Notes From Noir City 2010:
Barry Sullivan and Belita
Double Bill
Monday night at Noir City 8 in San Francisco, Barry Sullivan and Belita starred in both films.
Belita is a famous British ice skater, and the first film, Suspense (1946), featured more than one big budget ice show. Also, much of the set design in the film looks Art Deco inspired.The story was about a guy who blows into town with no job, but big ideas. Joe Morgan (Barry Sullivan) starts out as a peanut vendor at the ice skating shows and before you know it, he's the master of ceremonies. Oh and there's a murder involved. It's hard to say whether he's really in love with Roberta (Belita), the star of the show and wife of his boss, or just ambitious and deviously going after the whole setup, including her. Memorable moments include our ice queen leap skating through a ring of "sharp" knives, one which has been tampered with and is sliding slowly toward the center...and a singing, wild haired congo drummer (Bobby Ramos) on the ice that makes Ricky Ricardo's Babaloo look positively restrained. Belita is undeniably gorgeous and fabulous on the ice, but not so strong on the acting skills. There is definitely chemistry between Barry Sullivan and Belita though. Favorite line: Joe hasn't quite "won" Roberta yet, but when he sees her standing around in a stunning evening gown he says, "Hi baby. You sure look swell in that...(hand gesture) whatchamacallit."
The second Barry Sullivan and Belita film noir was Gangster (1947). This, too was a strange film, but not in the same way as the previous one. The plot seemed to drift and lag and not really go anywhere, punctuated by overly theatrical scenes in an ice cream parlor. But the most interesting thing was Sullivan's portrayal of a gangster named Shubunka, a man sick with jealousy and suspicion over his girlfriend Nancy (Belita) and a misplaced sense of superiority over everyone else.Belita came across as either a very weak actress, or was it her character Nancy who was badly acting to Joe, pretending she loved him when in fact she really was deceiving him? If she was portraying a phony character, it was more interesting, as no wonder Joe was uneasy and suspicous. But they never really revealed her as anything but true to him. Elisha Cook Jr., Shelley Winters and Charles McGraw all make bit appearances. The film had an unusually arty look, with a polka dot bedroom, thick stripes on the walls of the ice cream parlor, a large-checkered ceiling in another scene, and a large-checkered floor in yet another. Henry Morgan plays Shorty, the soda jerk who brags he can easily woo a woman (in this case the middle aged lady who works in the corset shop next door) by taking her out for "a little chop suey" and a show, so that she feels "obligated".
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