The Web (1947)

☆ ☆ ☆

The Web (1947) – M. Gordon

Edmond O’Brien is a lawyer at the bottom of the heap hustling for nickels and dimes for his clients who suddenly finds himself invited to be a bodyguard for rich industrialist Vincent Price.  But when he kills a man apparently out for revenge against Price, he starts to question whether he’s been set up (following some hunches by police detective William Bendix).  Ella Raines is Prices live-in secretary (and presumed lover) who somehow falls for O’Brien’s wisecracks.  We are never quite certain whose side she is on, if anyone’s.  However, both O’Brien and Price are too tricky for their own good.  I guess it must be O’Brien who is caught in Price’s web but this sticky thing entangles everyone in the cast.  Ultimately, it’s film noir... but without much desperation; O’Brien seems pretty easy-going about the whole affair.  Moreover, the cinematography is flat and unimpressive rather than the usual high contrast darkness and light.  Despite the star power then (and the not bad plot), this is just a run-of-the-mill genre flick, among many churned out in the forties and fifties.  But I love this genre.