Too Late for Tears

Too.Late.for.Tears.1949.BrRip.EN-SUB.x264-[MULVAcoded]

source: Too Late for Tears

Though listed here at IMDb as "Too Late for Tears," the version I saw went by the much better title, "Killer Bait." Whatever you want to call it, this is low-budget film noir at its best. Lizabeth Scott plays one of the most fatale femmes in noir history, a housewife whose desire to keep up with the Joneses turns her into a mercenary murderer. Through the kind of chance accident that so often kicks off the plots of films noir, she and her husband (Arthur Kennedy) become custodians of $60K that was going to be used to pay off a blackmailer. Not surprisingly, the blackmailer comes calling to collect, and he's not surprisingly played by Dan Duryea, who played sardonic unctuousness better than anyone. He thinks he can bully these inexperienced nobodies into giving him the money back, but he has no idea what he's in for with this no longer very demure housewife. Indeed, the film almost makes a joke out of how scared Duryea becomes of her, feeling the need to have a gun on him any time he's going to meet up with her. "Killer Bait" is an example of why I love noir. These films were cheap and obscure. They weren't made to be big money makers and there wasn't as much need to make them crowd pleasing. For that reason, they're more honest than the big studio products of the time, cynical about American life in a way that other movies at the time weren't allowed to be. In this film, that pressure to conform to "normal" middle class existence in the post-war years, and the need to define one's success relative to others in materialistic terms, is enough to make one kill. Lizabeth Scott's character is American capitalist society taken to nightmarish extremes. Directed by special effects wizard Byron Haskin, who proves that he's as at home in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles as he is on the surface of Mars. Grade: A

I have to agree with the other poster who stated that Lizabeth Scott was not really into her role. If you replaced Scott with Lana Turner, and Dan Duryea (who seems to be just lazily aping his 'Scarlet Street' role) with Richard Widmark, or Robert Ryan, you would be in good shape. Casting is just one problem with this film. The plot is filled with improbabilities from the first minute on. The one that kick starts the plot has a carrying bag filled with $60,000 thrown into Scott and Arthur Kennedy's car. A few days after this event, Duryea shows up at Scott's apartment impersonating a detective, and then claims to be the owner of the money. Instead of beating the information about the money's location out of Scott, he is unusually cooperative, and says he will check back with her after he checks the evening newspaper to see if there is anything in the paper to corroborate her version of where the money is located (!!??). Duryea returns later, repeatedly refers to Scott as 'tiger' (?) and once again is stalled by Scott, who this time tells Duryea to meet him that night "In the park. Under a palm tree" Of course, Duryea obliges again (what kind of criminal is this guy?) While waiting for Duryea, Scott, and Kennedy, take a rowboat ride, during which a seemingly unmotivated struggle takes place, ending in Scott shooting husband Kennedy. Bizarrely, few people react to the loud sound of a gun going off in an echo filled lake. The only response seems to be one woman saying to her boyfriend "I thought I heard something" The gun by the way has no silencer! What follows is Scott summons Duryea, who is obediently waiting by what must be the only palm tree in the park, and a very silly semi-reprise of the 'Double Indemnity' train scene, only done in a silly manner in a rowboat with Duryea & 'Tiger' in place of MacMurray & Stanwyck. The plot thickens and soon the whole affair is coming across like a far fetched, early soap opera. This film has many good moments, but never becomes a cohesive whole. A script, which was a few rewrites away from good, and tepid performances from Scott & Duryea prevent this. When Don Defore is stealing scenes, you have big problems!

The title "Too Late for Tears" sounds like one for a bad daytime soap opera. The reissue title "Killer Bait" goes too far in the opposite direction, giving the potential viewer the idea that he/she is about to watch a sleazy cheapie. In reality this is one of the best film noir thrillers of them all. When one thinks of the ideal femme fatale, someone such as Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity" comes to mind. But there were few better than Lizabeth Scott. She came on red hot but turned out to be ice cold. She could jab an ice pick in some dude's back then slowly lick the blood off, sort of like the Rolling Stones song, "When you play with me, you're playing with fire." The theme of "Too Late for Tears" is ageless: the love of money is the root of all evil. What would happen if on a lonely deserted highway in the middle of nowhere a stranger drove by and threw a bag filled with money into the backseat of your car? How would that one mistaken turn change a person's life? This film explores the idea from the standpoint of an incompatible couple. One, a hard working Joe trying to make an honest living and provide his wife with the necessities of life; the other, a seemingly happy spouse but whose heart and soul are filled with rage for being without the niceties of life that others have, especially a few of her husband's friends. To complicate the story, the person for whom the bag of money was intended arrives on the scene soon enough to get the couple's license plate number. He thinks he can just walk in and grab the money by using muscle and intimidation; that is, until he meets Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott) who has a few notions of her own concerning how to deal with greedy gangster types. More complications turn up when the husband's sister enters. She is also a nosy neighbor wanting to know just what is going on. A tall dark stranger arrives who says he's an old friend of Jane Palmer's husband? But who is he really? All this leads to murder and one crazy twist after another until the unexpected denouement in Mexico. The script by Roy Huggins crackles and bites, for example, Jane Palmer asks Danny sarcastically, "What do I call you besides stupid? To which Danny Fuller throws back, "Stupid will do if you don't bruise easily." What acting from a stellar cast. Scott has already been mentioned. Dan Duryea as Danny Fuller looking for his money is as egregious as ever, this time outmaneuvered by the wiles of a beautiful doll. The always underrated Don DeFore plays with élan the clever Don Blake with something to hide. Arthur Kennedy makes the most of his limited role of the uncomplicated yet crafty husband Alan Palmer, unfortunately not crafty enough. Even Kristine Miller is good as Alan Palmer's sister, Kathy, who discovers more than she bargains for when she begins to investigate her brother's disappearance. The supporting cast gives its all in many small parts that shine, especially the young Denver Pyle as a hotshot womanizer at the terminal who thinks he has a pickup until he reads between the lines. With a better title, a bigger budget, and stronger promotion this neglected gem would surely be on every critic's list as one of the classic film noir flicks. As is, the noir fans may have problems tracking it down. It's worth the effort.

