Private Hell 36 (USA, 1954) 81 min B&W DIR: Don Siegel. PROD: Collier Young. SCR: Collier Young, Ida Lupino. MUSIC: Leith Stevens. DOP: Burnett Guffey. CAST: Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff, Dean Jagger, Dorothy Malone. (Olive Films)
In the early 1950s, actress Ida Lupino had started the independent company, The Filmakers, with her then-husband, writer-producer Collier Young. Under this banner, Ms. Lupino had directed a string of films that were unprecedented in their taboo subject matter (including Outrage and The Bigamist) and established her as a trailblazing female director. In addition to her own films as director, The Filmakers released several other pictures. Among these is the involving crime picture Private Hell 36, produced by Young, co-written by Lupino and Young, which is perhaps the finest feature made by Don Siegel prior to Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
Cop Cal Bruner (Steve Cochran) thwarts a nighttime drugstore robbery; one of the bills in the till is funny money from a counterfeit operation. He and his partner Jack Farnham (Howard Duff, Ida Lupino’s husband at the time) trace the note back to nightclub singer Lilli Marlowe (Ida Lupino), who reluctantly helps the cops track down who gave her the bill. The first half of this noir is engaging and unique, playing a variation on the Manhattan Melodrama in reverse, as the detectives backtrack to find the owner of the counterfeit money that has exchanged several hands. It is also fun to watch for the sardonic humour in Lupino and Young’s script. The policemen approach their daily routine with tongue in cheek, as they risk their lives for little pay and deal with people who disrespect them. Lilli responds to the investigation with nothing but sass; everyone seems to enjoy playing this mental game of power.
Then the narrative shifts once the police confront the counterfeiters. Bruner gets the idea to stash some of the loot so that he and his partner (who reluctantly goes along with the plan) can finally live the comfortable life that evades their slim paychecks. Still, this payola affects the men in different ways. Bruner turns into a brute, so much that even a tough dame like Lilli can’t take him; Farnham becomes paranoid and causes worry for his wife (Dorothy Malone).
This film noir about people who do the wrong things for the right reasons is more compelling in the first half, with its correct blend of dark humour, and Don Siegel’s lean, fast-paced direction. The latter half bogs down simply because we’ve seen this scenario a few too many times since, despite that we still care about its doomed characters.
Private Hell 36 is a gem with a great jazz score by Leith Stevens, crackling dialogue, terrific urban location work, and Siegel’s ability to make things move. Bravo to Olive Films for yet another worthy release from the vaults: the film noir connoisseur will definitely want this!
Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue 25.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.