| Airbolt |
Posted - 06/04/2008 : 14:53:03
Sometimes you can find a great film you never heard of. Case in point was finding an old noir called "The Sniper" I thougt it was the To Berenger until i saw the date.
Great little noir with the obligatory bolted on "social message " ( ie "sex criminals" needed understanding. Then putting away. Or shot. In that order ). Arthur Franz is suitably "deranged" ( he sweatsand has a beady squint at times ). He keeps a rifle in pieces and he hates women. Or is it sex , i'm not sure. Anyway the title sorts of gives away his M.O.
The Body Count mounts and who do they put on the case? Frank Kafka! I'm not kidding - Lt Frank Kafka. Through a few lumbering police procedures and some help from a shrink the net closes in. At one stage the cops mount a rooftop vigil - though i'm fairly sure they had radios in the 1950's the cops communicate through whistles!
Arthur Franz is disturbing not least because he looks like the love child of Gary Sinise and Benicio Del Toro. The other characters are fairly standard - handsome detective , older captain , liberal shrink and so on. A nice taut little noir all in all , well worth a watch.
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