The Hitch-Hiker (Lupino, 1953) is not officially the first noir directed by a woman, but there is no doubt that director, producer, and screenwriter Ida Lupino was a pioneer. In adapting the true crime story of murderer Billy Cook, Lupino took the opportunity to get inside the mind of a…
In Cold Blood (Brooks, 1967) is one of the most aptly titled works in either cinema or literature. I think of the Clutter family basement in November at 2 a.m. and it chills me to my very marrow. It was a galvanizing experience the first time I saw it as…
Rope (1948) is Alfred Hitchcock’s almost perfect crime. Based loosely upon the real life case of Leopold and Loeb, it was Hitchcock at his most experimental, plumbing the chilly depths of the murderous impulse. It featured limited cuts and long, unbroken takes to approximate the appearance of the real time…