Julie London & Rock Hudson in Dashiell Hammett's "The Fat Man" (1951)-w/Jayne Meadows & Emmett Kelly скачать в хорошем качестве

Julie London & Rock Hudson in Dashiell Hammett's "The Fat Man" (1951)-w/Jayne Meadows & Emmett Kelly

At a New York hotel, dentist Henry Bromley is drugged and thrown out a window by a mystery man who steals dental x-rays. Police call it a suicide, but Bromley’s nurse, Jane Adams (Jayne Meadows), believes otherwise. She seeks out famed detective Brad Runyon (J. Scott Smart), nicknamed “The Fat Man”, to investigate. His partner, Bill Norton (Clinton Sundberg), is knocked out while escorting Jane to the airport. The stolen x-rays belong to Roy Clark (Rock Hudson), a new patient who came in broke but returned days later flashing money and a chauffeur. Clark missed his next appointment and disappeared, along with all dental records. Runyon, Bill, and Jane travel to Los Angeles, and visit Clark’s last known address: a horse ranch run by Gene Gordon (John Russell). Gordon claims Clark borrowed money and vanished. Jane recognizes Tony (Robert Roark), Clark’s former chauffeur. Runyon tracks Tony, who points him to Pat Boyd (Julie London), a barfly who dated Clark. Runyon wins her trust and she recounts their romance: Clark had recently been released from prison, but when Pat accepted him anyway, they married—only for him to vanish days later. Using a photo from Pat, Runyon uncovers that Roy Clark is actually Ray Chevlin, a convict involved in an armored car robbery. His partners got away, and Clark was shot and imprisoned. Runyon suspects Gordon and his shady partner, Happy Stevens (Harry Lewis), held onto Clark’s share of the loot, later financing his return. Runyon visits Ed Deets ((Emmett Kelly), a clown and Clark’s former cellmate, who recalls that Clark had expected his cut of the robbery money to be waiting. Clark had even described how he and three partners hijacked an armored car at a racetrack, leading to a shootout. Jane is murdered in Runyon’s hotel room after saying she’s figured out the killer. A charred body is found in a truck—the same day Clark disappeared. Runyon traces the truck to Ed Deets, at a circus in Tarzana. Deets got out of prison, then blackmailed Gordon and Stevens for Clark’s money. When Clark demanded it back, Deets killed him, staged a fire to destroy the body, then murdered Bromley and Jane to hide the truth—knowing only dental x-rays could identify a burned corpse. Confronted, Deets pulls a gun, but Gordon and Stevens open fire. Runyon kills Gordon. Deets shoots Stevens and flees into the circus tent, where he's gunned down on the high wire. Dying, Deets confesses he only wanted the money to start his dream: owning a circus. A 1951 American Black & White film noir crime mystery thriller film directed by William Castle, produced by Aubrey Schenck, screenplay by Harry Essex and Leonard Lee, story by Leonard Lee, based on the radio series created by Dashiell Hammett, cinematography by Irving Glassberg, starring J. Scott Smart, Julie London, Rock Hudson, Clinton Sundberg, Jayne Meadows, John Russell, Jerome Cowan, Emmett Kelly, Lucille Barkley, Robert Osterloh, Harry Lewis, and Teddy Hart. Emmett Kelly receives an "introducing" credit. Released by Universal Pictures. Based on a radio show during the late 1940s and early 1950s of the same name, with J. Scott Smart reprising his role as Brad Runyan, a portly detective. Emmett Kelly was a Ringling Brothers clown. Shooting for this film overlapped with filming on "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) and Emmett Kelly's scenes in the de Mille film had to be done when his schedule on "The Fat Man" permitted.According to Emmett Kelly's autobiography, the film makers originally expected him to play his part in his famous "Weary Willie" tramp clown makeup, but he refused and designed a new white clown makeup for the film. The characters of Runyan and Bill appear to be inspired by characters from Rex Stout's "Nero Wolfe" novels. Runyan, like Nero Wolfe, is a private detective who appreciates fine food and lives in New York. Also like Wolfe, he is a large, obese man. Bill combines the attributes of two characters - Wolfe's sidekick, Archie, who does most of the legwork in the novels, and Fritz, Wolfe's personal chef, who prepares his meals. The significant difference is that Runyan, unlike Wolfe, actually leaves his house to investigate and question people. As Jane Adams (Jayne Meadows) is searching the files for a dental record, she passes an index card bearing the name Ray Chandler, an inside reference to the detective-story writer Raymond Chandler. The clip of the man falling to his death is taken right from "The Spider Woman" (1944) one of Universal's classic Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies. Julie London's dress, at approx. 26:15, is Kitty's evening gown worn by Ava Gardner in Universal's "The Killer " (1947). Soundtrack music: "A Dream Ago" - Music by Milton Rosen, Lyrics by Everett Carter "Old Folks at Home" (aka "Swanee River") - Written by Stephen Foster A solid 1950s mystery B-Movie. For those who remember the radio program, there's a lot of nostalgia. The solid story and reliable performances make this oldie a goodie.