The Sniper (1952)
Director Edward Dmytryk | DP Burnett Guffey
The pathology and anger of a sharp-shooting psychopath on a killing-spree explored with chilling veracity.
Related posts:
Cinematic Cities: Mean Ol’ Frisco
– November 11, 2009Posted in: Lobby, Noir Cities
Hi! Tony D’Ambra,
Cinematic Cities: Mean Ol’ Frisco
Only because [Eddie] Miller was there…not [Eddie] Muller. (Just Kidding around! :) )
Director Edward Dmytryk…
DP Burnett Guffey.
The pathology and anger of a sharp-shooting psychopath on a killing-spree explored with chilling veracity.
I really like this one…and I may “revisit” it (The Sniper) later today.
An Added Bonus: A couple of lobby cards that I recently purchased… are an added bonus.
One card feature actor Arthur Franz, and actress Marie Windsor, standing on the stairs.(with distance between them, but of course…)
By the way, I liked the ending of the film too…because instead of, killing him off in a “blaze of glory,” the script called for him (actor Arthur Franz)and his mental illness to be address, but I really do believe it depended on whether his character went to prison or a mental institution. Because If I recall correctly…they(The politicians, law enforcement officers and the psychologist.) were debated that issue in the film.
Thanks,
DeeDee ;)
Watched this on TCM a few months ago, and of course it has just received a well deserved release on DVD. “The Sniper” is a pretty lurid film for its time. Cinematographer Guffey uses the San Francisco location to great visual effect. I was surprised by Marie Windsor’s early demise in this film.
BTW, and I am sure you know this, “The Lineup” (also in the box set) is another great film with some wonderful location shots of San Francisco.
Hey DeeDee and John.
Yes DeeDee, there is a fair attempt at profiling and a decent discussion of the legal issues in the script.
John, I too love Marie Windsor and wish she had been given more roles, and yes it is terrible she is out of this picture so soon – like the emptiness I feel after she suffers a similar fate in The Narrow Margin and is promptly forgotten. What is particularly engaging here is that Windsor plays a nice dame: she is so elegantly beautiful and charming.
[SPOILER ALERT!]The most heart-stopping scene for me in the movie is when she is shot.
Tony said,”like the emptiness I feel after she suffers a similar fate in The Narrow Margin and is promptly forgotten.”
Hi! Tony D’Ambra,
Personally, I “fault” Howard Hughes, for the lack of details after her (actress Marie Windsor) murder in the 1952 film Narrow Margin.
See your own comment:
Howard Hughes and Marie Windsor
DeeDee ;)
…By the way, I wonder if one day the “missing scene”(after M.Windsor’s death) will be located and restored on a reissued DVD of the 1952 film Narrow Margin?…I guess that is “wishful” thinking on my behalf. :?
DeeDee ;)
It was actually pretty shocking, at least to me, when she was killed.
Too bad this film was not included on the recent Stanley Kramer DVD box set, where it would have been hands-down the best component. Still, as John notes, it has been released as a stand-alone. This has always been considered the forerunner of the serial killer films, and in the hands of the gifted Dmytryk who had much of the film told from the point of view of Franz, it’s riveting. You say so much there with that perfectly-worded single sentence and great screen cap.
Hey John, you and I are here at this hallowed hall at the same moment!
Sam- It actually has been released as part of the Columbia Film Noir Box Set along with The Big Heat, The Lineup, Murder By Contract and Five Agaisnt the House.