Carolyn Jones lights the screen on fire. Unfortunately, it's Alan Ladd who's in it from first to last frame.

More interesting (to me anyway) as a dialectic on communism v. capitalism rather than on spirit v. material.

This film should be much better known, for its script, its acting, its direction... It's a masterpiece, undeservedly overlooked and underrated.

Great perfromances by Stanwyck, Hayden and Burr. But the real star of the show, in my opinion, is the brilliant, morally complex script by Jo Eisinger.

Even better--more beautiful, sadder, deeper--than I remembered.

Proof a film can be difficult, inaccessible, hostile and still be fascinating and even pleasurable.

How long does this movie last? An eternity and a day...

A top-tier genre picture. Kinshasa may be dysfunctional but Viva Riva works beautifully.

Anna Lucasta is missing.

Roland LeSaffre as the sailor/blackmailer is criminally unsung. He's not even listed in MUBI's cast, and several reviews online unforgivably mistake Marcel Andre as the actor in the role. Andre (who is best known perhaps as Belle's father in Cocteau's La belle et la bete) was in his 70s. In this film, he played Michaud, one of the elder Mme Raquin's friends.

I can't remember another movie, besides one I made in high school on a broken Super 8mm camera, that makes such sustained use of nearly illegible underlit and unlit darkness. I admire that audacity, but I'm less enamored of the audacity to focus on two such annoying characters.

Three stars for a workmanlike western. Four stars for Morricone's sublimely weird score.

This threatened to be propaganda and turned out to be beautifully crafted noir. Forsythe is not an emotional actor. I'm fine with that. Several other performances, especially from the female character actors, are outstanding. It's also beautifully shot. Wise knew his stuff and it shows. I was impressed.

I suspect this is a prime example of the Hollywood Code going wildly wrong. Went from being a profoundly disturbing tragedy to a light entertainment in its final couple of minutes.

Top reasons to love this movie: The Ramones and Mary Woronov

"Corneille, put an end to this farce!" "Which one, your lordship?"

I'm a total sucker for this kind of morally complex, urban noir. Great film!

Much ado about nothing, perhaps, with strong emphasis on "much," "ado," "about," "nothing," and "perhaps."

A bit of Godard, Blier, Bunuel and Lynch. A lot of sophisticated energy. Deserves to be better known.

First hour is brilliant, then turns into a bit of a smarmy mess.

The Krupa number where Cooper first sees Stanwyck is solid, sister.

I enjoyed it mostly, but having just finished the book in three days and having it quite fresh on the mind, I liked it better as a book. Will be interesting to compare it with the Fincher version, which I plan to see in a couple of days.

They still make masterpieces.

A sentimental favorite, though as a whole, it doesn't hold up quite as well as I'd hoped. Michelle Pfeiffer, Dean Stockwell and Mercedes Ruehl, however, do!

Wickedly dry, deadpan satire. Sabroso!

Charming!

I'm sorry to say I was less impressed than I wanted to be. Great art design and overall look, but the unsubtle acting and sentimental script got in my way.

Worth watching for the dance scene alone.

Big-budget sci-fi from Britain, sort of a Fountainhead with earnestness and heart. Interesting for the art deco idea of The Future.

A rich, complex fable of Africa under European bondage told in beautiful and wonderfully simple filmic language. The final images pack a punch.