Essentially this one of those whodunits where we're pretty sure who the criminal is early on, so the suspense arises from "will the detective catch him, and how". And the suspense is indeed well maintained by a top-notch cast.
The motive is also clear from the very start. Trivia: in the original novel, the motive was gay-bashing, but the producers felt -- likely correctly -- that America was not ready for that much controversy, and changed the issue to post-war anti-semitism.
It takes special expertise to maintain tension in this type of thriller, where killer and motive are essentially known from the beginning. Credit goes not just to the fine cast, and of of course the direction, but also to the exploration and believability of some of the minor characters such as "Miss Lewis (Marlo Dwyer).
I'd like to pick this opportunity to ride one of my hobbyhorses, the importance and uniqueness of Black-&-White filming. I won't say the film could not have been made in color, but it would have been a very different movie. As for colorizing, I shudder to think how much of the director's and cameraman's vision would have been lost. The B&W ambiance perfectly complements the seedy neighborhoods and the darkness of the plot. Now we're not talking a movie famous for its B&W symbolic effects (such as The Spiral Staircase or early Hitchcock). This really is just a B movie (though a good one) and the cinematographer makes his effects (what the Italians call by that wonderful word chiaroscuro) almost as a throw-away or matter of course. Watch the last minutes of the movie, the effects made by the shadows on the staircase, and ask yourself how that could possibly have been filmed in color? Watch this movie, not for its dated aspects, but the fine craftmanship and acting that truly make it work and raise it above the average.
The motive is also clear from the very start. Trivia: in the original novel, the motive was gay-bashing, but the producers felt -- likely correctly -- that America was not ready for that much controversy, and changed the issue to post-war anti-semitism.
It takes special expertise to maintain tension in this type of thriller, where killer and motive are essentially known from the beginning. Credit goes not just to the fine cast, and of of course the direction, but also to the exploration and believability of some of the minor characters such as "Miss Lewis (Marlo Dwyer).
I'd like to pick this opportunity to ride one of my hobbyhorses, the importance and uniqueness of Black-&-White filming. I won't say the film could not have been made in color, but it would have been a very different movie. As for colorizing, I shudder to think how much of the director's and cameraman's vision would have been lost. The B&W ambiance perfectly complements the seedy neighborhoods and the darkness of the plot. Now we're not talking a movie famous for its B&W symbolic effects (such as The Spiral Staircase or early Hitchcock). This really is just a B movie (though a good one) and the cinematographer makes his effects (what the Italians call by that wonderful word chiaroscuro) almost as a throw-away or matter of course. Watch the last minutes of the movie, the effects made by the shadows on the staircase, and ask yourself how that could possibly have been filmed in color? Watch this movie, not for its dated aspects, but the fine craftmanship and acting that truly make it work and raise it above the average.