'The Great Flamarion' is a tale of lust and tragedy

The Great Flamarion (1946)
Starring: Erich von Stroheim, Mary Beth Hughes, Dan Duryea and Stephen Barclay
Director; Anthony Mann
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Reclusive marksman and vaudeville entertainer (von Stroheim) comes out of his shell when he believes the beautiful assistant in his act (Hughes) loves him and wants to be with him instead of her husband (Duryea). However, the coldhearted, manipulative woman simply wants the Great Flamarion to "accidentally" shoot her husband during the act, so she can run off with yet another man.


"The Great Flamarion" is an utterly predictable film, although it might not have been so in 1946 when it was made. The story never misses a chance to go exactly where you'd expect it to go, and the characters never move beyond complete and total cliches.

However, there is still a degree of enjoyment to be derived from this film if you just sit back and go with it. Hughes' performance as the black widow who should make black widows feel uneasy is so over-the-top that it fits perfectly with the nature of the script, while Von Stroheim takes an interesting term as a man who moves from an obsession with lethal guns to a lethal obsession with the woman who took his self-respect and his honor.

Decent mystery, despite its thin plot

Terror Street (aka "36 Hours") (1953)
Starring: Dan Duryea, John Chandos, Ann Gudrun, Elise Albiin, Kenneth Griffith and Eric Pohlman
Director: Montgomery Tully
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

An AWOL US Air Force officers in London (Duryea) has 36 hours to solve the mystery of why his wife left him and who framed him for her murder.


"Terror Street" is one of those films that only works because of it has a cast who have the talent to sell the rediculous script. Dan Duryea is so sincere as the man trying to figure out why his wife left him and who murdered her that it hardly matters that he seems unable to tell time , nor that Scotland Yard in this film comes across as folks Barney Fife would look down on.

Watch the film for Duryea's performance; for John Chandos' turn as a particularly slimey villain; and for Kenneth Griffin's unitentionally comic turn as a would-be lover of the dead wife. The mystery also isn't have bad, if a little thin. It's one of those tales where evil plots work because the good characters are dumb.