Ten Years of Film Noir at Make Mine Film Noir, and It All Started in The Dark Corner (1946)

Make Mine Film Noir celebrates its tenth anniversary!

Ten years ago today, I launched Make Mine Film Noir with an article about The Dark Corner (1946). The film is one of my all-time favorites, and to celebrate, I saw it again. (Okay. I admit it: I have seen the film several times in-between.)

I am happy to report that Brad Galt and Kathleen Stuart, the two main characters, are just as entertaining and engaging as ever. In spite of reports that Lucille Ball hated the film and hated working on it, the chemistry between her character and Stevens’s is still there on-screen. Their repartee certainly helps: It looks like both actors are having fun delivering their lines. And they aren’t the only ones. Almost all the characters have a chance to shine with puns and comedic lines, especially Hardy Cathcart, played by Clifton Webb.

The snappy dialogue isn’t the only clever use of language. I think other writers would also appreciate Brad Galt’s line to Lieutenant Frank Reeves when the latter comes calling to check on Galt at his new office: “I’m playing this [his private investigation firm] by the book, and I won’ even trip over a comma.”

And then there is the running baseball metaphor that Kathleen Stuart uses at the start of her courtship with Brad, something she brings up more than once. And because the on-screen chemistry is working, it’s not long before Brad is embellishing the metaphor. How can Kathleen—and viewers, too—not be charmed by this handsome private investigator? And all because her father was a major league umpire!

The film also uses slang terms that are unusual even for film noir. Film noir uses a lot of slang from the 1940s and 1950s, and I almost always use captioning to figure out what the characters are saying. I often have to consult online dictionaries to learn the meanings of words that are unfamiliar to me, to probably all film viewers today. Here are just two examples from The Dark Corner:

◊ pepper pot = handgun

◊ shagging = following someone, tailing a suspect (not the meaning of the term in British English)

Both are obvious from the context in the film, which is a lucky break because I tried to find them online and couldn’t.

This description might make people think that The Dark Corner is not a film noir at all, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Be warned: There is plenty of violence and betrayal to go around.

I have written about The Dark Corner twice before on this blog. Click on each list item below to read more about the film:

◊ The Dark Corner (1946)

◊ Four Favorite Noirs: Born to Kill (1947), The Dark Corner (1946), Marlowe (1969), and Too Late for Tears (1949)

Next year, on April 9, 2026, The Dark Corner celebrates its eightieth anniversary. I’ll be seeing it again, I’m sure.

What amazes me after ten years is that I have just scratched the surface, that I have more noir to see, enjoy, and write about. I hope to keep writing for another ten years.

April 9, 1946, release date  •  Directed by Henry Hathaway  •  Screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld and Jay Dratler •  Based on a story 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

Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox  •  Produced by Twentieth Century Fox