Friday Noir: Director de Toth balances the gritty with the stylistic in ‘Crime Wave’
Crime Wave
Directed and Andre de Toth
Screenplay by Crane Wilbur
U.S.A., 1954
Sometimes the merits of a film noir come down to how superbly directed and acted it is, simple as that. Truth be told, there are only so many variations of the same story which can be told within the genre for it to be considered as legitimately part of the club. In some ways, those are precisely the sources from which these films derive most of their strengths and memorable qualities. Noir is very much about style, which can be robustly dictated by smart direction and specific acting styles rather than by a script. That is not to say that a script is incapable of guiding the mood and shape of a story, but within noir, it is the former two ingredients which shine brightest more often than not. Director Andre de Toth, fondly remembered as quite a character within the Hollywood circle (an image aided, unfortunately, by an eye patch which covered a horrific scar he received by engaging in anti-Nazi demonstrations in Vienna in his youth) takes a simple, honestly quite predictable screenplay, and whips it into mesmerizing shape. The result: Crime Wave.
