view
The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1946)
Aug
15
Hilary Cummins (Peter Lorre). DP: Wesley Anderson.
“Eight bones has the carpus, five the metacarpus, fourteen the phlanges, all in all, all in all, twenty-seven all in all. Abracadabra.”
– Donald Arlington
view
The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947)
Aug
9
Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) and husband Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane) in the dizzying modernist finale. DP: Charles Lawton Jr..
“You need more than luck in Shanghai.”
– Elsa Bannister
view
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (John Farrow, 1948)
Aug
3
Mentalist John Triton (Edward G. Robinson, middle) and two of his conspirators. DP: John F. Seitz.
A continuity error later on in the movie makes it August 4.
“I'd become a sort of a reverse zombie. I was living in a world already dead, and I alone knowing it.”
– John Triton
view
The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
Jul
20
1940
spoiler warning: click to toggle image

The July 21 headline. DP: Elwood Bredell.
“Don't ask a dying man to lie his soul into Hell.”
– Lt. Sam Lubinsky
view
D.O.A. [Dead on Arrival] (Rudolph Maté, 1949)
Jul
18
A man's hand signs a car rental contract dated July 18. DP: Ernest Laszlo.
“You knew who I was when I came here today. But you were surprised to see me alive, weren't you? But I'm not alive, Mrs. Philips. Sure, I can stand here and talk to you. I can breathe and I can move. But I'm not alive. Because I did take that poison, and nothing can save me.”
– Frank Bigelow
The Life Magazine displayed at the San Francisco newspaper stand where Frank Bigelow stops is the issue of September 12, 1949, with Yugoslavia's leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito on the cover.
view
野良犬 [Nora inu / Stray Dog] (Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
Jul
14
Someone enjoys a drink or beverage*
“On the bus, the air was so thick, he felt woozy. A wailing infant shook with tears and the woman beside him reeked with the stink of cheap perfume.”
– narrator
On a sweltering summer day, Detective's Murakami's Colt gets stolen on a crowded bus. He must delve deep into the sticky sweaty seedy underbelly of Tokyo to retrieve it.
view
The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller, 1964)
Jul
4
1961
A desk calendar reading July 4, 1961, with dirty, crumpled dollar bills thrown on top of it. DP: Stanley Cortez.
“Nobody shoves dirty money in my mouth.”
– Candy
view
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (Louis Malle, 1958)
Jun
18
International Panic Day
M Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) seated in an elevator, calmly smoking. Around him several items speak of less calm moments. DP: Henri Decaë.
“Have you seen Mr Tavernier tonight?”
Julien Tavernier has a plan about how to run off with his boss' wife. There's just this one snag. No time to panic, c'est cool c'est cool.
view
Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
frites
Anne (Isabelle Corey), a cute blonde with a beret, eats a fry (French, obviously) while giving us a side glance. It's all very proto-Vague. DP: Henri Decaë.
– I saw you the other morning, eating frites.
– I like frites.
view
Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
Friday
Bob (Roger Duchesne) at the tables, gambling. DP: Henri Decaë.
“I'd even lose at hopscotch these days.”
– Bob Montagné
Bob gambles, and always wins. But then he starts losing. Not just games, also his friends.