The Web
Studio: Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Jul 30, 2021 Web Exclusive
In the late 40s and early 50s, Hollywood was churning out dozens - if not hundreds - of films a year that could be considered noir. The stylistic elements were so ingrained in the writers and cinematographers and directors working in the studio system, that virtually any crime-adjacent film fulfilled the aesthetic elements that would come to define the cycle. Not every noir film from this era is a classic, but even a film as haphazardly plotted as 1947’s The Web offers the pleasures of some great actors giving great performances.
Directed by Michael Gordon - the maternal grandfather of Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The Web is the story of crusading defense attorney Bob Regan, who becomes embroiled in an embezzlement and murder scheme when he begins working for industrialist Andrew Colby. The plot is needlessly complicated and ends with a bit of a shrug, but the film more than justifies its existence by merely allowing space for the four leads to bounce off each other. Edmond O’Brien plays Regan as another variation on the rough-and-tumble urban heroes that typified his rise to leading man status in films like The Killers and White Heat. The youthful righteousness and ambition of the character pairs well with his hangdog cynicism he clearly and capably cribbed from Humphrey Bogart. Biting Bogie’s style serves him well during his banter with Noel Faraday, Colby’s sexy, witty secretary played by Ella Raines. Raines became popular in the mid-1940s, although her career was relatively brief. She was a versatile performer though, playing standard saintly love interests in The Suspect and Hail the Conquering Hero, although films like Robert Siodmak’s 1944 noir The Phantom Lady showed off her range, particularly as a comedic actress. Noel is introduced as something of a femme fatale, a sexy, sassy secretary who sees right through the hero’s charms. But Raines delivers even her sharpest barbs with something of a wink and a smile. “My dangerous beauty depends on eight hours of sleep”, she says to Regan, turning down his advances and skewering femme fatale archetype.
Similar to Raines, Vincent Prince had only just begun to find success in the mid-1940s and was still a long way from his famously macabre persona. Hints of it were already present though; Colby is one of several shady businessmen he played during the noir cycle. In a smaller supporting role is William Bendix as the dogged police lieutenant and friend of Regan. Bendix was known for playing good-natured, blue-collar lugs. His role here fits with that persona, but Bendix gives the character a gleam of sly intelligence that plays nicely off his thick New York accent. The chemistry between the four leads is more than enough to carry the belabored plot, and fun enough to create an atmosphere that, while distinctly noir in a visual sense, is much more upbeat and light-hearted than similar films often were.
(www.kinolorber.com/film/the-web)
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