Despite having read praise for his work in the Film Noir & Western genres over the years,I have somehow never got round to seeing any titles by director Anthony Mann,with the only Mann title that comes to mind being Spartacus-where he was replaced by a director called Stanley Kubrick. (whatever happened to him?!)With my dad having enjoyed seeing The Falcon movies last Christmas, I was pleased to stumble upon a Falcon-style Film Noir by Anthony Mann,starring Falcon lead Tom Conway, (aka Tom Sanders-George's brother) which led to me setting my clock,for a morning shot of courage.The plot:Walking around a street with blood dripping down his face,a man in a pin-stripe suit bumps into a taxi.Thinking that the guy is a drunk,cab driver Patty Mitchell tells the guy to get in the cab so she can drop him off home.Driving round,Mitchell is shocked to discover that along with the guy not being able to remember his name,that he is also unable to recognise his own face.Checking his pockets,the man finds nothing but 2 ticket stubs and $500.Suggesting to the man that the police may be able to help him track down his ID,Mitchell heads to the police station.Getting out the car,Mitchell and the man catch a snippet from a near-by radio that the police are after a murderer who has $500 on him,and was last seen wearing a pin-stripe suit. Believing that the man does not have the face of a murderer,Mitchell vows to drive the man to clear his name.View on the film:Keeping his "unofficial" remake of the 1936 Film Noir Two In The Dark to a trim 68 minutes,director Anthony Mann and cinematographer Jack MacKenzie give "the mans" stage world a glamorous appearance,which has darkness bubbling underneath,as Mann and MacKenzie show the elegant gowns & posh night clubs to be a cover for the double-crossing and lying that its inhabitants take part in.As "the man" and Mitchell gets closer to uncovering his identity,Mann wraps the title round a Film Noir thread,with Mann superbly using over-lapping shots to create an uneasy atmosphere,as "the man" starts to remember.Crossing a light Comedy touch into Film Noir territory,the screenplay by Robert E. Kent, Gelett Burgess and Gordon Kahn strikes a fine balance of keeping Mitchell & "the mans" exchanges hilariously quick-witted,whilst making sure that the corrupt world they find themselves entering is correctly treated with a harsh manner.Keeping the movies plot moving at an excellent pace,the writers display a real procession in revealing the mans troubled past piece by piece.Staying close together for most of the film,Ann Rutherford and Tom Conway both give splendid performances,with the pretty Rutherford curling Mitchell's lips round every sharp one-liner,whilst Tom Conway (who sounds just like his brother!) brilliantly shows his unknown past to rest heavy on his shoulder,as the man finds the courage to unlock his dimly-lit Side Street past.

Ann Rutherford spent most of her MGM years being Polly Benedict, Andy Hardy's biggest fan. In most of the Andy Hardy movies she usually had to take a back seat to up and coming actresses such as Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Esther Williams etc, but by the end the humbled Andy would always be back in her arms. Obviously, she tired of these and couldn't wait to leave MGM. She hoped free lancing would give her more adult roles but it wasn't to be. She just had a very bubbly personality and her part as Patty, the perky taxi driver who helps amnesia victim Tom Conway was exactly the type of role she did best. Directed by Anthony Mann and with a screenplay by Gelett Burgess, noted American humorist and inventor of the "blurb", "Two O'Clock Courage" starred Tom Conway, in between his Falcon assignments, as a nameless amnesia victim who may just be mixed up in the murder of a Broadway producer. He is encouraged to find out the truth by Patty, the bubbly taxi driver, who almost runs him over. There are more laughs than drama with Richard Lane as a bumbling newspaper reporter. Conway finds out he is really Theodore Allison, who has been hired by the mother of Laurence Kenny, author of the play "Two O'Clock Courage" to find out what happened to it. The play has been plaguerized by the producer and retitled "Menace" where said producer has been pocketing all the royalties.This movie was also the debut of Bettejane Greer, soon to be known as Jane Greer - she had the role of Helen a sulky nightclub girl and she certainly made a splash with her limited screen time. Jean Brooks proved again that she was an attractive actress who should have been more well known. She certainly was more stunning as a brunette ("The Seventh Victim"). Unfortunately she was almost at the end of her brief career as RKO's "resident neurotic of the Bs" according to Doug McClelland.

Catch that noirish opening—Ted (Conway) wandering around in the fog with an even bigger fog inside his head, not knowing who he is or where he came from. Good thing girl cabbie (it's still war time) Patty (Rutherford) helps him out since the cops think he's murdered someone. These look like classic elements of noir, especially with master of the genre Anthony Mann in charge. But this is early in his career when he was still doing programmers.There may be some interest here for film historians since the movie appears to straddle two genres— the humorous murder mysteries of the 30"s and early 40's and the emerging noir crime dramas of the post-war period. Note how Mann uses a noirish close-up to dramatize Ted's recovering memory. Looks like his darker artistic side is looking for opportunities to surface.Still, thick-headed cop (Parnell) and fast-talking reporter (Lane) remain anchored in Charlie Chan's and Falcon's of the earlier period. But however you cut it, the movie's still a fun diversion, with a bouncy Rutherford, a polished Conway, and a pay-me-by-the-word Lane. Just don't try to figure out the mystery. I lost track somewhere between the butler-did-it and the gorgeous Jane Greer's revealing gowns.

Incongruously lighthearted early noir from Mann, involving a familiar premise (the film is actually a remake of the obscure TWO IN THE DARK [1936]) – an amnesiac finds himself the chief suspect in a murder case and, while attempting to trace his identity, he also contrives to expose the guilty party. The lead role is played by Tom Conway, not the most likely noir hero perhaps – his overall stilted performance suffers most when striving for comedy; much more natural (and appealing) is Ann Rutherford as the spirited female cabbie helping him out, even if she's just as much at odds with established genre conventions! The plot is fairly convoluted: also involved, among others, are Lester Matthews (from THE RAVEN and WEREWOLF OF London {both 1935}), Jean Brooks (from the Val Lewton-produced THE LEOPARD MAN and THE SEVENTH VICTIM {both 1943}) and Jane Greer (soon to graduate to full-fledged femme fatale with OUT OF THE PAST [1947]); just as prominent, however, albeit merely for comic-relief purposes are a Police Inspector and a nosy reporter (who gets on his boss' nerves when he keeps changing the scoop i.e. the identity of the murderer). All in all, this emerged a pleasant and trim 66 minutes – but, clearly, a very minor footnote in the genre and the career of one of its most notable exponents.