19 reviews
Director Charles 'GILDA' Vidor's psychological crime drama has a few interesting touches as hard-boiled gangster Hal Wilson (Chester 'BOSTON BLACKIE' Morris) breaks out of jail, kills the warden and, together with his gang, hides out at psychology professor Dr. Shelby's (Ralph Bellamy) riverside home and holds him and his dinner party guests hostage whilst awaiting the boat to take them across the river to freedom. During a long dark night of the soul - and after Wilson has demonstrated his trigger-happy nature by murdering one of the male guests who stands up to him - Shelby manages to psychoanalyse the violent hoodlum and discovers what made him who he is. If this sounds somewhat familiar to crime movie buffs it's because it was remade nine years later as THE DARK PAST (with, respectively, William Holden and Lee J. Cobb in the principal roles of gangster and shrink) when the post-War trend for psychoanalysis may have lent it greater resonance. The culture clash elements in BLIND ALLEY would probably have resonated more with an audience of the day familiar with the narrative and thematic tropes of the earlier THE PETRIFIED FOREST but what makes this interesting today are some interesting stylistic touches like Wilson's recurring nightmare shown in reverse negative and his final recovered memory revealed in subjective I-camera point of view. Otherwise, the film never really betrays its origins as a stage play and often feels rather static and talky even with a running time of just over an hour. Still, it's interesting to see a couple of now almost forgotten 30s stars like Chester Morris and Ann 'SCARFACE' Dvorak as the hard-boiled gangster and his moll as well as a film attempting to do something different with the crime movie staples of the day even if it all inevitably seems a shade simplistic and formulaic in these more morally compromised times. However, it's an elusive title these days and is still recommended to fans of vintage crime movies who get the chance to see it.
- rmax304823
- Mar 25, 2008
- Permalink
Enjoyed this film starring Chester Morris, (Hal Wilson) who has escaped from a prison along with a group of criminals with him. Hal finds a home which is near water where he can make his escape by boat and takes over a home of Dr. Shelby, (Ralph Bellamy) who is a college professor and also a psychiatrist. Dr. Shelby has a house full of guests, his wife and young son and the home becomes one big nightmare for everyone. Shelby tries to calm Hal Wilson and decides to try and solve his mental problems because Hal has killed one person in his house and is capable of killing everyone in the house. The entire household is struggling to keep calm and at the same time try to keep alive. Great Classic 1939 film with all great veteran actors. Enjoy.
Blind Alley (1939)
*** (out of 4)
Columbia thriller based on a 1935 Broadway play has Chester Morris playing a gangster who escapes from prison and eventually takes a psychiatrist (Ralph Bellamy) and his family and friends hostage. Soon the psychiatrist starts to work on the gangster to try and break him down so that everyone can make it out of the situation okay. This is an extremely well made and well acted "B" film that manages to be very entertaining from start to finish. What really sets this film apart from others like it are the performances by the two leads. Morris, due to his Boston Blackie films, has become one of my favorite actors and I think this is the best work I've seen from him. The character he plays is pretty much cold-hearted from start to finish and is just as dark as the character he played in Three Godfathers. There's no charm in this character and Morris really comes off as a very threatening figure. He also manages to be very convincing during the mental breakdown scenes when the doctor starts to work him over. Bellamy, another one of my favorite "B" actors, is also very good. His calm, cool and collective nature and that wonderful voice really pays off well here against Morris. Ann Dvorak from Scarface turns in fine support as the gangster's girlfriend. There are a couple very interesting aspects worth noting. One is an underlined child molestation that Morris suffered as a child. This isn't thrown out into the open but it isn't hinted at, which I'm surprised got by the Hayes Office. Another interesting segment is the dream sequence where we see a dream that is constantly haunting Morris. This was shot with a reverse negative and the look is very good and eerie. This film was later remade as The Dark Past.
