D.O.A. -- 1950 -- NR

This is a 1950 film noir movie that was remade several years later. It involves a man who was unknowingly poisoned giving him only a week to track down the guy who killed him. Like a lot of old thrillers, this was a fun ride. I think it skirted some believability when the main character (who is little more than a banker) was at home with a gun in his hand and chasing the unknown bad guy through an abandoned warehouse only to have him escape. He also as observant as Sherlock Holmes in nearly everything that went on. Some of this can be put down to the fact that he knows he's dying, so he has nothing to lose. This aside, like I said, it's a fun movie to watch, and kicks off real quick for the short attention spanners.

Sunset Blvd -- 1950 -- NR

This one came out of 1950 and showed a dark underbelly of Hollywood in forgotten stars. It was made into a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber which was nothing more than an attempt to sing the film. I found it clever and very film noir, although it took a little while for the Betty Schaefer subplot to come into play. We were halfway through the movie before her character, introduced briefly in a producer's office as she unknowingly insulted our main character, finally came in with any kind of force. Once she got rounded out and this bit of conflict was put into motion, the film ended really well.

Really, the backstory of the film's actors was as interesting as the film itself. Gloria Swanson played Norma Desmond, a has-been silent film star. Gloria Swanson was a silent film star who was a has-been by the time this film was made. The film talked about a return for Norma Desmond, and this was a sort of return for Gloria Swanson, although her career never continued for more than a couple movies beyond that. Erich von Stroheim played Max von Mayerling, a has-been movie director who directed all of Norma's early pictures. Erich von Stroheim was a has-been director who directed Queen Kelly, a silent film starring Gloria Swanson when she was a silent film diva. She called her lover, JFK's father, during the production to complain that the idiot they hired as a director was screwing up the movie. Ms. Swanson once noted that she could have been Norma Desmond for real if her life had turned badly. Seems the casting was spot-on.