On O List of Movie Reviews
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Over-Exposed (1956)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
6/24
6/24:
After seeing Over-Exposed, it's clear that Cleo Moore could act and had more substance than Marilyn Monroe.
What's surprising is it's her penultimate film. She would do one more in 1957 before exiting Hollywood for
good. What the heck happened? Cleo Moore was just getting better. On the other hand, this is the earliest I've ever seen of
Richard Crenna. Since then, he had been acting virtually the same, right down to his lower jaw and neck.
Over-Exposed features a topic that's not touched that much in cinema: a career in photography. Yeah, there isn't a
story for the longest time, let alone film noir. The second half is when the movie began to falter greatly before
recovering as soon as Mrs. Payton Grange dropped dead while dancing. There's a bit of Walter Winchell thing going on
that would be blown up more in Sweet Smell of Success the following year.
By the way, it's curious to hear the name of Lila Crane. The character began with Robert Bloch when he wrote his 1959 novel
Psycho, and she's Marion Crane's sister. Two decades later, John Carpenter took Lila's
married name Loomis for Donald Pleasence's character. As far as I know, Cleo Moore is the original Lila Crane.
All in all, Cleo Moore is the single reason why Over-Exposed has a pulse.