*** (out of 4)
Columbia thriller based on a 1935 Broadway play has Chester Morris playing a gangster who escapes from prison and eventually takes a psychiatrist (Ralph Bellamy) and his family and friends hostage. Soon the psychiatrist starts to work on the gangster to try and break him down so that everyone can make it out of the situation okay. This is an extremely well made and well acted "B" film that manages to be very entertaining from start to finish. What really sets this film apart from others like it are the performances by the two leads. Morris, due to his Boston Blackie films, has become one of my favorite actors and I think this is the best work I've seen from him. The character he plays is pretty much cold-hearted from start to finish and is just as dark as the character he played in Three Godfathers. There's no charm in this character and Morris really comes off as a very threatening figure. He also manages to be very convincing during the mental breakdown scenes when the doctor starts to work him over. Bellamy, another one of my favorite "B" actors, is also very good. His calm, cool and collective nature and that wonderful voice really pays off well here against Morris. Ann Dvorak from Scarface turns in fine support as the gangster's girlfriend. There are a couple very interesting aspects worth noting. One is an underlined child molestation that Morris suffered as a child. This isn't thrown out into the open but it isn't hinted at, which I'm surprised got by the Hayes Office. Another interesting segment is the dream sequence where we see a dream that is constantly haunting Morris. This was shot with a reverse negative and the look is very good and eerie. This film was later remade as The Dark Past.
- Michael_Elliott
- Jun 15, 2008
- Permalink
- mark.waltz
- Sep 25, 2014
- Permalink
This is a film that you just have to watch without thinking too much--particularly if you realizes how silly the film is from a psychological point of view. Chester Morris and his gang take a group of people hostage while hiding out from the police. With very little provocation, Morris kills one of the hostages and in response, the psychiatrist (Ralph Bellamy) decides to mess with Morris' mind in order to drive him over the edge. Much of the movie is spent watching Bellamy slowly gain Morris' trust and later they begin exploring the meaning and significance of Morris' recurring dream. This is amazingly silly, not only because the cops might burst into the home at any minute but because in only a short time they are able explore and work out ALL of Morris' problems!! Also, while the style of therapy and theory behind it seemed pretty sound for the 1930s, today a lot of this just seemed like very silly mumbo-jumbo. Still, if you can ignore the silliness of all this and Morris' over-acting, then it is an entertaining little film.
By the way, for a much better film without the mumbo-jumbo, try watching THE DESPERATE HOURS. This film is also about a vicious gang taking a family hostage but is far more realistic and compelling.
UPDATE: I just saw the remake of this film, "The Dark Past" (1948) and I think it's a superior picture. Much of this is due to William Holden's more subdued performance.
By the way, for a much better film without the mumbo-jumbo, try watching THE DESPERATE HOURS. This film is also about a vicious gang taking a family hostage but is far more realistic and compelling.
UPDATE: I just saw the remake of this film, "The Dark Past" (1948) and I think it's a superior picture. Much of this is due to William Holden's more subdued performance.
- planktonrules
- Mar 25, 2008
- Permalink
Interesting Film Noir involving an escaped convicted murderer, who holds a professor of psychology, his family and guests hostage at their lakeside home while waiting to flee the police in a boat.
The criminal, Hal Wilson, has some interesting affectations ...a repeated nightmare and an issue with his hand. The doctor played by Ralph Bellamy tries to get inside his head...convincing him that he can help prevent him from going crazy.
"You're like a man running down a blind alley in the dark..."
Ralph Bellamy has such a soothing voice he plays a great psychologist. This is a film that explores the psychoanalysis of a criminal mind.
Great cast, ok story, and good cinematography make this film noir one that is worth watching.
The criminal, Hal Wilson, has some interesting affectations ...a repeated nightmare and an issue with his hand. The doctor played by Ralph Bellamy tries to get inside his head...convincing him that he can help prevent him from going crazy.
"You're like a man running down a blind alley in the dark..."
Ralph Bellamy has such a soothing voice he plays a great psychologist. This is a film that explores the psychoanalysis of a criminal mind.
