Too Late for Tears (1949)

Directed by

Byron Haskin

Genre

drama film, film noir

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 39m

Rated

R18+

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 97 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A woman finds a suitcase of stolen cash and decides to keep it. She lies and kills to hold onto the money, turning into a cold-blooded criminal.

noirishtensegrimcalculatingfast-pacedmorally darksuspensefulunsettling

What happens

Too Late for Tears is a 1949 American film noir starring Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, and Dan Duryea. Directed by Byron Haskin, its plot follows a ruthless woman who resorts to multiple murders in an attempt to retain a suitcase containing US$60,000 that does not belong to her. The screenplay was written by Roy Huggins, developed from a serial he wrote for The Saturday Evening Post. Arthur Kennedy, Kristine Miller, and Barry Kelley appear in support. Originally released by United Artists in the summer of 1949, the film was reissued under the alternate title Killer Bait in 1955. It received mixed reviews from critics. The film was a box-office bomb, and its financial failure resulted in the film's producer, Hunt Stromberg, filing bankruptcy. In the years since its release, it has been noted for featuring one of Scott's strongest performances, and her character one of the most vicious femmes fatales in film noir. Too Late for Tears has long been in the public domain and available in varying cuts. In 2015, the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Film Noir Foundation undertook extensive restoration of the film, combining elements sourced from France with additional material from the surviving 35 and 16 mm prints. The restored version of the film was released in 2016 on Blu-ray by Flicker Alley in the United States and Arrow Films in the United Kingdom. The film has developed a cult following in the years since its release. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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