Too Late for Tears (DVD)

Lizabeth Scott is Jane Palmer, femme fatale in this gritty thriller from the Golden Age of Hollywood noir. Finding $60,000 in hot money, Jane tries to convince her nervous husband (Arthur Kennedy) that they should keep it. When a thug, Danny (Dan Duryea), shows up to claim the cash, she strikes a deal to murder her uncooperative husband and split the dough with him. In a double cross she escapes to Mexico with the entire stash, unaware that she is being trailed by a stranger with an old debt to settle.

Swift dialogue, dark, shadowy sets and brilliant plot twists make Too Late For Tears a hard-boiled winner. Director Byron Haskin, whose career dates back to the silent era, was also responsible for such classics as Arsenic And Old Lace, War Of The Worlds, Passage To Marseilles and They Drive By Night. The phenomenal performances by Scott and Duryea fixed their places in the film noir canon.

• mystery