Too Late for Tears (1949)

good back-story, and good acting

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The title might suggest a weepie of sorts but "Too Late for Tears" is a film noir and a fairly mediocre one at that. It's actually got a very good story (by Roy Huggins from his 'Saturday Evening Post' serial), but the treatment is poor. Lizabeth Scott is the greedy femme fatale who will stop at nothing, including murder, to hold onto the bag of money that lands in her lap, or at least in her car. Scott was never much of an actress and she's terrible here. As the blackmailer whose money she steals Dan Duryea is his usual excellent self and there's a nice supporting turn from Arthur Kennedy as Scott's sap of her husband. As I said it's got a decent enough story but director Byron Haskin wasn't the man to do anything with it and it just limps along to its rather torturous conclusion.

A true film noir and a very exciting watch. Super casting, thrilling story. Lizabeth Scott in one of her best performances. Well worth watching if you love a good crime drama.Jane Palmer (Lizabeth Scott) and her husband Danny Fuller (Dan Duryea) are an average couple that has gone out one evening. While driving along in their convertible, a suitcase is hurled into their backseat and next they find themselves being chased. Once the car chase is over and they are safe they realize they have $60,000 in their possession and must figure out what to do with it. Jane's true colors starts shining as she refuses to give the money to the police and tell them what happened - Jane is willing to murder if it means she can keep the money.8.5/10

When a woman in a movie can make a dastardly Dan Duryea character seem like a nice guy, you know you 've got one tough cookie. In "Too Late for Tears," Lizabeth Scott has such a role. She plays Jane Palmer and Duryea plays Danny Fuller. Danny is a shady character who's obviously been on the outs with the law much of his life. Jane is the most ruthless character he's ever come across. Her cold, calculating way of bumping off people even leaves him shaky and suspicious of her. Of course, he has good reason to be. This crime-thriller doesn't quite fit the definition of film noir – it's too well lit and out in the open. But, the dark, sinister and downbeat side otherwise qualify it for that designation. It has some first rate actors – besides Duryea, Arthur Kennedy and Don DeFore in the male lineup, and Kristine Miller on the female side. This was the last film that Hunt Stromberg produced in a 30-year career that had some smash hits. He was a versatile producer, director and writer. Stromberg started in silent films and later made musicals, dramas, mysteries, Westerns, comedies and adventure movies. Among his better known works were the Thin Man series, "The Great Ziegfeld," "The Firefly," "Maytime," "Night Must Fall," "Ah, Wilderness," the 1940 "Pride and Prejudice" with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, and "Wife vs Secretary."According to the IMDb trivia notes, Lizabeth Scott liked this film best of her career. She lived to be 92 but only made a little over 30 films, retiring in her 40s to work in real estate and other ventures. Scott plays a somewhat deranged Jane very well in this film. But, aside from her strange eeriness, she seemed quite wooden in this role. So too, did Kristine Miller in her role. DeFore's character, Don Blake, also seemed a bit wooden at times. The film apparently lacked in direction, editing and other technical aspects. This isn't a mystery movie, but a crime film in which the audience knows "whodunit." Yet there is some suspense about what Jane might do next – or whom she will next bump off. The ending follows a trend of the time for these potboiler type of crime films. The culprit meets her demise by an accidental fall. So, the audience doesn't get to see the bad guy --- gal, in this instance, get her just rewards in the end.

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.