The Dark Corner (1946)

April 9, 1946, release date

Directed by Henry Hathaway

Screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld and Jay Dratler

Based on a story in Good Housekeeping by Leo Rosten

Music by Cyril J. Mockridge

Edited by J. Watson Webb, Jr.

Cinematography by Joseph MacDonald

Lucile Ball as Kathleen Stuart

Mark Stevens as Bradford Galt

Clifton Webb as Hardy Cathcart

William Bendix as Stauffer, alias Fred Foss, White Suit

Kurt Kreuger as Anthony Jardine

Cathy Downs as Mari Cathcart

Reed Hadley as Lieutenant Frank Reeves

Constance Collier as Mrs. Kingsley

Eddie Heywood as himself, playing with his orchestra

Molly Lamont as Lucy Wilding

Ellen Corby as the maid

This film noir is one of my favorites. The dialogue is snappy, which I think is one of its strongest features. And the writing is tight: The story holds up well considering the film was released in 1946. And, yes, that’s Lucille Ball (of I Love Lucy fame) showing that she can handle film noir as well as comedy. Her performance makes me wish that she had devoted her acting talent to more films just like this one and had never started her run in television.

The Dark Corner is a postwar film noir, and many consumer goods, including stockings, were still in short supply after World War II. Maybe stockings were a subject that would have been considered a come-on in a film made in 1946. They give Kathleen several chances during the course of the film to ask her boss, Brad, a private investigator, if he can find some for her. Kathleen is in love with him. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s in love with her, too, of course. They go back and forth several times throughout the film about the stockings, always with Brad promising to “make a note of it.”

Even the baseball banter (also full of innuendo) holds up well. It starts when Brad and Kathleen are at the Tudor Penny Arcade:

• Kathleen: “I haven’t worked for you very long, Mr. Galt, but I know when you’re pitching a curve at me and I always carry a catcher’s mitt.”

• Brad: “No offense. A guy’s gotta try to score, doesn’t he?”
• Kathleen: “Not in my league. ‘I don’t play for score, I play for keeps,’ said she with a smile.”

More dialogue about baseball comes later in the movie:

• Kathleen: “Thanks, Brad. Good night.”

• Brad: “Good night! Can’t I come up for a minute? I’m thirsty. I want a drink of water.”

• Kathleen: “There you go again, pitching low and outside.”

• Brad: “Okay.” He leaves, but he stops at the bottom of the stoop in front of Kathleen’s apartment building to give an umpire’s safe sign.

I was definitely rooting for Brad and Kathleen by this point in the film.

The High Hat Club is where Eddie Heywood and his orchestra play some great jazz, which serves a dual purpose. It is diegetic music that is part of the reason for Kathleen’s and Brad’s date (they’re out for a night of dancing), and it becomes great background music that can still be heard and enjoyed when the two of them, together or with other characters, are in conversation. It pulls viewers into the story.

Brad is the one who explains the title of the film, and he does so in a way that makes complete sense in the course of the plot. When he finds out that White Suit isn’t really Fred Foss, he says to Kathleen: “There goes my last lead. I feel all dead inside. I’m backed up in a dark corner, and I don’t know who’s hitting me.” His lines express the mood of the film all along: Brad really can’t seem to catch a break and find out who is trying to frame him—not once but twice—for murder.

William Bendix (as White Suit) and Mark Stevens (as Brad Galt) have realistic, one-sided phone conversations, with the right pauses to make viewers believe there’s a live person at the other end of the phone line. The fight scenes between Brad and Anthony Jardine, and between Brad and White Suit, are well-staged and add even more authenticity to the film. Until Alain Silver and James Ursini (they provided commentary on the DVD) pointed out that Brad is fighting with a stand-in for Kurt Kreuger, who plays Anthony Jardine, I didn’t even notice that it wasn’t Kurt Kreuger.

I have seen The Dark Corner several times, and I am always amazed at how well it holds up. The Dark Corner is well acted, with believable details. It’s a good choice, whether you are already a fan of film noir or you are looking for an introduction to the genre.