including 'Laura (1944)' and 'Dragonwyck (1946).' William Bendix is, of course, a staple of the film noir movement, and here he proves that his range extends beyond playing sadistic brutes and weak-willed buffoons. Femme fatale Ella Raines is less well-known than her co-stars, but, based on this film and her comedic turn in 'The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947),' she had quite a bit of talent. It's not just the cast that is excellent, though. The screenplay by William Bowers and Bertram Millhauser (the latter of whom penned a number of Basil Rathbone's "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries) has plenty of unexpected surprises around the corner.Bob Regan (O'Brien) is a two-bit lawyer with the bluster of a high-price attorney. In his first scene, Regan sidles through a busy reception office, offends a secretary (Raines) with some surprisingly-forward sexual banter, before busting in on millionaire businessman Andrew Colby (Price) and demanding the sum of exactly $68.72. Impressed with Regan's passion for the job, Colby hires him for a high-paying, two-week stint as a personal bodyguard. However, when Regan guns down Leopold Kroner (Fritz Leiber), a former associate of Colby's who was recently released from prison, he finds himself in hot water with detective Damico (Bendix), who scents murder. Desperate to clear his name, Regan begins to investigate Colby's shady dealings, reluctantly exploiting the affections of secretary Noel Faraday for information. Meanwhile, Vincent Price's articulate, calculating Colby plots the coup de grâce of his high-stakes crime spree, culminating in a murder frame-up that initially seems so airtight that I couldn't imagine any way for our hero to get out of it.Though it doesn't necessarily offer any new material for the film noir lexicon, nor does 'The Web' feel contrived. The romance between O'Brien and Raines could easily have been squandered with melodrama, but the film always keeps their relationship edgy. Noel's affections, for one, are clearly split between Regan and Colby, whose association with her visibly extends beyond the professional realm ("I recognise him when I see him"). Regan himself, while essentially good-hearted, has a clumsy crudeness about him where women are concerned, in contrast with Colby, who always knows what to say and how to say it. There's something subtly fascinating about Price's 1940s performances; it has to do with how he speaks. When his character is telling an untruth, he does so in a manner that, to us, reeks of deception, and yet we can perfectly understand why the film's characters – say, a policeman – swallow the lie whole. He toes a fine line, and yet manages to suspend the audience's disbelief. Maybe that's why Price got away with starring in so many awful movies.