Lust for Gold (1949)

Lust for Gold (1949) is a bookend narration-style lost goldmine murder greed and deception lousy husband historical western meets modern day media film noir of the western stamp, one of several noirs which combine past and present in a treasure huntin narrative.

All of which is made perfectly desperate by the acting of Ida Lupino, who does in the great noir tradition perform the most desperate of acting styles, making of everything a high stakes showdown, as is fitting of her role as the First Lady of Noir.

The Woman in White (1948)

The Woman in White (1948) is a historical film noir melodrama gothic Victoriana novel adaptation of the Wilkie Collins classic hypnotism ghostly creeper tale, offering up Gig Young, Sydney Greenstreet, Agnes Moorhead and no mouse inside of Count Fosco's waistcoat, much of a missing misery that was for us.

The comforting narrative of women in captivity, makes the writing so much clearer. There is noir sensibility, and feminist undercurrents, barely squeaking beneath the weight of the production, and adaptation as a moribund style of movie.