Friday...too many Fridays ago was Cornell Woolrich night
THE GUILTY (1947): A minor low budget gem. Two men--old service buddies--are living together in an apartment. They're friends with twin girls (both played by Bonita Granville) who despite their looks are polar opposites--sweet and innocent vs. bad news. And then the wrong one is murdered. I mean, ideally neither are murdered, but the sweet and innocent one was. A dogged police inspector finally gets his man (maybe) in a wrong suspect/wrong victim tangled web.
NO MAN OF HER OWN (1950): Barbara Stanwyck is brilliant in this believably far-fetched (a Woolrich specialty) story of woman posing as someone else. In the beginning, she's kicked out of her no-good cheating boyfriend's apartment. Despite being broke and pregnant she takes a train to California. On the train, a nice newlywed couple befriends her. They're heading out to introduce her to his wealthy family. And then the train derails...and the newlyweds are killed...and she's mistaken for the bride and eagerly welcomed by the family. The first half, despite the family being very friendly, is full of tension as you wonder if she'll be found out. Then her asshole of a boyfriend shows up with a blackmail plot. This all sounds too ridiculous, and it kinda is. But it's also played in such a straight, believable way that it works, and Stanwyck is excellent.
Total Running Time: 169 minutes
My Total Minutes: 380,696
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