Bert Glennon's noirish photography is a stand-out in this one, a very interesting melodrama directed by Roy Del Ruth, who no doubt relied on Glennon to supply the movie's exciting visual flair. Alas, where the movie falls down is in George Callahan's none-too-credible screenplay which really writes itself out of the game with that preposterous denouement with the projectionist character played by Henry "Harry" Morgan. Oddly, we know we are in United Artists territory from the very first when the opening titles display an elaborate credit for D. Ross Lederman's second unit direction and his photographer, James Van Trees. Credits like these are usually buried in the small print of major studio titles or not supplied at all. Happily, all this second unit material is very hard to spot because it's so well integrated into the movie as a whole by editor, Richard Heermance. The credits also tell us that the assistant director on the 2nd unit was none other than Robert Aldrich. As if that were not enough in giving the screenplay an aura of credibility, the movie also features Ken Murray playing himself, plus a pretend National Movie News which gains further authenticity by being prepared by Ray Mercer himself and narrated by none other than Knox Manning! All this superb attention to detail was made possible by Roy Del Ruth, who not only directed but also produced for his own company, namely Roy Del Ruth Productions. It's a shame that despite all this careful attention to realistic detail, the screenplay adapted from the novel, "That Guy Gideon" by Donald Barry, just misses the bus. But all things considered, I'd still give it an "8".
Review of Red Light
