Off beat Seduction Scene In
99 River Street

Towards the end of 99 River Street (1953) is what has to be one of the most off beat seduction scenes in film noir.

Evelyn Keyes plays Linda, a spunky young actress helping her angst-ridden friend Ernie (John Payne) catch the smilingly smarmy Victor Rawlins, played by Brad Dexter.

Rawlins first had an affair with Ernie's wife, but then had to kill her to further his jewelry robbing business. (The prelude to that murder was a strange scene in itself.)

Towards the end of the film, Rawlins waits in a small tavern to tie up some illicit business. Linda plans to seduce and distract him long enough for the police to arrive. Problem is, she doesn't have a clue what he looks like.

Luckily, the diner/bar is uncrowded. There's a man sitting at the counter who just may be him. When his wife goes to the john, Linda peels off her outer sweater, consciously emphasizing her pointy endowments (all the rage in the 50's), with the help of the camera angle.

The man at the counter is very interested, all the more so when Linda puts a song on the jukebox and starts dancing alone, in a way that Lucille Ball might have been inspired by for some of her I Love Lucy antics.

"It sure is dead in here", she cooes to the bewitched man. He gets up to dance with her. "Revive me." he suggests. (Approx. lines)

All the while, Rawlins is missing this performance, as he is seated alone, in a booth facing the wall. When Linda finally realizes he must be the killer, she works her wiles on him. He couldn't be less interested.

The very best part of this strange film noir scene in 99 River Street is when she leans over in his face, takes a cigarette from him and proceeds to light it on the cigarette dangling from his own mouth. Looking into his eyes, her mouth maneuvers her cigarette so that the two cigarettes bob up and down together, the glowing ends joined.

The expression on his face is priceless.

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