Too Late for Tears (1949)

The title might suggest a weepie of sorts but "Too Late for Tears" is a film noir and a fairly mediocre one at that. It's actually got a very good story (by Roy Huggins from his 'Saturday Evening Post' serial), but the treatment is poor. Lizabeth Scott is the greedy femme fatale who will stop at nothing, including murder, to hold onto the bag of money that lands in her lap, or at least in her car. Scott was never much of an actress and she's terrible here. As the blackmailer whose money she steals Dan Duryea is his usual excellent self and there's a nice supporting turn from Arthur Kennedy as Scott's sap of her husband. As I said it's got a decent enough story but director Byron Haskin wasn't the man to do anything with it and it just limps along to its rather torturous conclusion.

Even on a restored Blu-ray this wonderfully plotted and written noir comes out as a bit of a humdrum film with 'B movie' written all over. Not sure why because there are some great lines and plenty of surprises along the way. I guess, apart from the glorious and dramatic opening, it does lack a little action and the parade of guys willing to help or otherwise don't seem to help this catch fire. Lizabeth Scott has been great and should have been so in this but somehow she looks so strained and uncomfortable. Sure, she has plenty happening in the story to make her feel strained and uncomfortable but here the problem seems to be with some issue with her co-stars or possibly the director. Either way this is a good tale that is never obvious, maybe a little far fetched but thats okay, and if we take issue now and again with a character's motives, all is resolved fairly well in the end.

Since Film-Noir was a Genre that Didn't Become a Fully-Fledged Awareness Until After the Fact, a Perfect Example Rarely Resulted and most of the Movies had at least some Ingredients that were Antithesis to the Style. For Example, In this one all of the Interior Scenes are Brightly Lit and very Standard Stuff with Little Lighting Style and even Less Reflection of the Mood that was Present.While Not the Smoothest of Chandleresque Dialog, Writer Roy Huggins Manages quite a few Zingers Interspersed among some Clunk. Director Byron Haskin's Noir is at times Elongated and some of it Feels Like Filler. But the Things that do Work are Excellent Examples of Film-Noir.It's Lizabeth Scott's Femme-Fatale Film and Everything and Everybody Spirals around Her. The Audience can See Through Her more than the Smitten Men She Seduces. Dan Duryea has a Literal Breakdown, and Her Husband, Arthur Kennedy's Fate is Sealed once the Money Shows up and He Resists Keeping it.Only Dom Defore, is Immune to Her Charms. Defore is slightly Miscast for this Type of Thing but does Manage to Pull it Off. The Other Female, Kristine Miller gives a Smooth Performance and is a Good Counterpart to the Bad Girl Scott.Overall, it is the Hard-Boiled Dialog, Liz Scott's Deadly Persona, and the Bleak Story that makes this a Low-Budget Winner.Note...The Film-Noir Foundation and UCLA with the help of others have managed to finally rescue this from the Public Domain DVD abominations and a fine print can be seen on TCM.

I have recently read a long overdue restoration is under consideration for this wicked film noir. Lizabeth Scott plays a middle-class housewife who turns into a cold blooded killer when a bundle of money literally drops into her lap. This a very gritty story with Lizabeth Scott, who gives a mesmerizing performance as one of film noir's wickedest femme fatales ever. Even Dan Duryea's sleazy character is no match for this malevolent woman, obsessed with keeping the found fortune for herself. She bumps off husband Arthur Kennedy pretty quick, and eventually poisons the menacing Duryea. But she still has to deal with a suspicious sister-in-law Kristine Miller and a snoopy questioning Don Defore. Too Late for Tears is the quintessential film noir, full of treachery, backstabbing, murder and sleaze. Lizabeth Scott definitely deserves the title " Queen of Noir." If you enjoy a dark noir story, this film certainly fits the bill.