Too Late for Tears

In this 1949 thriller, Lizabeth Scott stars as Jane Palmer—one of the most ruthless heroines in film noir—a status-conscious middle-class wife who will do anything to keep her hands on a suitcase of cash that lands in her lap by accident. Arthur Kennedy is her husband, Alan, who wants to take the money to the police, and Dan Duryea is Danny Fuller, a mercenary crook who comes looking for the cash (payment in a blackmail scheme) and ends up becoming Jane's wary partner. Scott, a limited actress who has been called the poor man's Lauren Bacall, played her share of heroines and villains but here her eyes convincingly burn with greed and her avarice drives her to murder. Duryea is also in fine form as a weasel of an opportunist, sneering his dialogue as Scott slowly takes control of the partnership, and Don DeFore costars as the old "army buddy" who hides his own secrets as he goes searching for Alan when the latter suddenly goes "missing." It's one of the most savage noirs in which greed reveals the rotten core of an otherwise law-abiding citizen who is then driven to commit terrible acts of violence. In a genre defined by corrupt, ruthless, and conniving characters, filmmaker Byron Haskin's Too Late for Tears features one of the most reprehensible and cold-blooded. This dual-format edition features the film on both DVD and Blu-ray, with extras including audio commentary by film noir historian Alan K. Rode, featurettes on the film and restoration, and a booklet with an essay by noir expert Brian Light. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)