Too Late For Tears (1949)

AKA:
Der blonde Tiger >> German

About:
Too Late For Tears is a great example of late 40s pure Noir cinema. Too Late for Tears was directed by Byron Haskin and stars Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea and Arthur Kennedy. The screenplay was written by Roy Huggins, developed from a serial he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post

Synopsis:
Dennis Schwartz had the following to say about Too Late For Tears: "Byron Haskin's low-budget film noir makes good use of its Los Angeles locale and its lady bluebeard is fun to watch as she does her nasty gun thing with her nice guy hubby and rotten poison thing with her boyfriend (she took care of her first hubby off camera, so we're not sure how he got it!)...Though a minor film noir, it relates to the ambitions the middle-class had during the postwar period to better their life materially and socially. Jane's drive for wealth was so extreme that she will not stop at murder to rise above her impoverished middle-class circumstances, and her warped character is used to show how money can't buy one happiness. The husky-voiced winsome smiling Lizabeth Scott turns in a finely tuned performance as the femme fatale; while Dan Duryea is in his element as the alcoholic weak-kneed cad, who shows he doesn't have as much stomach for his criminal mischief as does his lady accomplice."

Starring:
Lizabeth Scott
Don DeFore
Dan Duryea
Arthur Kennedy

Director: Byron Haskin

The Strange Woman (1946)

About:
The Strange Woman" is an American film

Starring:
Hedy Lamarr
George Sanders
Louis Hayward
Hillary Brooke
Gene Lockhart

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Quicksand (1950)

Synopsis:
After borrowing $20 from his employer's cash register, an auto mechanic is plunged into a series of increasingly disastrous circumstances which rapidly spiral out of his control.

Starring:
Mickey Rooney
Jeanne Cagney
Barbara Bates

Director: Irving Pichel

Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)

Synopsis:
A man who has decided dogs are not his best friend takes matters into his own hands in this dark comedy from South Korea. A college professor (Lee Sung-jae), who with his wife is awaiting the birth of their baby, is being led to the end of his tether by the constant barking of a dog somewhere in the apartment complex they call home. In a fit of rage, he snaps and kills the dog in a nearby flat -- only to discover another dog is still barking somewhere in the building. Soon, one dog after another is disappearing, and the angry teacher is having to come up with new and creative ways to hide his grisly pastime. Meanwhile, the manager of the apartment building (Bae Doo-na) keeps getting more and more complaints about pets who've gone missing, and becomes increasingly determined to find the culprit. Puhran Dah Suh Uigeh was the first feature from director and screenwriter Bong Joon-ho.

M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Moerder (1931)

Synopsis:

This film is nothing less than a masterpiece.

It is a highly structured and stylized film about a serial killer.

It created the serial kill genre, which includes such entries as Psycho and Silence of the Lambs.

Alfred Hitchcock (the director of Psycho) was a disciple of Lang as were Jacques Tourneur (The Leopard Man (1943)) and Michael Powell (Peeping Tom (1960)).

"M" was not only the originator of the genre, but arguably remains it preeminent entry.

Highly recommended for those in the mood for a Hitchcockian-style thriller with a great performance by Peter Lorre and great story-telling technique by Fritz Lang.

Director: Fritz Lang