Four Star Playhouse: The Squeeze, The Witness and The Hard Way
Screening on Film
Directed by Robert Aldrich.
US, 1953, 16mm, black & white, 60 min.
Print source: UCLA
US, 1953, 16mm, black & white, 60 min.
Print source: UCLA
Besides the two episodes starring Charles Boyer, Aldrich directed three episodes of Four Star Playhouse starring Dick Powell, who had by then thoroughly established his postwar persona as a wisecracking, tough-guy charmer, seen in all three shows here, especially the two written by Blake Edwards. Aldrich gives Powell a visual environment to match as he tries out film noir’s low-key lighting and chiaroscuro. Most fascinatingly, these episodes find Aldrich experimenting with camera movement, long takes and deep focus.
