"My only interest in your head is how easy it'll crack open."

Right off the bat, this movie is strange and different because it employs a first person convention I have never seen pulled off for so long. The entire first half of the movie is shown from the perspective of Humphrey Bogart's character, Vincent - literally. He is the camera, and he is not shown onscreen until about 45 minutes into the film. At first it was quite unsettling and off putting, but once we got used to it, we enjoyed how it came across. Then, the transition to making his character an active part of the visual makes perfect sense and is totally smooth. The basic storyline is about a man who's been framed for murder, escapes from prison, and attempts to clear his name with the help of a woman who was obsessed with his case, played by Lauren Bacall.

Honestly, I was much more interested in Bacall's character in this story, because although we get a bit of a peek into why she became so involved in Vincent's case and her tangential connection, mostly she just seems like some kind of weird stalker. Their "love story" isn't very believable but pretty typical for movies of that era, in that they seem to fall for each other within minutes and she's ready to throw her life away to be with him from the word go. I thought they had good chemistry, but I think they were actually married in real life at that point so that makes sense. After we watched and enjoyed this one, Brandon suggested we do a full noir week with these types of movies and I heartily agreed.

We have one more movie to finish up Cops & Detectives, but this week is going to be really rough, not just because it's Documentary/Historic Week but also because we will only be home one night! So, this weekend we BETTER load up and resist napping all day!