trh's - Rented List

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The sign outside the roadside diner says "Man Wanted." Drifter Frank Chambers knows the sign has more than one meaning when he eyes pouty, luminous Cora, the much-younger bride of the diner's proprietor. Based on the same-titled novel by James M.

Cain (Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce), this quintessential film-noir classic combines studio-system gloss with Cain's hard-bitten tale of murderous attractions. John Garfield and Lana Turner give career-benchmark performances as Frank and Cora, illicit lovers who botch a first attempt to bump off Cora's hubby, pull it off, betray each other at trial and yet wriggle free. But their volatile tale does not end there. As the film's metaphorical title indicates, fate is sure to ring again.

Attorney Ned Racine's life coasts along in neutral - until he meets a siren in white (with a well-to-do husband) named Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). Ned (William Hurt) knows Matty's the kind of woman a man would kill to be with. So he does.

Al Roberts (Tom Neal) decides to hitchhike to California to follow his girlfriend Sue (Claudia Drake). After discovering one of the drivers who has given him a lift dead, Al assumes his identity for fear of being charged with his murder. This leads him into trouble and blackmail along the way.

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Lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is determined to bring down mob boss Mr Brown (Richard Conte), even if it means jeopardising his own career, but the feeling is mutual and the unscrupulous gangster is more than willing to operate outside the law to get his man.

The confrontation escalates, leading to some wince-inducing set-pieces involving such handy props as a radio and a hearing aid.