The Scarlet Hour (1956)

Very Cool!!!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This is unusually funny for being a noir. The plot keeps developing in most surprising and sometimes hilarious new directions, as the complications pile upon each other in this (for the police) inextricable murder mystery, while not even the perpetrators themselves, not any one of them, really can understand what happened.The lead played by Carol Ohmart would have been perfect for Barbara Stanwyck, and at moments Carol actually looks like Barbara, and most strikingly so in the last scene. Tom Tryon is like a substitute for Montgomery Clift, the same kind of helpless gullible victim of a superior woman who knows her arts, and there are even some Hitchcock moments in this film, like in the bathing sequence, when you all the time are aware of a third man watching them, although he doesn't come forward until afterwards. The major comic ingredient is Elaine Stritch as the constantly slightly tipsy friend, one of several friends earnestly doing what they can to help the puppets of a grimly ironic destiny out. You expect more murders and gun shots in this drama of passion, but it's not necessary. The plot is quite enough entertaining in itself, no further exaggerations are needed, and even the end with its perfect cliffhanger question mark is satisfying as such. No further action is needed.

THE SCARLET HOUR – 1956 It is late at night and a car is parked in a secluded hillside "lover's lane" area. A couple, Carol Ohmart and Tom Tryon are adjusting their clothing etc after an obvious bout of back seat mambo. The pair duck down when a car with a single occupant pulls up down the lane. Then a second car pulls up with two men inside arrives. A man, David Lewis, exits the first car and meets the two, Jacques Aubuchon and Scott Marlowe from the second auto. Ohmart and Tryon are listening from behind the handy brush in front of their car. Lewis tells the pair that he has a job for them. He points up the hill to a large house. Lewis wants the men to break in and lift $350,000 in jewels from a safe. He gives the men the layout of the inside and where to find the safe. The owners will be on holiday when the job is to be pulled. They then all grab their own cars and drive off. Tryon and Ohmart climb back into their own car. As they drive back into town, Ohmart says they could start a new life with that kind of cash. It seems that the two have been carrying on behind Ohmart's husband's back, James Gregory. A twist, here, is that Gregory is also Tryon's boss. Gregory is a big time housing contractor with several tracts of houses on the go. He is also tight with a buck, and Ohmart is sick of him. Not to mention that Gregory is a very jealous type who has threatened to kill her if she ever left him. Ohmart suggests that they need money so they can "run away" from Gregory. "Why don't we rob the robbers?" $350 large would hit the spot cash wise. Tryon is a no go on this idea and thinks they should contact the police about the whole thing. "How do we explain what we were doing there?" ends that idea.Over the course of the next few days, Ohmart needles Tryon about his lack of funds etc, till he finally agrees to her plan about the jewels. This of course pleases Ohmart no end. Now they just need to play it cool till the day the robbery is to happen. Unfortunately for them, husband Gregory sees the two together and quickly realizes he is being played. He comes up with a plan to kill Ohmart and Tryon the next time they have a rendezvous. On the night of the robbery, Ohmart is going out for a few drinks with family friends, Elaine Stritch and Billy Gray. Gregory says he can't join them as he has a late meeting at the office. After a few drinks at the club, Ohmart asks pal, Stritch to cover for her. She needs to dash off for a visit with a friend. Stritch gives that knowing smile, Ohmart has a bit on the side, and agrees to cover if any questions are asked.Ohmart grabs her car and roars over to pick up Tryon. They then speed to where the home robbery will be. They are there 30 minutes before the real robbers show. Tryon heads off to hide in some nearby bushes. Ohmart parks down the road and waits. What Ohmart and Tryon failed to notice, is that they were followed by Gregory. Gregory was not going to any business meeting. Gregory figured that the wife would duck out to visit Tryon, and he was right. Gregory parks his car, then sneaks up on Ohmart, he pulls out a gun and jumps into Ohmarts's car. Needless to say this shocks the hell out of Ohmart. Gregory growls that he intends to kill both her and Tryon. Gregory of course has no idea about the robbery. The two struggle over the gun which discharges, killing Gregory. The frightened Ohmart then shoves Gregory out on the side of the road. She fails to notice that her very distinctive bracelet went out the door at the same time. Back at the house, the two jewel thieves have pulled the robbery and exit the home. Tryon steps out of the dark and sticks a gun in their faces. He relieves the two, Jacques Aubuchon and Scott Marlowe of the swag, then hotfoots it down the road to Ohmart's car. The two thugs recover their senses and give chase, taking pot shots at Tryon. Tryon makes the car and leaps in, Ohmart jumps on the gas and they speed away. Aubuchon and Marlowe find Gregory's body and figure he must of caught a round that they fired at Tryon. The two give the body the once over and find the bracelet. This, they pocket before fading into the night.Ohmart drops Tryon and the jewels off at his apartment and speeds back to the club. She has a need for a few drinks to steady her nerves. Afterwards the three, Ohmart, Stritch and Billy Gray come back to Ohmart's for a nightcap. Waiting there, are Police Detectives, E.G. Marshall and Edward Binns. Gregory's body has been found out on a hillside road. Of course Stritch and Gray give Ohmart an alibi. They all say that Gregory had gone to the office for a late meeting. The Police thank them and head off. Tryon and Ohmart, new to this game, of course fumble the ball and things come unglued rather quickly. The bracelet is soon traced to Ohmart by the thugs. Without giving away the actual ending, suffice it to say that a few more bodies are soon joining Gregory in the morgue. There is a real unexpected twist involving the jewels.Well worth a watch if you can find it.

"The Scarlet Hour" is an outstanding surprise for noir fans : directed by Michael Curtiz in 1956, it is so rarely seen. And it deserves to be rediscovered on DVD.Carol Ohmart uses Tom Tryon to get rid of her husband. And there are so many tricks and twists growing violently crescendo all through the movie, you get stuck on your seat. That crescendo is brilliantly enlightened by Lionel Lindon ("Quicksand"), each frame being in perfect adequacy with all the events and accidents.Frank Tashlin is another great talent of this forgotten jewel. He is a specialist of comedies, "The Girl Can't Help It" and Jerry Lewis movies. "The Scarlet Hour" is his only participation to film noir. The second screenwriter is John Meredith Lucas, the foster son of Michael Curtiz, who had written Dark City in 1950."The Scarlet Hour" must be one day available on DVD.

I really don't understand why this Michael Curtiz film is so hard to find. And since so many years. A rather good film noir, in the Warner Bors tradition, except that this time it was produced by Paramount Pictures. And like some other late Curtiz's films, there are no really great stars in this movie. Actors as we could have seen in B pictures. But this is definitely not a B picture.The usual topic of the triangle: Wife, husband and lover. The gal wants to get rid of her husband with the help of her lover. Characterization, music score, sets by night, everything is very interesting in this authentic and - I repeat - rare gem. Don't miss Nat King Cole singing "Never Let Me Go". A charming movie which reminds me my childhood. But it is not a masterpiece although.