Ah, the old stereotype. Women are greedy gold diggers. They are so weak that they will kill for it. This was the most trite & hackneyed film I have seen in a while. I like noir films and I am used to the recurring, greedy/evil/amoral female characters. Sometimes they're even fun when they're shown being strong or challenging societal gender roles. Not in this case. Here she was shown almost as a victim to her weakness for money. She even whines about being "middle class poor". There was nothing to redeem this film & make it worth watching, no interesting characters, snappy dialogue, engaging costuming, not even the mise-en-scene or lighting interested me in any way. Even the "suspense"/mystery failed to grab me. I did watch through to the end just to see how it ended and to see if they explained where the money came from - but I just didn't care. Sometimes I watch a film that I didn't like but I still found it worth a watch - this is not the case it is a total waste of your time.

Lizabeth Scott sinks her teeth into the role of a ruthless woman in "Too Late for Tears," also known as "Killer Bait," a 1949 film directed by Byron Haskin and written by a man who later became a very popular TV writer-director and creator of some top series, Roy Huggins. The film also stars Dan Duryea, Don DeFore, and Arthur Kennedy. Scott plays Jane Palmer, the wife of Alan Palmer (Kennedy) - while driving one night, someone from another car throws a satchel into their car. It turns out to be $60,000 (the equivalent of $598,000 today). Alan doesn't want anything to do with it, preferring to take it to the police, but Jane wants to keep it and spend it. Finally she convinces him to hide the money and wait for a time. Jane, it turns out, is one tough cookie, and without giving much away, let's say that getting her hands on that money becomes her full time job, and she's determined that nothing and no one will stand in her way. Unfortunately for a few people, they stood in her way. Really terrific noir set in Hollywood, with Dan Duryea playing a sleaze, but actually less of a sleaze than Jane - he's more of an opportunist than evil; Don Defore is friendly and unassuming as a friend of Alan Palmer's, and Arthur Kennedy, one of the finest actors in film, is just plain wasted. Perhaps this was a film he had to do in order to fulfill a contract, or it was a loanout on trade - it was a waste. It's Scott's film, and with her husky voice, lovely smile and pouty lips, she's able to, at first anyway, hide a core of steel underneath. Very good. If you're a fan of film noir, see this one.

Made in 1949 this is one of those films that is a must for all noir fans. Do be warned though as this fell out of copyright some years ago and was widely duplicated – often very badly – but this is the restored version and is an absolute gem. Late one night a couple are driving to a party that is far from inviting when a slow car tosses a bag into their open top car. The bag is choc full f cash. The wife is Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott) and she decides that she is going to hang onto the cash – despite what her husband wants. So she decides to convince him to keep it. He is cut from a different cloth and it soon becomes apparent how far she will go to keep it. Now Lizabeth Scott is a show stealer here and that is even though everyone else is great too. She is so convincing as the manipulative and self centred vixen and I just loved it. As I said earlier watch out for poor copies or better still get the restored version. For those of you that love fashion, there are some timeless and elegant gowns on display here too and the men all wear zoot suits so you can't win 'em all. This is a must for all fans of the genre and one that has aged with style.

Wow--this was a really enjoyable film to watch. And while the plot at times was far from perfect (it seemed a bit overlong and occasionally the characters behaved unrealistically), the character played by Lizabeth Scott was so awful, so malevolent and so selfish that this is a truly standout Noir picture. This is the sort of dame who you just love to hate! I think she was even more awful and conniving than Eva Gardner in THE KILLERS--now that's a "bad girl"! Her performance made the picture. Sure, all the others were great as well, but she stood way out front in my mind. In fact, she was so unredeemingly awful, that Dan Duryea's character was actually afraid of her--and that says a lot because usually Duryea is the sleaziest and slickest character actor in the Noir films in which he appears!

This is a well-plotted movie with many twists and turns. Dan Duryea's role was a notch below the demonic type he usually played in noirs, but he carried it brilliantly, especially the drunk scene. His delivery of the "don't ever change, Tiger..." line alone was worth the price of admission. Arthur Kennedy and Don DeFore were more than competent, although I felt DeFore didn't fully extend himself, but I wouldn't go to the wall with that opinion. Kristine Miller didn't have that much screen time but made the most of it, although had a few flat scenes. Lizabeth Scott, in my opinion was pretty bad. The more tense the scene was the more low-keyed and withdrawn she seemed to become. It seemed that she didn't have any feeling for this character at all...one can only imagine what Joan Crawford would have done with the role. Having said all this, I am going to lay most of the defects at the feet of the director, Byron Haskin. While the characters of Duryea and Kennedy were well defined, the rest seemed to be struggling to find their respective levels. At the end of the movie, I felt like I had been cheated. In a lot of senses the movie is almost unique and should enjoy a larger noir status, but it is a classic case of having all the elements and not having them put in their proper places. My conclusion? Watch it, you'll enjoy it, but it could have been so much better.