On D List of Movie Reviews
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Desperate (1947)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
1/25
1/25:
Desperate is an above-average picture produced by RKO before Howard Hughes took over the studio.
It's 50% film noir, and that only happens when Raymond Burr shows up. There's a nice touch of the
swinging light during one scene. Otherwise, it's a sappy love story of a couple on the run, and not much happens.
So many times Steve Randall has been shot at, but none of the bullets hits him, not even at close
range. The same is said for him for failing to go incognito such as shaving his head or growing a beard.
At least, the film is only 73 minutes long to not let the contrivances overwhemingly bother me.
I've never heard of Steve Brodie before. An adult version of Keith Coogan, he has done an
okay job of playing the doomed man. Audrey Long is typical, having stopped acting not long after to become the
longtime wife of Leslie Charteris, the author of The Saint books. When I
saw Jason Robards' name in the opening credits, I thought that was the two-time Oscar winner, but it turns out
to be his father. Raymond Burr is excellent as usual, and film noir is his strongest suit,
allowing him to appear as a heavy baddie, but this is his first time ever to play one.
Hey, Ray, here's a free piece of advice: next time...just kill the guy pronto and move on.
All in all, if not for Raymond Burr, Desperate would've gone from B film noir to straight F turkey.