Popular reviews

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  Review by theironcupcake ★★★½ 13

  "If he dies, I promise you one thing: I'll kill you."

  Noirvember #5

  This is 100% the most relatable role that Barbara Stanwyck ever played, in that I too would strongly consider leaving Barry Sullivan trapped under fallen timber on a beach at high tide if it meant I could run off into an abandoned shack with hunky escaped murderer Ralph Meeker (who grunts such declarations as "I like cheap perfume; it don't last as long, but it hits harder") instead. Always know your priorities!

  In other news, my list announcing November's Curated Cupcake Cinema (thanks again for the name, Amy) has been published. For anyone who's curious, do come along for the ride! It's been many years since whenever…

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  Review by noir1946 ★★★½

  For those of us in the cult of Missy, Jeopardy is an essential watch. Although not technically a B-movie, as an MGM production with a major movie star, a Dimitri Tiomkin score, and cinematography by Victor Milner (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The Furies), it has a pulpy plot and runs only 69 minutes. But Barbara Stanwyck is an old pro and doesn’t condescend to the material. In fact, she transcends it.

  “I like smart women. They got cat in ‘em.”

  The plot—husband trapped by piling, water rising, killer on the loose, flat tires, running in high heels—calls for hysterical behavior on the part of our heroine. But though Missy’s Helen Stilwin gets excited and frustrated at times, she…

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  Review by Kerry Maxwell ★★★½

  Barbara Stanwyck has often wondered what she'd do if she was in a situation where sex with an escaped convict would prevent her husband from drowning, and in this tense and effective 69 minute thriller, we find out.

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  Review by Gentry ★★★ 1

  “I hated that jetty the moment I saw it.”

  Jeopardy offers Stanwyck physical action which she brings off in style: bouncing along a dusty road in an uncomfortable car, smashing windows, battling Meeker, and struggling with ropes, timbers and a vicious sea as they race to save the drowning Sullivan. But the sense of contained power shows best in her psychological action. When she realizes that only through seduction will she get Meeker to help her, she changes completely. She looks and talks and handles her body differently from that instant. The way she smokes cigarettes, leans against the wall of a crumbling shack or back over the side of a car—challenging him to take her—is as overwhelming as it…

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  Review by sakana1 ★★★½ 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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  Review by HeWhoCanDigIt ★★★

  Vacation noir that turns into survival noir. At a sunny Mexican beach Doug gets stuck under a piece of piling with the tide coming in, his wife gets snatched by an escaped convict while trying to get help. Sounds exciting. And it is at times. Especially the kidnap.

  The situation at the seaside, not so. They have a son, Bobby, and he stays with dad. Granted, I've seen worse, but it's still a movie kid, if you know what I mean. On the other hand, Ralph Meeker is great as the ruthless criminal who doesn't give a rat's ass about Helen's family problems. Not all of his decisions and actions make sense though. The most interesting aspect of this noir,…

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  Review by Robert Daniels ★★★★ 1

  Bobby: “This is all my fault.”

  Me: You’re probably right, Bobby.

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  Review by AnonymousAndy ★★★★ 2

  The tide is rising and so is the tension! After an idyllic day spent cruising the coast of Mexico, a small family is put to the test when the husband/father accidentally gets pinned below the wreckage of a rotting jetty. When his wife goes for help, she gets caught up in a whole other plot with an escaped fugitive who just so happens to be her only lifeline. Can she lure this criminal to shore in time to save her husband, or will it be too little too late, with the day ending in a literal wash?

  In a clip from a recent episode of Conan O'Brien's podcast, Barry star/co-creator Bill Hader recounts an evening in which he was watching…

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  Review by sarah 3

  There's a whole other film inside these anxious 60 minutes with just Barbara Stanwyck and Ralph Meeker. They barely have 30 minutes of screen time together but the chemistry is so palpable. (Yeah he's a criminal but he's innovative at least!!) Apologies to Barry Sullivan who is trapped under a pier with the tide rolling in for the majority of this movie.

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  Review by William Hellfire ★★★★★ 1

  Yeah son, that coffee is um very unique tasting.

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  Review by Pippin ★★★ 3

  I was so irritated when Helen (played by Barbara Stanwyck) was offering to drive for help, and then both her son and husband call her a bad driver. I thought to myself, "This woman is rushing to help you and you want to insult her right now?" And then when it cuts to Helen driving so erratically and terribly I thought, "Well maybe she is a bad driver...."

  Jeopardy is a movie that is pretty mediocre but elevates the audience's experience by taking itself so seriously it's no longer so serious (I'm aware this doesn't make much sense) and the casting of Stanwyck. In my "Barbara Stanwyck journey" I've found that even the worst of her films are made better…

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  Review by 🥀 e m m é 🇵🇸 ★★★ 3

  The electric chemistry between Barbara Stanwyck and Ralph Meeker truly shocked me? It was worth the Barry Sullivan, which almost nothing ever is. Much to think about!