[Haven’t been around for a few months. I’ll look at the backlog of posts and maybe respond to a few things…]

Man in the Dark (1953) is one of the more minor Edmond O’Brien noirs, but has a few compensations. It was an early entry in the mid-Fifties 3D craze, and even viewed flat, there are a lot of objects amusingly popping out of the screen. (Another “effect” was Sepiatone, but existing prints don’t have the tinting.) It isn’t often mentioned as a Christmas noir, but that adds a little flavor.

The story has O’Brien as a convict slash guinea pig who is lobotomized of his vioent criminal tendencies, but also left with no memories, specifically of where he stashed $130,000 from a robbery. His old colleagues would naturally like to find that out, and too much of the brief 67-minute running time is spent on their kidnapping him, holding him hostage, thwarting his escape attempts, beating him up, and trying to provoke his recollections. Audrey Totter is around as a moll, but doesn’t get to do much.

Once we get outside the dull apartment set, there is some nice location footage, including a rooftop chase and a finale at Santa Monica’s photogenic Ocean Park Pier (which also figures in Woman on the Run, Hot Cars, and the 1951 version of M). The roller coaster sequence has some nice shots, but is disfigured by process work. O’Brien’s stunt double is very busy in these action scenes.

Without giving too much away, the retrieval of the money is by far my favorite bit in the movie: It seems very real somehow. The dream sequences aren’t bad. The oily, borderline-nasty insurance investigator played by Dan Riss is an interesting characterization, but not enough is done with him.

So overall, a lesser effort, but certainly worth a watch.