Great cast, ok story, and good cinematography make this film noir one that is worth watching.
Chester Morris had a long career in Hollywood and on television, but he never made it as a leading man. In "Blind Alley," he plays Hal Wilson, a hardened criminal and killer. His performance seems overdone on the one hand, and not convincing on the other. But as the object of the wiles of Dr. Shelby, Wilson is interesting, even though his background is very familiar and predictable for such characters. This is a fine role for Ralph Bellamy who plays a very good Dr. Shelby.
Similar plots to this one have made it into films, with criminals taking up temporary residence in a home. But, this is the only one I can think of that has a psychiatrist-psychologist as one of the captives. And, Shelby's clever way to get Wilson to unravel is the heart of this crime mystery. He whips his Freudian psychology on Wilson
All the rest of the cast give good performances. Ann Dvorak is especially good as Mary, the moll of Wilson.
Similar plots to this one have made it into films, with criminals taking up temporary residence in a home. But, this is the only one I can think of that has a psychiatrist-psychologist as one of the captives. And, Shelby's clever way to get Wilson to unravel is the heart of this crime mystery. He whips his Freudian psychology on Wilson
All the rest of the cast give good performances. Ann Dvorak is especially good as Mary, the moll of Wilson.
This thriller isn't a bad way to spend 69 minutes, thanks to some decent acting, a good supporting cast of character players, and fast pacing. But the novelty of psychoanalysis-as-solution has worn off after 70 years, and most modern audiences have heard the "blame the parents" ploy so often that it seems hackneyed. The director includes some special effects which also might have seemed novel at the time but now seem amateurish.
Ralph Bellamy plays a teacher of psychoanalysis who has to put his theories to work on a mad killer who has decided to use the prof's country house as a temporary hideaway. Chester Morris is the trigger-happy escaped con in a part that would have been more compelling with Cagney or Bogie in the role. This adapted play is stage-bound but keeps enough interest going to make you stay put for the explosive ending.
Watch for John "Perry White" Hamilton in a very small, non-speaking part.
Ralph Bellamy plays a teacher of psychoanalysis who has to put his theories to work on a mad killer who has decided to use the prof's country house as a temporary hideaway. Chester Morris is the trigger-happy escaped con in a part that would have been more compelling with Cagney or Bogie in the role. This adapted play is stage-bound but keeps enough interest going to make you stay put for the explosive ending.
Watch for John "Perry White" Hamilton in a very small, non-speaking part.
- LCShackley
- Jan 10, 2009
- Permalink
The Now Out-Of-Favor Freudian Psycho-Analytical Therapy and Dream Analysis was, in 1939,
a Relatively New Medical Treatment and Not as Controversial as it Would Become from the 60's.
Film-Noir Certainly Embraced the Mind-Expanding Premise and Exploited it Routinely .
With Bizarre Photographic Techniques to Visualize Dream Sequences and the Complex Nature of the Mind and Personality Development.
This Sleeper Noir Prototype is a Forgotten Film with Forgotten Stars.
But Viewed Contextually it is a Powerhouse Melodrama that is Well Acted and Scripted.
Considering the Difficulty Involved in the Grounding as Entertainment and Art in a 70 Minute Movie.
Ralph Bellamy's Psychiatrist and Chester Morris' Brutal Maniac Murderer Collide in a Night of Mind-Bending Suspense and Violent Outbursts.
Bellamy and His House Guests are Taken Hostage by Desperate Gangsters that are Psychotic Sociopaths with Nothing to Lose.
The Story has been Told Many Times but this is a Virtually Unknown, Unseen Little Move that has Many Surprises.
It's an "Edge of Your Seater" that Deserves Better.
a Relatively New Medical Treatment and Not as Controversial as it Would Become from the 60's.
Film-Noir Certainly Embraced the Mind-Expanding Premise and Exploited it Routinely .
