The purpose of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VII is to enjoy books and movies/television that could be classified (by you) as: Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. Dark Fantasy. Gothic. Horror. Supernatural. Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.
I’m going to post my R.I.P. progress on Tuesdays during September and October and link them to the review site if they contain reviews of short stories, TV shows, or movies. Books will get their own posts.
The Maltese Falcon (1941) – Everyone has lapses in their knowledge of things, whether it’s a classic novel they haven’t read or a screen gem they’ve never watched. There are too many good things in the world to have experienced them all. Until last week, I had never watched The Maltese Falcon. I knew from my husband, a man with little patience for bad movies, that this film is beyond most 1940s’ fare, but I didn’t expect to stop the DVD and IMDB it to be sure of its release year. John Huston’s direction and Arthur Edeson’s cinematography are as fresh and beautiful today as they were 70 years ago.
“Key Lime Pie” (2007) – I was in a noir kind of mood after watching The Maltese Falcon. Due to the nature of copyright, many movies from the 40s and 50s are available free and legal online. This is not one of them. This is an animated short in noir style. The internet is a place of vast creativity, isn’t it? (Watch at Open Culture, or click above)
Shock (1946) – Mrs. Janet Stewart (Anabel Shaw) should be having a good week. Her husband (Frank Latimore), a former POW, is finally coming home and they’re going to meet in the city for a weekend together. Unfortunately, things are going wrong for Janet. The hotel doesn’t have her reservation, her husband is late, and after a night filled with nightmares, Janet witnesses a murder in a hotel room across the courtyard. When the shock puts her over the edge, Vincent Price is brought in to be her psychiatrist. No, things are not going well for poor Janet Stewart. (Watch at Internet Archive)
Simple Tricks & Nonsense 