The Web (1947)

★ 7.1 1h 27m IMDb

A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.

The Web

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Cast

Ella Raines
Ella Raines as Noel Faraday Died 1988 · Snoqualmie Falls, Washington State, USA Ella Wallace Raines (August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress active from the early 1940s through the mid-1950s. Described as "sultry" and "mysterious", the green-eye...
Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien as Bob Regan Died 1985 · New York City, New York, USA Edmond O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. (1950). His many memorable films included The K...
William Bendix
William Bendix as Lt. Damico Died 1964 · New York City, New York, USA William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portrayin...
Vincent Price
Vincent Price as Andrew Colby Died 1993 · Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and performances in horror films. His career spanned other genres, including fi...
Maria Palmer
Maria Palmer as Martha Kroner Died 1981 · Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria] This lovely Austrian-born actress was born (in 1917) and raised in Vienna, performing as a child on stage and appearing in various productions for the renowned Max Reinhardt. Trained in dance, she was...
John Abbott
John Abbott as Charles Murdock Died 1996 · Stepney, London, England, UK John Albert Chamberlain Kefford was an English character actor professionally known as John Abbott. His memorable roles include the invalid Frederick Fairlie in the 1948 film The Woman in White and th...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Aug 23, 2015
I'm a lawyer not a bodyguard.

The Web is directed by Michael Gordon and collectively written by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser and Harry Kurnitz. It stars Edmond O'Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix and Vincent Price. Music is by Hans J. Salter and cinematography by Irving Glassberg.

A good and solid film noir from one of the golden years of the film making style. Plot pitches O'Brien as a small time lawyer, who after impressing crafty businessman Vincent Price with his commitment to his work, gets hired as a minder since Price is worried about an old associate who has apparently issued a death threat. Sure enough all is not as it seems and before long O'Brien finds himself under scrutiny for the death of the associate.

The writing isn't great as per the twists and turns, they are all signposted and lit up in bold letters, yet this is a small complaint because the fun is in the characterisations and the scripted dialogue. O'Brien has the quips and bravado, Raines the sexy smoulder and Price the weasel machinations. Bendix as a good cop is a little too out in the periphery of things to truly impact on the narrative in the way his fans would like, but his scenes with O'Brien are a joy and sparkle with prickly sarcasm, while Gordon and Glassberg bring the film noir style via the requisite amount of shadow play and camera tilts (love those slats and balustrades).

Nifty noir tech credits cosy up with a likable hero, a sassy femme, a slimy villain and big bad Billy Bendix = Score! 7/10

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