The Killer that Stalked New York

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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Catrinel Marlon and Vlad Ivanov in THE WHISTLERS

More movies to watch at home: I’ve amped up my streaming recommendations as we shelter in place. And we start with a new film, The Whistlers.

ON VIDEO

In the absorbing crime thriller The Whistlers, a shady cop and a mysterious woman are walking a tightrope of treachery. The Whistlers, was a hit at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, but COVID-19 impaired its 2020 theatrical release in the US. You can stream it from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

My tribute to the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM), which would have been underway but for COVID-19, is Rojo. Set just before Argentina’s bloody coup in the 1970s, this moody, atmospheric film works as a slow-burn thriller. Rojo made my list of 10 Overlooked Movies of 2019. Stream it from Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache is a biodoc of a female cinema pioneer – one of the first directors, producers and studio heads – in both France and the US. You don’t know the whole story of the beginnings of cinema if you don’t know about Alice Guy. It’s currently free on WATCH TCM and can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play. You can watch Guy’s comic 1906 critique of male behavior, The Consequences of Feminism, on my blog post.

Evelyn Keyes in THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK

And is it too soon for Pandemic Noir? My post highlights Panic in the Streets and The Killer that Stalked New York. The Killer That Stalked New York has played on Turner Classic Movies; it’s not currently available to stream, but the DVD is available to purchase. The better movie, Panic in the Streets, plays frequently on Turner Classic Movies and can be streamed from iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Other recent streaming recommendations:

ON TV

On April 11 and 12, Turner Classic Movies brings us Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, another film noir from the great Fritz Lang. Seeking to discredit capital punishment, a novelist (Dana Andrews) gets himself charged with and CONVICTED of a murder – but then the evidence of his innocence suddenly disappears! Crackerjack (and deeply noir) surprise ending. Film noir historian Eddie Muller will introduce the film.

Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine in BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT

REMEMBRANCE

Character actor Allen Garfield contributed to many fine films, especially in the 1970s heyday of American auteurs, including The Candidate, The Brink’s Job, Nashville and The Stunt Man. My favorite Garfield performance was as the sleazy Bernie in the 1974 masterpiece The Conversation.

Allen Garfield in THE CONVERSATION

PANDEMIC NOIR: too soon?

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Jack Palance in PANIC IN THE STREETS

Is it too soon for pandemic noir? Actually, these two movies from 1950 are about outbreaks and epidemics, not really pandemics. But heroic public health officers are central in both, just like in today’s COVID-19 pandemic. Both Panic in the Streets and The Killer that Stalked New York are among my Overlooked Noir.

First, there’s irector Elia Kazan’s noirish thriller Panic in the Streets This Kazan’s OTHER movie set in a gritty waterfront, and he shot it on location in New Orleans. In his screen debut, Jack Palance plays a hoodlum who commits a murder and unknowingly becomes infected with pneumonic plague. Richard Widmark plays the public health expert who is trying to prevent an epidemic by tracking down Patient Zero (Palance) without causing a panic in the city. Of course, the cops are trying to solve the murder, and the man hunt for the murderer will lead them to the same target. Jack Palance was nothing if not intense, and he brings the right combination of vicious thuggery and escalating desperation to his performance.

Evelyn Keyes in THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK

You might have difficulty imagining a movie procedural of Public Health officers quelling an epidemic being described as “lurid”, but then there’s The Killer that Stalked New York.  The star is Evelyn Keyes, who plays Sheila, a Typhoid Mary of smallpox.  Sheila has made a very bad choice in boyfriends – a guy for whom she has taken one fall already and is now helping with a delivery of stolen jewelry.  She’s on the run from the cops until she can deliver the loot – and bad boyfriend (Charles Korvin) wants that loot right away, too.  And she’s not feeling well…

Sheila has smallpox, so she’s zipping furtively around NYC infecting people.  So the Public Health Department is also tracking her down as Patent Zero.  The Killer that Stalked New York is about these two overlaid ticking bombs – the jewelry caper and the smallpox – all while Sheila is getting sicker and sicker.  Fortunately, a dreamy Public Health doc (William Bishop) is drawn to save her.

Evelyn Keyes is the best thing about the movie, although she has to play a pretty overwrought role.  And she is made up to look worse and worse in the course of the plot, getting really sweaty and finally sporting pustules.

Visit my posts on Panic in the Streets and The Killer that Stalked New York for more discussion, images and a trailer. The Killer That Stalked New York has played on Turner Classic Movies. It’s not currently available to stream, but the DVD is available to purchase. The better movie, Panic in the Streets, plays frequently on Turner Classic Movies and can be streamed from iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas in PANIC IN THE STREETS