In the Shadow-Lands of Sleep

You might start with a nice premise, but the motivations of a troubled mind can shift everything sideways. This film crafts its whole story in a dream state, keeping it mostly nocturnal with shadow play to smoother the characters. It feels stifling, odd even, but with a couple of tricks up its sleeve, it garners maximum impact by disorientating the viewer. Some may call out cheat, others are likely to enjoy its Wellesian feel, either way it's certainly a film that can't be called dull. The pacing is slow, but that's part of the oppressive atmosphere that lives in the void caught between a dream and a nightmare.

Robert Cummings is fine as the good guy suddenly finding his world blurring with pills, sleep, and perfume. Steve Cochran, in only his second year of acting, is a dominating and frightening force as the handsome and oily Roman. It's a menacing portrayal of a character who slaps his women around and literally will stop at nothing to get his way. But even Cochran is trumped by yet another weasel turn from Peter Lorre, standing on the side spitting sarcastic quips. Lorre alone is enough to seek the film out for a viewing, with good secondary support from Jack Holt in an important small role.

The plot is not new, we've seen it before about an unhappily married wife who uses a friend to escape her husband. But the story's done in an interesting way, with some unusual aspects to it. There's plenty of shadows and lots of the movie takes place at night. It moves at a fast pace for the first 50 minutes or so, then slows down to catch its breath, and then speeds up again near the end. I didn't have a problem with the pacing of this film-seemed fine to me, with wonderful camera angles and nice pacing that could have been just a little more compact.

Everything about this film is surprising, and I just don't mean the plot. Cochran's a thug but he lives in a kitsch mansion filled with marble statues and likes to listen to classical music. Cummings's a veteran who is also a dab hand on the piano. Perhaps the biggest surprise is just how good both these actors are. Being a gangster, Cochran naturally has to have a henchman, and as always Peter Lorre is superb in the part. About midway through, you might start to get an idea in which direction this very strange movie is going, and you may even be right... but on the other hand.

The first time I saw this film, I was mesmerised by the moody cinematography and the perfect casting of all the players. Similar to the noir classics, the hero is drawn into a web of intrigue by a beautiful woman, but in this case she turns out to be a legitimate dream walking. The film was even better the second time around, as I could savour the various clues sprinkled throughout. Even by today's standards, Steve Cochran, Peter Lorre and their canine friend have to rank high among the screen's most vicious heavies. Vastly underrated, it will set your heart a thumping.

It doesn't push any boundaries or hold up as being hugely influential in the film noir cycle. But it's a relevant piece of work in that cycle, and certainly recommended to those interested in dream-like oppression. The 80-minutes are a perfect blend of dark visuals and surreal story, with a number of touches that make this a memorable film. I'm not sure why the movie's generally overlooked in the noir canon, perhaps because of Cummings and his lightweight reputation. Nonetheless, it's a provocative little gem, and one that prompts rare second thoughts long after the screen has gone dark.