Evelyn Keyes
Her Film Noir Roles 
Johnny O'Clock, Evelyn Keyes, 1947
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Evelyn Keyes was a vivacious actress full of spark with a mischievous gleam in her eye. She mainly was relegated to B-movie status or bit parts. Off screen, she was a world traveler and sported 4 rocky marriages, including one to director John Huston and another to big bandleader Artie Shaw. Her film noir work included the following: Johnny O Clock (1947)
Keyes plays Nancy Hobbs, the sister of the woman found dead in her apartment. As she investigates the suspicious circumstances, she falls in love with Johnny (Dick Powell), a partner in the big gambling casino where her sister worked. But Johnny is embroiled in a mess of trouble.The Killer That Stalked New York (1951)
In this semi-documentary noir based on a true story, Keyes plays Sheila Bennet, involved in a diamond smuggling scheme with her husband (Charles Korvin). He is also having an affair with her sister, but he's planning to ditch them both and make off with the diamonds himself. Unfortunately, they all have contracted smallpox, but don't realize it till they've spread the disease throughout New York. As Sheila gets sicker and sicker, she tries to get revenge on her also dying husband.
Get "Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol. 1 (The Killer That Stalked New York / Two of a Kind / Bad for Each Other / The Glass Wall)" on DVD The Prowler (1951)
Keyes plays Susan Gilvray, a late-night deejay's wife who calls the police about a prowler. One of the cops is Webb Garwood
(Van Heflin)
who gets just a little too interested in the case. He finds out about her husband's will and their faltering marriage and he moves in quickly, wooing her. When Gilvray gets "accidentally" shot dead by Webb, Susan and Webb are free to run off together with the inheritance. Unlike in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" or "Double Indemnity", Susan is not complicit in this murder, it's all Webb. They go to Las Vegas to fulfill Webb's dream of owning a motel. But Susan is pregnant and Webb is terrified the doctor will find out it was conceived before Gilvray's death, (Gilvray was sterile) thus making Webb look very guilty of murder after all. His paranoia and subsequent actions and confession destroy the trust Susan had in him. See Evelyn Keyes portray a woman in excruciating labor trying to save the doctor from her husband whom she has just discovered is a murderer all at the same time!
Get "The Prowler" on DVD 99 River Street (1953)
Evelyn Keyes is Linda, a perky young actress who is friend of the morose Ernie Driscoll (John Payne), whose wife is getting it on with a jewel thief. (Ernie is an ex prizefighter now driving a taxi, which just isn't good enough for her). Keyes' character also "acts" within the film, first pretending to have murdered someone and asking for Ernie's help as part of some sort of audition for her producer. Ernie falls for it, but is angry and humiliated. She makes it up to him by then "acting" as seductress to his wife's lover, jewel thief (Victor Rawlins), thereby helping Ernie to get his revenge.
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