Black Widow (Fox Film Noir)
starring: Mabel Albertson, Harry Carter, Richard H. Cutting, Reginald Gardiner, Peggy Ann Garner
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Product Description:
Studio: TcfheRelease Date: 03/11/2008Run time: 95 minutesRating: Nr
Amazon.com:
Ginger Rogers steals the show as a selfish, snide Broadway superstar in Nunnally Johnson's Black Widow, preening, snooping, gossiping, and bestowing air kisses in equal abundance. This late-era (1954) color film noir is as delicious for its fabulous performances as for its dishy look at showbiz, fangs and all. Think of it as All About Eve with murder. Rogers is Carlotta Marin, a grande dame of the thea-tah, married, it would seem happily, to Brian Mullen (Reginald Gardiner). Discussing friends whose marriage is threatened by an alleged affair, Brian assures Lottie they wouldn't face such disgrace. "After all," he deadpans, "we have an understanding." "What kind of understanding?" Lottie asks warily. "The understanding that if you catch me with another woman, you'll break my neck." The two collapse in laughter. Yet at the heart of Black Widow is something grim, the death of a young, ambitious writer named Nancy (Peggy Ann Garner), who gloms onto a theater producer (Van Hefflin), who's in love with his wife, Iris (Gene Tierney, heartbreakingly lovely). Nancy's death appears to be self-inflicted, and yet as each piece of evidence--a weird suicide note, a threatening letter received in the mail--piles up, things begin to point to murder.
The cast is excellent, especially delivering the great backbiting dialogue. And the plot contains more twists than Lombard Street in San Francisco, and will keep viewers guessing, and riveted, to the end.Extras include a great commentary by Alan K. Rode, an expert in film noir, as well as two wonderful featurettes, on the careers of Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney respectively. Robert Osbourne offers his always insightful thoughts on the roles of Rogers, especially, as she sought to carve out a career after being paired with Fred Astaire. These solo steps are not to be missed.--A.T. Hurley
Studio: TcfheRelease Date: 03/11/2008Run time: 95 minutesRating: Nr
Amazon.com:
Ginger Rogers steals the show as a selfish, snide Broadway superstar in Nunnally Johnson's Black Widow, preening, snooping, gossiping, and bestowing air kisses in equal abundance. This late-era (1954) color film noir is as delicious for its fabulous performances as for its dishy look at showbiz, fangs and all. Think of it as All About Eve with murder. Rogers is Carlotta Marin, a grande dame of the thea-tah, married, it would seem happily, to Brian Mullen (Reginald Gardiner). Discussing friends whose marriage is threatened by an alleged affair, Brian assures Lottie they wouldn't face such disgrace. "After all," he deadpans, "we have an understanding." "What kind of understanding?" Lottie asks warily. "The understanding that if you catch me with another woman, you'll break my neck." The two collapse in laughter. Yet at the heart of Black Widow is something grim, the death of a young, ambitious writer named Nancy (Peggy Ann Garner), who gloms onto a theater producer (Van Hefflin), who's in love with his wife, Iris (Gene Tierney, heartbreakingly lovely). Nancy's death appears to be self-inflicted, and yet as each piece of evidence--a weird suicide note, a threatening letter received in the mail--piles up, things begin to point to murder.
The cast is excellent, especially delivering the great backbiting dialogue. And the plot contains more twists than Lombard Street in San Francisco, and will keep viewers guessing, and riveted, to the end.Extras include a great commentary by Alan K. Rode, an expert in film noir, as well as two wonderful featurettes, on the careers of Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney respectively. Robert Osbourne offers his always insightful thoughts on the roles of Rogers, especially, as she sought to carve out a career after being paired with Fred Astaire. These solo steps are not to be missed.--A.T. Hurley
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- "Black Widow" Without A Lot of Bite....
Its really difficult to hate any film with a stellar cast such as Ginger Rogers, Gene Tierney, George Raft and Van Heflin.For that matters, its difficult to hate any of their individual films.Bring them together for one picture and "hate" might be a strong word, but "indifferent" fits the bill."Black Widow" feels more like a Cinemascope experiment than a cohesive and engaging film.Cinemascope was brand spanking new and you could tell that 20th Century Fox was attempting to churn out as much ... Read More
Rating: - Costume/Drawing Room Drama in Cinemascope!
For fans of the movie-created world of 50's New York Society, this one's a real treat.However if you are looking for a taught, hard-edged noir thriller, this ain't it!Tune in for the costumes, the hilarious over-the-top acting, and the stagey apartment sets all done in glorious color and Cinemascope as only Fox could do in the 50's.Apparently someone at Fox thought this little potboiler deserved the same cinematographic treatment as "Ben Hur"!Gene Tierney is lovely, Ginger Rogers is delightfully ... Read More
Rating: - IN THE BEST WHO-DUNNIT TRADITION
Younger viewers would be unfamiliar with the type of story telling which needs a little concentration and attention to plot development. Black Widow leads us into a situation few of us would want to experience. Being involved more and more deeply in something out of our control, finally being suspected of murder. I saw this movie when it was released over 50 years ago and it still holds interest for me today.
Rating: - daisy kenyon
I thought this was a very good movie of Joan Crawford's. Would recommend it if you like the actress.
Rating: - More puce than noir
The year after the success of HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE Nunnally Johnson did another Cinemascope feature for Twentieth-Century Fox that this time featured two fabulous Manhattan swank and spacious apartments instead of just the one. Although BLACK WIDOW (the ill-fitting title is never explained) has been released for DVD as part of the Fox Noir series, there's almost nothing noir about it (except for one sequence, probably the best in the film, when the murder victim's hanged body is discovered); it's more ... Read More
- "Black Widow" Without A Lot of Bite....Its really difficult to hate any film with a stellar cast such as Ginger Rogers, Gene Tierney, George Raft and Van Heflin.For that matters, its difficult to hate any of their individual films.Bring them together for one picture and "hate" might be a strong word, but "indifferent" fits the bill."Black Widow" feels more like a Cinemascope experiment than a cohesive and engaging film.Cinemascope was brand spanking new and you could tell that 20th Century Fox was attempting to churn out as much ... Read More
- Costume/Drawing Room Drama in Cinemascope!For fans of the movie-created world of 50's New York Society, this one's a real treat.However if you are looking for a taught, hard-edged noir thriller, this ain't it!Tune in for the costumes, the hilarious over-the-top acting, and the stagey apartment sets all done in glorious color and Cinemascope as only Fox could do in the 50's.Apparently someone at Fox thought this little potboiler deserved the same cinematographic treatment as "Ben Hur"!Gene Tierney is lovely, Ginger Rogers is delightfully ... Read More
- IN THE BEST WHO-DUNNIT TRADITIONYounger viewers would be unfamiliar with the type of story telling which needs a little concentration and attention to plot development. Black Widow leads us into a situation few of us would want to experience. Being involved more and more deeply in something out of our control, finally being suspected of murder. I saw this movie when it was released over 50 years ago and it still holds interest for me today.
- daisy kenyonI thought this was a very good movie of Joan Crawford's. Would recommend it if you like the actress.
- More puce than noirThe year after the success of HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE Nunnally Johnson did another Cinemascope feature for Twentieth-Century Fox that this time featured two fabulous Manhattan swank and spacious apartments instead of just the one. Although BLACK WIDOW (the ill-fitting title is never explained) has been released for DVD as part of the Fox Noir series, there's almost nothing noir about it (except for one sequence, probably the best in the film, when the murder victim's hanged body is discovered); it's more ... Read More
