77% (2)  The Beast with Five Fingers  88 min,  Approved,  [Horror, Mystery]  [Robert Florey]  [08 Feb 1947]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 66%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 89%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Robert Alda, Victor Francen
Writer:  Curt Siodmak (screen play), William Fryer Harvey (from a story by)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand.
Rotten Tomatoes:   When a concert pianist dies without recognizing his personal secretary in his will, the secretary chops off one of the corpse's hands and begins to plot revenge. Things get more complicated, however, when the disembodied hand takes on a life of its own in this renowned early horror film.
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45% (2)  Rhapsody in Blue  135 min,  Approved,  [Biography, Drama, Musical, Romance]  [Irving Rapper]  [22 Sep 1945]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 71%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 20%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination.
Actors:  Alexis Smith, Charles Coburn, Joan Leslie, Robert Alda
Writer:  Sonya Levien (original story), Howard Koch (screenplay), Elliot Paul (screenplay), Harry Chandlee (contribution), Robert Rossen (contribution)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Composer George Gershwin is driven by his need to succeed. Unfortunately his drive destroys his romantic relationships with singer Julie Adams, who is desperately in love with him, and aloof socialite Christine Gilbert.
Rotten Tomatoes:   There's slightly more fancy than fact in this lavish film biography of legendary American composer George Gershwin, but oh! That music! Director Irving Rapper had wanted Tyrone Power to play Gershwin, but Power was still serving in the Marines, so Rapper had to settle for Robert Alda--who isn't bad at all, just a trifle over-enthusiastic. The film traces Gershwin's rise from a "song plugger" for a Manhattan music publishing company to the heights of international fame and fortune. Gershwin's first big hit is "Swanee," introduced on Broadway by Al Jolson (who plays himself, making his first film appearance in six years). In collaboration with his lyricist brother Ira (well played by Herbert Rudley), George pens hit after hit in show after show. Impresario Charles Coburn is happy with this, but George's kindly old music teacher Albert Basserman wants his prize pupil to aspire to something more artistic. Gershwin responds with "Rhapsody in Blue", which debuts at Aeolian Hall in 1924 under the baton of bandleader Paul Whiteman (also playing himself). As his fame and workload grows, George finds he has no time at all for romance; the two (fictional) ladies in his life, both of whom eventually realize that they'll always have to play second fiddle to Gershwin's muse, are musical comedy star Joan Leslie and socialite Alexis Smith. Gershwin continues to compose such masterpieces as "An American in Paris", "Cuban Overture", "Concerto in F" and the 1935 folk opera Porgy and Bess. He will not allow himself to rest on his laurels, ruthlessly pushing himself to top all his previous accomplishments. Finally, the strain proves too great: George Gershwin dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1937, at the age of 39. Featured in the cast as themselves (in addition to those already mentioned) are Gershwin's lifelong friend Oscar Levant, producer George White, and Broadway performers Tom Patricola and Hazel Scott. Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp play George's parents, while Julie Bishop is cast as Ira's wife Lee, who is saddled with the film's silliest line: "Ira, promise me that you'll never become a genius." Alternately hokey and inspired, Rhapsody in Blue has weathered the years as one of Hollywood's most solid biopics. And, as a bonus, we are treated to a virtually complete performance (running a full reel) of the title composition.
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72% (1)  Nora Prentiss  111 min,  Approved,  [Drama, Film-Noir]  [Vincent Sherman]  [22 Feb 1947]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 72%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Ann Sheridan, Bruce Bennett, Kent Smith, Robert Alda
Writer:  Paul Webster (story), Jack Sobell (story), N. Richard Nash
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Quiet, organised Dr Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a street accident. Despite her misgivings they become heavily involved and Talbot finds he is faced with the choice of leaving Nora or divorcing his wife. When a patient expires in his office, a third option seems to present itself.
Rotten Tomatoes:   In this slick melodrama, a sort of film-noir for women, a nightclub singer has an affair with an unhappily married San Francisco doctor. Though the physician desperately wants to leave his wife, he lacks the courage to ask for a divorce. In retaliation, the singer accepts an offer to move East and start up a new club in New York. Lost without the singer, the doctor is without option until his partner suddenly dies. With a burst of inspiration, he fakes his own death and flees to New York. Later, he is horrified to learn that his death has been officially declared a homicide, and so he goes into hiding in the singer's apartment. To cope with his fear and the increasing success of his lover, the physician begins drinking heavily. This only makes him paranoid and more depressed and he begins to suspect his lover is having an affair. Upon confronting the "lover," a fight ensues, the doctor wins, and thinking he killed his rival, he takes off -- only to end up in a horrible traffic accident that leaves his face unrecognizable. Though plastic surgery gives him a new identity, it is at that time that he is arrested and sent back to California to stand trial for his own murder. Rather than burden his family with the shock that he is still alive, the doctor insists that his lover keep mum, and he stoically goes to trial where he is sentenced to Death Row. Beautifully photographed by James Wong Howe in typically expressionistic style, the film focuses on the desperation and entrapment of the characters and expresses a true bleak, fatalistic film-noir sensibility which makes this film unique in the genre.
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69% (1)  The Man I Love  96 min,  [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir]  [Raoul Walsh]  [11 Jan 1947]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 69%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Andrea King, Ida Lupino, Martha Vickers, Robert Alda
Writer:  Catherine Turney (screenplay), Jo Pagano (adaptation), Catherine Turney (adaptation), Maritta M. Wolff (novel)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English, French    Country:  USA
Plot:  Visiting her two sisters and brother, singer Petey Brown lands a job at small-time-hood Nicky Toresca's nightclub. While evading the sleazy Toresca's heavy-handed passes at her, she falls in love with down-and-out ex-jazz pianist Sand Thomas, who has never quite recovered from an old divorce. While solving the problems of her sisters, brother and their next-door neighbor, the no-nonsense Petey must wait as Sand decides whether to start a new life with her or sign on with a merchant steamer.
Rotten Tomatoes:   A nightclub singer is wooed by a mobster in this noir-flavored melodrama.
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63% (1)  April Showers  94 min,  Approved,  [Musical]  [James V. Kern]  [27 Mar 1948]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 63%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Ann Sothern, Jack Carson, Robert Alda, S.Z. Sakall
Writer:  Joe Laurie Jr. (story), Peter Milne
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  A married couple who have a song-and-dance act in vaudeville are in trouble. Their struggling act is going nowhere, they're almost broke and they have to do something to get them back on ...
Rotten Tomatoes:   In order to understand his father's mysterious disappearance during his childhood, Pedro sets out on a road trip to investigate the political ties in his family after the 40 year dictatorship ended in April 1974.
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