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Niagara

USA 1953
produced by
Charles Brackett for 20th Century Fox
directed by Henry Hathaway
starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Casey Adams (= Max Showalter), Denis O'Dea, Richard Allan, Don Wilson, Lurene Tuttle, Russell Collins, Will Wright, Lester Matthews, Carleton Young, Neil Fitzgerald, Norman McKay
screenplay by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, based on a story by Richard L.Breen, music by Sol Kaplan, song Kiss by Lionel Newman (music), Haven Gillespie (lyrics)

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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Polly (Jean Peters) and Ray (Casey Adams) go on their delayed honeymoon to the Niagara Falls, but right from the beginning, their trip seems a bit doomed: First Ray learns the man (Don Wilson) he desperately wanted to meet at the Falls is out of town, and then they learn that the cabin they have rented - with a beautiful view over the falls - is still occuppied by its former occupants, Rose (Marilyn Monroe) and George (Joseph Cotten) Loomis, because according to Rose George has been taken sick, and is in a bad mental condition ever since returning from the Korean War.

Now even that wouldn't be too bad, but somehow the Loomis drag Ray and especially Polly into their marital problems: It all starts when Polly sees Rose sharing a passionate kiss with another man, Ted (Richard Allan), later they become witnesses of a fight between George and Rose, including a mental breakdown by George ...

But all that's just for starters, because what Polly and Ray don't know is that Rose and Ted plan to murder George, somewhere along the Falls. Soon enough, Rose has lured George into taking a scenic tour of the falls, and like planned, he doesn't return. Rose plays the desperate wife and reports it to the police, and soon enough, a corpse is found which is thought to be her husband ... but she's in for a shocking surprise, as the dead body is Ted's - which first makes her faint (without actually identifying the body, so the police still thinks it's her husband) and once she regains consciousness, she escapes from the hospital she was at so her thought-to-be-dead hubby can't find her and take revenge.

George meanwhile really wants to take revenge, but all he does is to scare the shit out of Polly - who has since moved into his old appartment. Yet when Polly tries to report to the police he's still alive, nobody will believe her, and - somewhere at the Falls, George begs her to not betray him and give him a chance to start a new life, without Rose. Half-heartedly, Polly even agrees ...

But George really wants revenge on Rose, so soon enough he lures her to the local belltower with the famous carillon (which was prominently featured earlier in the film), chases her up the tower and strangles her ...

George now knows he has reached the end of the line, and he tries to make a daring getaway stealing a boat ... but unfortunately it was the boat that Ray and Polly were planning to rent, and somehow Polly got on board with him ... and then the boat runs out of gas and is caught in the currents leading to the Horseshoe Falls, where they are beyond saving, where even the coast guard, now hot on George's trail, has to turn back. In a desperate last effort to repent for his sins, George manages to drop Polly off at a small rock along the way to the falls, from where she can be saved, he himself goes down the falls in the boat ...

 

Despite the scenic settings and the use of Technicolor - both very un-noirish elements -, and despite of telling not too original a story, Niagara is a milestone film noir ...

Wha the film works quite so well is thanks to three reasons: First off, the story is full of ambiguity and doesn't allow an easy distingtion between good and bad. Secondly, veteran director Henry Hathaway shows the Falls as a force of nature rather than using them as a picture-perfect backdrop, and he effortlessly incorporates the falls into scene after scene of suspense (which justifies the film's title). And then of course, the film's cast is near perfection: Joseph Cotten delivers a performance that is great even by his standards, Marilyn Monroe seems to be perfect as the cheating and plotting wife and gives her best performance next to Misfits - while looking ravishing in a series of tioght and revealing dresses -, and Jean Peters - who is the actual lead of the film  - as the wholesome, pretty but a tad dull all-American girl is a great contrast to her.

Highest recommendation.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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Thanks for watching !!!

 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

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Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
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