Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

colaya A film worth in its own right. Many echo and repeat a supposed "debt" to "Double Indemnity". Is "North By Northwest" a lesser film because of its "debt" to "39 Steps"? Is "Ran" because of its traces of "Kagemusha"? Etc. That's silly. "Pushover" is noir cinema in its own terms: the cop between badge and dough, a subtle femme fatale, a movie beautifully photographed among shadows at night, a dark urban tone, voyeurism (or is it just police duty?), criminal psychology of ambiguous characters, smart lines and great acting. 88 minutes that will get you for sure. Not to mention the anticipation to "Rear Window"!Or if you just want to know why Kim Novak would later perfectly fit in Hitchcock's "Vertigo", just watch it.

erich.sargeant I enjoyed the good performances from all the cast, though no surprises here from Fred MacMurray, in this late noir however the actors were all severely let down by the very flat direction of Richard Quine in what could have been a taut thriller instead of what we have here, than is a Double Indemnity wannabe. The film's atmosphere though is greatly helped with a redeeming feature - the weather and in particular the rain, the wet streets.I wonder if Hitchcock had seen this movie before casting Kim Novak in Vertigo? She moves through the movie like a somnambulist. It's worth pointing out the sweater she wears in early scenes which looks forward to the sweater girls that followed.

secondtake Pushover (1954)An early widescreen black and white film noir gem. It comes late in the noir cycle but it crackles with precision and sharp acting. Though the details of the plot differ, it is an obvious echo of "Double Indemnity" with the leading man, played again by Fred MacMurray, sucked into a risky plot for big money and alluring love. And of course things don't go as planned.MacMurray is an interesting choice in both films, because he really is more of an everyman than a noir type. Noir types are variable, I know, but you can range from Mitchum to Bogart to Dana Andrews to a whole bunch of minor actors who all have a kind of coolness or hardness to them, and you never see a regular fellow like MacMurray (the closest might be Mickey Rooney, of all people, in a neglected oddball noir, the 1950 "Quicksand"). MacMurray would later find his true calling as the dad in "My Three Sons" but when you see him in these early film roles there is something wrong and some perfect about his presence.I don't mean to neglect the femme fatale here, a young Kim Novak, in her first full role. She's terrific, really, a bit cool (which was her style) but more convincing, to me, than her more famous appearance across from Sinatra in "Man with the Golden Arm." Maybe it's partly how well matched she is as an actress to MacMurray, though if there is a flaw to the film , it might be the unlikeness of these two falling in love, even with $210,000 to persuade them. But love is love and who's to say? The two of them, often playing in separate scenes (talking on the phone, or MacMurray watching her through binoculars), make this a full blooded drama as well as a crime noir.The pace and editing of this movie, and the script and story, are perfect. It's easily the kind of film you could study for its structure, and for the writing, which isn't filled with noir doozies but with believable fast lines between two people looking to get through a growing debacle. It's a conventional structure, but its precision is comparable (for its precision) to "The Killing," that famous Stanley Kubrick film from 1956. And if it isn't as inventive, and if it lacks that amazing ending, "Pushover" is resilient because it is so reasonable. It could very well happen, and these relatively ordinary types (Novak being admired for her looks, but there are lots of lookers like her out there, especially gangster's girls) make it all the more compelling.The filming is great, Lester White not known in particular in the cinematography world but shot a whole slew of decent and unamazing westerns (as well as the Ida Lupino "Women's Prison" which has it moments). Little known director Richard Quine made lots of lightweight and comic fare (he worked a bit with both Blake Edwards and Mickey Rooney, then later with Jack Lemmon) and this might be his most serious 1950s film, in tone. It's certainly the kind that you can't look away for a second because it clips along without a lull for an hour and a half.

dougdoepke Really taut little thriller, with enough cat and mouse to satisfy fans of the old Tom and Jerry. Fred Mac Murray's cop starts out as a professional but ends up in a vortex of crime thanks to the compelling allure of the shapely Miss Novak. Good thing she's called on to do little more than stand around looking sexy, because her bad, breathy imitation of Marilyn M. in the opening garage scene had me reaching for the off button. I gather Columbia (read Harry Cohn) had high hopes of launching Novak's career with this role. Too bad she had to compete with a hundred other bosomy blonde Marilyn's for the honor. I like the seduction scene with its subtly unzipped zipper, about as far as the screen could go at that time. The plot wrinkles get pretty complicated at times, but the pace keeps moving nicely along. Then too, the final line presents a poignant slice of ironic insight.There's the inevitable comparison here with the thematically similar Double Idemnity, but then Novak is no Stanwyck and MacMurray is a ten dissipated years older. Still, this little suspenser needs no help from the past and can stand firmly on its own.