Sometimes I spot some stuff on Turner Classic Movies and stick a disc in and let it run. Some weeks ago I got 3 short movies that were directed by Anthony Mann and tonight I watched them while working on a Micropolis building.
First up The Tall Target, a 1951 film about an alleged assignation plot in Baltimore which Lincoln was passing through on the way to his inauguration. I decided to check it out because it's got Dick Powell and I've been an off and on fan of his for decades. He's played in all sorts of movies and tv. I first learned his name when I saw his version of Philip Marlowe in the 1944 film Murder My Sweet. It was a big chance for Powell who had been doing mostly musicals and comedies. It's a darn good film, one worth seeing, and while The Tall Target isn't up to that earlier film, it's pretty entertaining. It's directed by Anthony Mann and he does a good job. It moves pretty quickly and the story works pretty well. The whole thing is wrapped up in 78 minutes. Powell has one bit of bad luck after another while trying to figure out who's trying to kill the new President. There are plenty of good co-stars with Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Will Geer and Ruby Dee. Glad I took a look.
My second feature, Follow Me Quietly, is only 60 minutes long. That used to be a pretty common length for B films back in 1949. Most likely it was part of a double bill. It's a serial killer thriller about a rainy day strangler who pastes up cut out letter messages, signed "The Judge", and sends them to the police. He boasts he gets rid of useless people. William Lundigan is the cop and Jeff Corey is his partner. Jeff's driving in the above pic. The faceless man is the dummy that the police make to get an idea of the guy. They don't have any witnesses that have seen his face. His back, yep. There's a lot of talking and running around looking for clues and the murderer. There isn't much time to develop much with the characters and the script is pretty average. Anthony Mann only help direct some scenes, that's his connection with the film. Still, I enjoyed it well enough. Nothing to get too excited about. My third movie was better.
The 1945 film Two O'Clock Courage stars Tom Conway as a guy what got slugged on the noggin. He's got no memory of who he is. Lucky for him he stumbles on to cabbie Ann Rutherford and she helps his ass right out. She's smart, plucky and pretty. There's been some murder and Tom is mixed up in it. The two run about the city using the clues in his suit to help figure out who Tom is and what's going on. The story moves along briskly and the content is entertaining. There's some goofyness and the whole thing wraps 
up in a well used 68 minutes. Some of you might have seen Tom Conway in the Falcon series of movies but I bet a lot more will remember his voice as the narrator in the 1953 Disney Peter Pan. I enjoyed his turn as the Falcon in those films. The Falcon was created by the RKO Picture company when they didn't want to pay Leslie Charteris for the use of The Saint. George Saunders was the original Saint and he was the original Falcon after the switch. They were mostly fun films. George got tired of the character and Tom Conway, George's real life brother, was chosen to play the Falcon's brother. George left the series and Tom finished it 9 films later. They run on Turner every once in a while. I think I have seent hem all. Tom Conway worked in movies and tv from 1940 to 1964. Some of it was pretty good. Keep an eye out for him.
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