In Night Editor (1946) a sexually charged cult noir Janis Carter plays a rotten rich dame who double-crosses her cop lover.

Janis Carter noirs:

Night Editor (1946)
Framed (1947)
I Love Trouble (1948)
The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)

A title that conjures up sordid images doesn’t disappoint.  A b-programmer from Monogram co-produced by and starring the sublime Kay Fancis as a crime-boss in one of her last roles, Allotment Wives is really a late gangster flick.   The organisers of the San Francisco’s Roxie Theatre coming noir series,  I WAKE UP DREAMING: The Haunted World of the B Film Noir,  have stretched the envelope by including this feature. Though others no doubt will pull out the tired arguments: the emasculating femme-noir threatening male dominance during the War, and the eroticisation of violence.

“Nice shooting…”

The story of a woman who uses her social status and ill-gotten wealth to front a bigamy racket where dames marry multiple GIs during WW2 to skim the allotment support paid by the Defense Dept to spouses of men on active duty, is predictable but well-made with a snappy script. Noir regular Paul Kelly as an army investigator is disappointingly wooden and his performance is underwhelming at best. Otto Kruger is fine as the lady boss’ right-hand man.  The climax is brutal with Francis plugging a dame without qualm or remorse, but justice triumphs in the end.  Francis’ flamboyant hats and her hair-do add a juicy camp quality to the goings-on.

Maxine Cooper, the actress who played the off-beat secretary to Ralph Meeker’s Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich’s cult noir, Kiss Me Deadly (1955), died aged 84 on April 4.

More from the LA Times.

Blues in the Night (1941)
Where Danger Lives (1950)
Vendetta (1950)
Soho Incident (1956)  aka Spin a Dark Web (USA)
Man in the Shadow (1957) aka Violent Stranger (USA)

An on-going feature in no particular order…

You Came Along (1945)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Dead Reckoning (1947)
Desert Fury (1947)
I Walk Alone (1948)
Pitfall (1948)
Too Late For Tears (1948)
Dark City (1950)
Two of a Kind (1951)
The Racket (1951)
Stolen Face (1952)
Scared Stiff (1953)

An on-going feature in no particular order…

Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity (1944)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Cry Wolf (1947)
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
The File On Thelma Jordan (1950)
No Man of Her Own (1950)
The Furies (1950)
Clash By Night (1952)
Witness to Murder (1954)
Crime of Passion (1957)

An on-going feature in no particular order…

This is an elegant homage by Rob in L.A. to some of the iconic femmes-noir. Make sure your speakers are on as the haunting rendition by Bruce Springsteen of Angel Eyes is integral to the experience.

Credits

Song: “Angel Eyes,” music by Matt Dennis, lyrics by Earl Brent. Performed by Bruce Springsteen.

Film clips:

Marie Windsor in THE NARROW MARGIN (1952)
Cleo Moore in ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951)
Claire Trevor in BORN TO KILL (1947)
Veronica Lake in THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)
Ella Raines in PHANTOM LADY (1944)
Louise Brooks in PANDORA’S BOX (1928)
Jean Gillie in DECOY (1946)
Jane Russell in HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1952)
Anne Baxter in THE BLUE GARDENIA (1953)
Lauren Bacall in THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
Jane Greer in OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
Rita Hayworth in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948)
Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann in PERSONA (1966)
Lana Turner in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)
Simone Simon in CAT PEOPLE (1942)
Clara Bow in MY LADY OF WHIMS (1925)
Ingrid Bergman in ARCH OF TRIUMPH (1948)
Monica Vitti in L’ECLISSE (1962)
Marie Windsor in THE NARROW MARGIN (1952)
Anna May Wong in PICCADILLY (1929)
Ella Raines in PHANTOM LADY (1944)
Gloria Grahame in THE BIG HEAT (1953)
Ava Gardner in THE KILLERS (1946)
Lizabeth Scott in DEAD RECKONING (1947)
Hedy Lamarr in ALGIERS (1938)
Ella Raines in PHANTOM LADY (1944)
Gene Tierney in LAURA (1944)
Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
Dorothy Dandridge in ISLAND IN THE SUN (1957)
Constance Dowling in BLACK ANGEL (1946)
Mary Meade in T-MEN (1947)
Rita Hayworth in GILDA (1946)
Peggy Cummins in GUN CRAZY (1950)
Lizabeth Scott in DEAD RECKONING (1947)
Fay Helm in PHANTOM LADY (1944)
Louise Brooks in PANDORA’S BOX (1928)
Marlene Dietrich in SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932)

Dedicated to Ann Savage

“Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire
Explain, explain
As I turn and meet the power
This time, This time
Turning white and senses dire
Pull up, pull up From one extreme to another”
- Into the Fire by 13 Senses

standing by the highway
alone against eternity
one last chance
to make it – big time

your dyin’ babe
lungs can’t hold out too long
against the rising tide
choking blood

you need a ride
booze
a shower
wash the lizard’s skin from your nails

he offers
okay
what the hell!
maybe this time

another loser
lost
so stupid
he thinks fate did it

make it happen
he’s a goner
one last chance
do it

you need love babe
I need dough more
this guy’s a ticket
to blow before I split

booze
makes me sad
lonely
love me

just one time
before I go