The Web is fun film noir because it has a bit of romance and a lot of snappy dialogue. All the characters get a chance to throw some humor into the mix. And all the actors are great in their roles, including William Bendix, who is on the side of the law this time, the only time that I know of—so far, that is. I have a lot of noir still to watch!
The film starts with Martha Kroner waiting inside Grand Central Station for her father, Leopold Kroner, to get off the train and arrive inside the station lobby. Leopold Kroner has just been released from prison, but he didn’t want his daughter to travel to the prison and thus have that memory of him. It’s a quick scene, but it tells viewers that Leopold cares very much about his daughter and that his affection is returned. Leopold Kroner was expecting Andrew Colby to meet him at the station, but Colby isn’t there. Viewers learn later that Leopold Kroner was imprisoned for stealing bonds from Andrew Colby Enterprises and trying to counterfeit them so he could resell them.
Charles Murdock, Andrew Colby’s personal employee, is at the station, too, but he is only tailing the Kroners and doesn’t say anything to either of them. He does report back to Colby, who seems concerned but not enough to get in touch with Kroner. He tells Murdock that he will wait for Kroner to contact him first.
Robert Regan, an attorney for someone named Emilio Canepa, pushes his way into Andrew Colby’s office to serve him a summons. Colby owes money for a minor traffic accident that slightly damaged Canepa’s produce pushcart, the source of his livelihood. Regan had to push past Colby’s personal secretary, Noel Faraday, but he is immediately attracted to her. She rebuffs him on his way out of the office, but that doesn’t dissuade him for long.
This scene sets up all three main characters—Andrew Colby, Robert Regan, and Noel Faraday—as basically likable. Andrew Colby doesn’t throw Regan out of his office, Regan is portrayed as the small-time lawyer crusading for the working man Emilio Canepa, and Noel Faraday rebuffs Regan’s advances good-naturedly. As Regan’s and Faraday’s relationship develops later and throughout the film, Edmund O’Brien and Ella Raines portray their chemistry convincingly. Their conversations showcase some of the humor and witty dialogue that I find so charming about the film.
(This article about The Web contains spoilers.)
Andrew Colby wants Noel Faraday to call Robert Regan because he wants to talk to Regan about some work. Faraday is surprised by this turn of events, but she does call Regan, who arrives later that day at Colby’s residence. Viewers now learn that Charles Murdock and Noel Faraday live at Colby’s, although all the relationships are never made entirely clear, which is part of the ambiguity surrounding Andrew Colby and the mystery to be solved.
Andrew Colby offers $5,000 to Regan to act as his bodyguard for two weeks, until he leaves for Paris. Colby knows that Leopold Kroner just got out of prison, and he tells Regan that Kroner has threatened him. Regan accepts the job, but he decides that he needs a gun. He doesn’t own one, so he takes one from Colby’s personal collection, with Colby’s blessing.
Regan goes to his friend, Lieutenant Damico, a homicide detective with the New York City Police Department (NYPD), to ask for a gun permit. They are old friends, and so were their fathers. Regan wants a personal favor, but Damico is annoyed because Regan doesn’t really say where he got his gun. Damico tells Regan that he should have applied for the gun permit before he got the gun. Viewers now see that Regan isn’t above bending the law a bit and asking for extralegal favors, even though he was introduced at the start of the film as a crusader for working-class citizens.
On his first night as Colby’s bodyguard, Regan tries to charm Noel Faraday. Their conversation is interrupted when they hear a gunshot. Regan rushes upstairs to find Leopold Kroner with Colby. Kroner has a gun in his hand, and Regan shoots and kills him. This is his first night on the job as a bodyguard, and he is already in a compromising position that is worse than obtaining a gun without a permit: He has killed a man under dubious circumstances.
At the inquest, everyone’s testimony matches the police investigation, but Lieutenant Damico still wants to talk to Regan. He doesn’t like the way events turned out only one day after Regan got his gun permit, one that he received on Lieutenant Damico’s good word and recommendation. Regan says that Lieutenant Damico knows him well enough to know that he can be trusted, but Damico isn’t corruptible. He stands firm with Regan and won’t let him get away with anything. Damico’s determination actually works out well for Regan in the long run.
I watched The Web on DVD, which came with great commentary from Jason A. Ney, a film professor and writer for Noir City magazine. He points out that Robert Regan plays the role of a bumbling amateur detective, which subverts the film noir trope of having the detective outsmart the police, a tradition that goes back to the detective stories of the nineteenth century, starting with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Lieutenant Damico is the law enforcement officer who solves the crime and saves the “hero” (Robert Regan).
Ney’s commentary is definitely worth a listen. He also provides lots of information about the film, the cinematography, the principal actors, and the historical context of the story. I found the historical context especially interesting partly because I always believe that watching any film, especially classic film and film noir, is a window into history. Ney mentions New York City’s gun control laws, the large number of immigrants living in the city, and the effect this diverse population had on the NYPD. Audience members in 1947 would have already known many of the points Ney makes and would likely have understood the story from a different perspective than viewers today.
I noticed that Andrew Colby congratulates Lieutenant Damico on his success solving the case, even though he is the guilty party arrested for all the murders committed. Colby always seems to have his wits about him, and he always acts the gentleman, even while he plots murder and revenge. Victor Price portrays Andrew Colby as debonair and self-effacing, even though viewers know before the end of the story that he has malevolent intentions.
William Bendix’s performance as New York City homicide detective Lieutenant Damico was a very pleasant surprise. I’m not sure I have ever seen him in a noir when he was on the side of the law. In some ways, the role of Lieutenant Damico is not that different from some of his villain roles: He is tough and talks tough, but his toughness in The Web comes from his unwillingness to compromise his ethics.
Damico has some of the best lines in the film. One of them he says to his friend Robert Regan when Regan tries to explain how he accidentally killed Leopold Kroner. Damico isn’t buying Regan’s cavalier attitude or his insistence that Damico should trust him because Damico has known him since childhood. “I knew Benny Parsons all his life,” he tells Regan. “Then two weeks ago, he did a job on his uncle with a meat cleaver.” The Web might have some romance and humor, but Lieutenant Damico is ready to remind everyone that this film is noir, complete with murder.
May 25, 1947, release date • Directed by Michael Gordon • Screenplay by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser • Based on a story by Harry Kurnitz • Music by Hans J. Salter • Edited by Russell F. Schoengarth • Cinematography by Irving Glassberg
Ella Raines as Noel Faraday • Edmond O’Brien as Robert (aka Bob) Regan • William Bendix as Lieutenant Damico • Vincent Price as Andrew Colby • Fritz Leiber Sr. as Leopold Kroner • Maria Palmer as Martha Kroner • John Abbott as Charles Murdock • Howland Chamberlain as James Timothy Nolan • Tito Vuolo as Emilio Canepa • Wilton Graff as the district attorney • Robin Raymond as the newspaper librarian
Distributed by Universal-International • Produced by Universal-International
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