I forgot whether I pledged NOT to post movies featured on Noir Alley, the week after they aired on TCM. I don’t wannabe an Eddie Muller wannabe. I stopped wearing suits when I stopped lawyering.

Forgetfulness is okay when writing about The Crooked Way. It’s another amnesia movie. It’s as if the studios forgot how many such films they made in the 1940’s. I haven’t forgotten that I wrote about High Wall a mere two weeks ago but how could I forget a movie with Audrey Totter?

The Crooked Way stars John Payne as a wounded veteran. Like Robert Taylor in High Wall, he has brain surgery to address his organic amnesia. Taylor’s surgery worked, Payne’s did not. Army records establish that Payne was from Los Angeles, so the doc suggests he go there for a memory prod. The LA of this movie has a lot of neon:

It turns out that Payne was a criminal in his pre-War life. He entered the army as Eddie Rice, but his real name was Eddie Riccardi, not to be confused with Ricky Ricardo. Payne has some splaining to do to Sonny Tufts who plays the gangster betrayed by his former pal Payne.

Sonny Tufts is an odd name for a movie tough guy. The actor was the scion of an old Yankee family who came over on The Mayflower and established Tufts University. I guess one could call him a Tufts guy.

That’s Sonny at the desk. I’m pleased to report that he didn’t harm Percy Helton’s floofy kitty. It’s ironic that Helton has a cat, the word that best describes him is mousy. The mouse has his revenge on the Tufts guy at the end of the movie.

Payne learns that he’s married to Ellen Drew who is one of the few people he tells about his amnesia. Here are two views of our stars, the second one in silhouette:

There are many shadows in The Crooked Way. The story, acting, and direction are fine, but the real star of the show is cinematographer John Alton. Alton was one of the people who developed the visual grammar of film noir. Check out this shadowy shot:

The story is your basic crime saga with a shoot-out at the end. That’s all the story I’m willing to share with you because this feature is called pulp fiction, not pulp spoilers, after all. Suffice it to say that leading lady Ellen Drew found it alarming:

John Alton’s many talents included making actresses looks gorgeous. Ellen Drew is beautiful in her terror.

The Crooked Way was directed by Robert Florey who is best known to me for directing The Cocoanuts with The Marx Brothers. I hoped to find a picture of Florey holding Harpo’s leg, but this shot of the director in a pith helmet will just have to do:

I hope that digression didn’t pith anyone off.

Grading Time: I give The Crooked Way 3 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B.

I seem to have forgotten something. Oh yeah, the posters.

We begin with side-by-side long sheets.

The Spanish language title translates as Facing Death. Not bad. Not bad at all.

This quad has a swell tagline:

I mentioned the Marx Brothers earlier. I’m nervous that the ghost of Harpo will follow me to the lobby and hand me his leg when we’re in line at the concession stand. In a word: unlikely.

We’ll just have to dance with the usual suspects.

I wonder if Popcorn Guy loses any kernels during the dance. I’ve heard he’s forgetful too.

Let’s check out the color lobby cards for this black and white movie.

Dig the crazy skull shot of John Payne’s pate. In John Alton land even doctor’s offices have shadows.

Here’s the Tufts guy being tough.

The last lobby card features the  movie’s climactic scene. It’s the Tufts guy being a pain to Payne.

I couldn’t find a trailer for this week’s movie. I doublechecked in case I forgot to look.

The last word goes to Eddie Muller with his Noir Alley intro and outro.