MovieChat Forums > Follow Me Quietly (1949) Discussion > are you *beep* kidding me?!

are you beep kidding me?!

posted 13 years ago by watchamacallit
4 replies | jump to latest

This is probably the worst noir I have ever seen that is not directed by Hugo Haas. The film lost me with its ridiculous premise. I mean the part where the detective prepares this faceless dummy that supposed to look like the killer. problem is of course, that the said dummy looks like just about every thin white man on the planet!
the montages of the detective going around stores and shops showing a picture of the dummy from the back were just absurd. I cannot belive that two masters like Richard Fleischer and Anthony Mann made such a crappy film.

[–] pat102853 12 years ago

Yeah, pretty absurd, and not very good noir. Really hokey. Lundigan was an interesting actor who was never typecast. His performance made the film worthwhile for me. Some of the lim was clearly filmed on a backlot. Gas plant finale was nice. Enjoyed the industrial design and look of the place.

[–] myhootietoot 10 years ago

Actually the dummy was quite creepy and I kinda think the whole point was that it could be anyone. That is what paranoia is all about.

[–] liscarkat (18367) 6 years ago

Some noir-like elements, like the urban setting, night scenes, and rain, but not really noir; just a police procedural. The dummy was ridiculous--"has anyone here seen a guy in a suit and hat?" "Why, no, lieutenant, nobody resembling a guy in a suit and hat has been around here."

[–] thingmakersback (1369) a month ago

The dummy was a pretty poor idea, but not utterly hopeless. They just made more of it than it deserved... AND There is one remarkable scene in the film that seems not connected to ANYTHING ELSE, that relies on the dummy. The scene where Lundigen, apparently in a room at police headquarters, stands in a dark room beside the dummy, which sits in a chair facing the windows - looking out on darkness. Lundigen talks to the dummy and is pulled away when his (much more likable) partner tells him that he's being creepy. OK? Then, when both men leave the room, the "dummy" gets up replaces the real dummy in the chair and exits... HOLY CRAP! There is literally no connection between this and anything else in the film. The killer turns out to be... some guy that they find by a waitress remembering his name based on the general description of him wearing glasses, smoking and reading. Who was that in Police HQ? Did "some guy" manage to sneak in and take the dummys place at just the moment when nobody would notice?