With Bizarre Photographic Techniques to Visualize Dream Sequences and the Complex Nature of the Mind and Personality Development.
This Sleeper Noir Prototype is a Forgotten Film with Forgotten Stars.
But Viewed Contextually it is a Powerhouse Melodrama that is Well Acted and Scripted.
Considering the Difficulty Involved in the Grounding as Entertainment and Art in a 70 Minute Movie.
Ralph Bellamy's Psychiatrist and Chester Morris' Brutal Maniac Murderer Collide in a Night of Mind-Bending Suspense and Violent Outbursts.
Bellamy and His House Guests are Taken Hostage by Desperate Gangsters that are Psychotic Sociopaths with Nothing to Lose.
The Story has been Told Many Times but this is a Virtually Unknown, Unseen Little Move that has Many Surprises.
It's an "Edge of Your Seater" that Deserves Better.
- LeonLouisRicci
- Sep 1, 2021
- Permalink
This B-film from the late thirties can probably be considered way ahead of its time, dealing as it does with a psychiatric solution for the climax of the story. Hollywood would go much further with such themes in the '40s with the advent of films like "Spellbound", "Possessed" and "The Snake Pit".
RALPH BELLAMY is a pipe-smoking psychiatrist with a calm, cool demeanor who appears undisturbed when a psychotic serial killer (CHESTER MORRIS) and his gang intrudes on family and friends during a quiet holiday weekend. When Morris turns out to have bad dreams, psychiatrist Bellamy goes to work tracing the events that trigger the nightmares. Director Charles Vidor uses reverse negative images imaginatively to depict the dream sequence which movie buffs can immediately solve without any explanations from Bellamy.
ANN DVORAK is the gun moll acting tough with the house guests and confining the servants to the cellar, and MARC LAWRENCE is effective as one of the tough guys. MELVILLE COOPER has a role in which he's unusually heroic a year after playing the cowardly sheriff in "The Adventures of Robin Hood". SCOTTY BECKETT is a lively presence as the little boy who talks back to the bad men.
But the pat solution is too simplistic and the fact that Morris is willing to even listen to Bellamy's sermonizing and psychiatric talk makes the whole thing quite unrealistic. The remake with William Holden had the same problem and the same glaring faults. Another distraction is CHESTER MORRIS who seems to be chewing the scenery in his over-the-top impersonation of the psychotic killer.
RALPH BELLAMY is a pipe-smoking psychiatrist with a calm, cool demeanor who appears undisturbed when a psychotic serial killer (CHESTER MORRIS) and his gang intrudes on family and friends during a quiet holiday weekend. When Morris turns out to have bad dreams, psychiatrist Bellamy goes to work tracing the events that trigger the nightmares. Director Charles Vidor uses reverse negative images imaginatively to depict the dream sequence which movie buffs can immediately solve without any explanations from Bellamy.
ANN DVORAK is the gun moll acting tough with the house guests and confining the servants to the cellar, and MARC LAWRENCE is effective as one of the tough guys. MELVILLE COOPER has a role in which he's unusually heroic a year after playing the cowardly sheriff in "The Adventures of Robin Hood". SCOTTY BECKETT is a lively presence as the little boy who talks back to the bad men.
But the pat solution is too simplistic and the fact that Morris is willing to even listen to Bellamy's sermonizing and psychiatric talk makes the whole thing quite unrealistic. The remake with William Holden had the same problem and the same glaring faults. Another distraction is CHESTER MORRIS who seems to be chewing the scenery in his over-the-top impersonation of the psychotic killer.
- theowinthrop
- Mar 25, 2008
- Permalink
I wasn't going to say anything, as plenty has already been stated by numerous reviewers. However, I guess I will. I found Columbia's 1939 production of "Blind Alley" to be totally attention-holding and satisfying in its conclusion. Sure, it undoubtedly is far-fetched in its premise, happenstance, and unfolding, but it nonetheless was excellent entertainment for me. Additionally, the film doesn't look very dated, in part because there are few exterior scenes with cars and buildings, and also because the characters' concerns do not seem to be from an era passed long ago.
