HIGH WALL (1947)

Things aren't looking so good for brain-damaged WWII vet Robert Taylor when he's found in a car wreck with his wife's dead body in the passenger seat.  And things look even worse when the cops discover that she was strangled to death before the wreck!  Taylor looks guilty as hell, but since he's unable to stand trial due to his chronic headaches that cause him to black out (he has no memory of the night in question), they simply toss him in a mental institution.  While there, he meets some doctors that are able to dust the cobwebs loose and...well, you just gotta see for yourself.

It's always sad to see an otherwise above average film crippled with a below average title, but that's the case with HIGH WALL.  What the hell does "high wall" even mean?  I guess it's referring to the wall around the mental institution, but the only time you ever see the wall is in the opening titles!  At no point in the film does anybody actually interact with the wall itself.  Who knows, maybe it's referencing the wall around Taylor's lost memories.  I have no clue, but whatever it's talking about, it's still a dull name for a movie.

Dull title aside, HIGH WALL was a good watch.  I really enjoy seeing Robert Taylor stretching out his acting chops and the story held my attention.  Interesting photography, good pace, nice lighting, solid supporting cast and it's always a pleasure to see Herbert Marshall in action.  He's just so smooth!

Recommended for fans of classic 40's noir.

THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946)

Young Tyrone Power is given grief by his wealthy girlfriend Gene Tierney, because she wants him to quit "loafing" and get a high-powered job and acquire a lot of money that she can be proud of.  He loves her, but a brush with death on the final day of WWI left him filled with questions about the purpose of life.  He moves to Paris to find himself.  During this same time a friend, Anne Baxter, gets married to a simple man, they have a child and are quite happy together.  I'm not going to get all into the rest of the story, you can do that yourself, but I liked THE RAZOR'S EDGE.  It's a pretty slow starter, but it's redeemed by a very good second half.

The reason I watched THE RAZOR'S EDGE was, as you don't remember, I was curious about how Anne Baxter won over Teresa Wright from THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES for Best Supporting Actress...and I'm still curious.  Anne Baxter's performance was very good, but not near as perfect as Teresa Wright's.