I believe Film Noir at its best is a black and white screen, full of shadows, depth photography and the stark feeling in the audience that this can give. Arguably this exercise in 3-D is a bit of a gimmick, and the relentless Mojave desert takes the place of inner and outer claustrophobia that the genre of Film Noir is best in conveying. The plot is similar to many previous films of the genre; plans to kill a husband for a usually fickle lover, or a lover so obsessed he is willing to take deadly actions in the name of passion. Here we have Rhonda Fleming ( not given enough to do on the screen ) and William Lundigan, a minor actor of the period. The focus is left on Robert Ryan to get the maximum out of this scenario and he does. Left to die ( but eventually the two killers return to try to finish him off ) he attempts survival, and a lot of the film is taken up on Ryan devising ways of escaping the fate most Film Noir husbands have to face. But all does not go as planned. End of spoilers and most reviews have said more. Ryan who I consider to be a fine actor supposedly said it was him at his best, but I dispute that. Take a look at ' Caught ' and ' Bad Day at Black Rock, ' ' Beware, My Lovely ' and ' Clash by Night ' for in my opinion his best work. But that said this is a film of some suspense, a lot of cliche falling rocks and thrown objects for the obvious 3-D effects and the end certainly has a few surprises to offer. Sadly it is Rhonda Fleming who gets the least attention, and she is pivotal as the cause of the whole action. Claire Trevor would have bitten up the scenery and been a force to be reckoned with, whereas Fleming looks on as if to say, give me more to show and do, but strangely the director paid little attention to her. I certainly do not rate this film as highly as so many others have, but admit it must have given pleasure in a 1950's double bill.
Review of Inferno