First, it was fun to see Morris return to a thoroughly badman stance after having portrayed more multi-dimensional characters in the years since "The Big House" (1930). And, of course, Morris would soon undertake the assignment of playing the haughty, cocky, smugly genial, and happily self-assured Boston Blackie... but there is no trace of that persona in "Blind Alley." Morris' bad man here is rotten all the way.
And then there is Ralph Bellamy, who plays this cool-under-pressure psychiatrist/professor in just the right tempo. Bellamy is not likely to come to mind in a chosen array of memorable actors, but yet I find it always difficult to not observe him closely in his pictures. His warm fixed smile and soothingly authoritative voice always command one's focus. He was highly competent, but yet it is vaguely understandable why he was not much in demand as the romantic lead... I think he was just not "risky" or "dangerous" enough.
Ann Dvorak probably enjoyed her outing as the female meanie, but as so often happens in movies about bad men and their associated women, one does wonder why she would be so in love with this monster. Maybe the good doctor should evaluate her situation, as well!
This movie is crisply moving, only 69 minutes long, and leaves the viewer with something about humanity to mull over. So in sum, I enjoyed it well and consumers of 1930's films should give it a try.
First, it was fun to see Morris return to a thoroughly badman stance after having portrayed more multi-dimensional characters in the years since "The Big House" (1930). And, of course, Morris would soon undertake the assignment of playing the haughty, cocky, smugly genial, and happily self-assured Boston Blackie... but there is no trace of that persona in "Blind Alley." Morris' bad man here is rotten all the way.
And then there is Ralph Bellamy, who plays this cool-under-pressure psychiatrist/professor in just the right tempo. Bellamy is not likely to come to mind in a chosen array of memorable actors, but yet I find it always difficult to not observe him closely in his pictures. His warm fixed smile and soothingly authoritative voice always command one's focus. He was highly competent, but yet it is vaguely understandable why he was not much in demand as the romantic lead... I think he was just not "risky" or "dangerous" enough.
Ann Dvorak probably enjoyed her outing as the female meanie, but as so often happens in movies about bad men and their associated women, one does wonder why she would be so in love with this monster. Maybe the good doctor should evaluate her situation, as well!
This movie is crisply moving, only 69 minutes long, and leaves the viewer with something about humanity to mull over. So in sum, I enjoyed it well and consumers of 1930's films should give it a try.
- glennstenb
- Jun 5, 2022
- Permalink
I saw this movie when I was seven, 'way back in 1939. I had never seen anything like the dream sequence and the psychiatrist's explanation. They both were shot from the camera's viewpoint, something I wasn't to see again until Robert Montgomery's version of Raymond Chandler's "The Lady In The Lake. This stuck in my cerebellum since. The remake, "The Dark Past," with Wm. Holden wasn't quite as good, but then I was older and more sophisticated when I saw that one. And, anyone who says Chester Morris couldn't act obviously hasn't seen "The Big House," "Three Godfathers" (not the John Wayne one), or any of the Boston Blackie movies. P.S. Where are the Boston Blackie movies?
- jandbclarke
- May 3, 2006
- Permalink
Based on a 1935 Broadway success, this film presents an early "psychological" approach to depicting a cold-blooded criminal, here played by Chester Morris, an excellent and very versatile actor, ably supported by a fine cast including Ann Dvorak and Ralph Bellamy. My wife, Yuyun Yuningsih Nollen, and I are currently writing the first-ever book on Chester Morris, which hopefully will correct any oversights that have been made about this performer and introduce a new generation of classic film fans to his extensive body of work, on film, television and radio. Morris also was a well-respected star on stage, following in the footsteps of his father, William Morris, and sharing the profession with his younger brother, Adrian, who unfortunately died far too soon.
When I wrote a review of the remake of Blind Alley that starred William Holden I had not yet seen this nor had investigated the Broadway play from where this film came from. I've come to some interesting conclusions as a result.
Chester Morris plays the killer role in Blind Alley which is a combination of The Petrified Forest and The Desperate Hours and the viewer will recognize parts of both those classics. Morris and his gang are on the run having just busted out of prison where they took the warden hostage and Morris kills him. He then takes refuge at the lakeside home of Ralph Bellamy and wife Rose Stradner who happen to be entertaining guests at the time.
Bellamy is a psychiatrist who teaches and after Morris coldbloodedly murders Stanley Brown one of his students he thinks the only way to save his and everyone else's lives is to get into his head. Bellamy is a cool customer doing this, especially with friends and family's lives at stake.
When Lee J. Cobb played the part of the psychiatrist in The Dark Past he was detached almost clinical in the way he probed at Holden. Bellamy is not looking at this as an experiment and now having seen both films I can say Bellamy's interpretation was superior.
Blind Alley originated as a play on Broadway by James Warwick with a 119 performance run in the 1935-36 season. Looking at that cast I saw that George Coulouris played the psychiatrist and this is one instance where we are so unfortunate that he did not do either movie version. Coulouris would really have been special in the part.
This film is a real sleeper from Columbia Pictures, don't miss it if ever broadcast again.
Chester Morris plays the killer role in Blind Alley which is a combination of The Petrified Forest and The Desperate Hours and the viewer will recognize parts of both those classics. Morris and his gang are on the run having just busted out of prison where they took the warden hostage and Morris kills him. He then takes refuge at the lakeside home of Ralph Bellamy and wife Rose Stradner who happen to be entertaining guests at the time.
Bellamy is a psychiatrist who teaches and after Morris coldbloodedly murders Stanley Brown one of his students he thinks the only way to save his and everyone else's lives is to get into his head. Bellamy is a cool customer doing this, especially with friends and family's lives at stake.
When Lee J. Cobb played the part of the psychiatrist in The Dark Past he was detached almost clinical in the way he probed at Holden. Bellamy is not looking at this as an experiment and now having seen both films I can say Bellamy's interpretation was superior.
Blind Alley originated as a play on Broadway by James Warwick with a 119 performance run in the 1935-36 season. Looking at that cast I saw that George Coulouris played the psychiatrist and this is one instance where we are so unfortunate that he did not do either movie version. Coulouris would really have been special in the part.
This film is a real sleeper from Columbia Pictures, don't miss it if ever broadcast again.
- bkoganbing
- Aug 9, 2011
- Permalink
I've seen BLIND ALLEY in 1946 when amercan films starts to come in europe after the war - I've never seen it again -In France nobody knows who was CHESTER MORRIS At this time i was looking at 400 films by year- Later films like DESPERATE HOURS with Bogart and PURSUED with Mitchum has remind me BLIND ALLEY (for PURSUED: when the kid is under the table-and for Desparate the psychanalyst subject between F March and Bogart) Am i wrong ? Chester Morris was not a very good actor i suppose but good enough for me
No dictionary french or english pays mention to his films (only tv) I'm know a movie poster collector and looking all the time for CHESTER'S FILMS NOIRS So, please, let me know about it - with thanks
Chichin
No dictionary french or english pays mention to his films (only tv) I'm know a movie poster collector and looking all the time for CHESTER'S FILMS NOIRS So, please, let me know about it - with thanks
Chichin
From 1939, Blind Alley is a pure early noir that would be remade in 1948 with William Holden as the psychotic killer, played here by a tense and threatening Chester Morris. The 2 nightmares are dark sequences wonderfully shot by cinematographer Lucien Ballard. Ralph Bellamy as the psychiatrist is at the extreme opposite of Morris, he's calm and comforting, he knows he can handle the situation without any more killings.
- happytrigger-64-390517
- Mar 1, 2021
- Permalink
- jarrodmcdonald-1
- Aug 23, 2023
- Permalink