Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

MartinHafer "Big Town After Dark" is a decent B-movie from tiny Pine-Thomas, a company known for its mediocre and sub-par Bs. Fortunately, this is one of the better films they made.Steve (Phillip Reed) is the managing editor of a newspaper. His day is looking pretty glum when his star reporter, Lorelei (Hillary Brooke) announces she's quitting to become a literary writer. He's desperate to keep her there...but he has another problem to deal with...his boss wants him to hire the niece...and she has no experience at a newspaper. Then Steve gets an idea....use the boss' niece to try to keep Lorelei with the paper. Little did he know that this would NOT be a particularly good idea!This film has a lot of noir elements--the nasty bossman who runs the town and a local gambling den, folks getting the snot knocked out of them and murder! Well worth seeing and an interesting story once it got going.

mark.waltz What starts off as what seems to reporter Philip Reed's attempt to keep resigning reporter Hilary Brooke from leaving by bringing another female reporter on to take her place ends up being a complex crime drama about the goings on behind the scenes in a crooked gambling joint. Sweet Ann Gillis isn't quite whom she seems to be, bringing intrigue and danger into a newspaper office. The lighthearted banter of the first half becomes surprisingly overly complex as details surrounding Gilli's come to light and leads Reed down seriously dangerous trails in his efforts to expose the crooked ring. Almost as witty as the sardonic dialog between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday" ends up on the other side of the spectrum, giving this B entry into the brief "Big Town" series as close a resemblance to film noir as the series would get. It ain't bad, but a few head scratching moments may make you think that you ended up taking the wrong road off the detour.

Jay Raskin This was the first movie I watched in a DVD collection of 50 "Crime Classics" from Mill Creek that I found in Movie Stop for $6.99. At about 14 cents per movie, I thought it was a pretty good deal. I was glad to see that this was a good transfer and the black and white detail was sharp.This isn't quite film noir, but one can see a film noir influence. There are lots of night shots, characters who have psychological problems and a near femme fatale in Ann Gillis.This is a B movie with "C" sets and a "B" script. It moves well and has some unexpected and unusual twists. There's nothing to knock your socks off, but the dialogue is sharp enough to get you smiling here and there.Hillary Brook is her usual blonde ice self. She has an ephemeral presence, just floating through her scenes delivery her lines well, but without much thought or emotion.The story is gallant and savvy newspaper reporters battling crooks. Watch for a funny inside reference to the classic newspaper play "The Front Page" at the beginning.I understand from the reviews that there were three other Big Town movies. I am looking forward to seeing them, and looking forward to watching the 45 or so more movies in this collection that I haven't seen.

kidboots Ann Gillis was one of the many child actors who the studios thought would be another Shirley Temple. It didn't happen - there was only one Shirley and besides Ann wasn't really given much of a chance. Mostly her roles were uncredited bits but she came through as Becky Thatcher in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1938). She was just marvellous in it and was definitely the Becky that everyone remembers - especially in the "cave" scene. Unfortunately, after being mean to Gloria Jean in "The Underpup" (1939) it was back to bit parts and worse. "Big Town After Dark" (based on a popular radio series), the last film she made before her retirement at 20, may have given her her meatiest role since Becky.Lorelei Kilbourne, aka "Goldilocks" (Hilary Brooke) a reporter for the Illustrated Press, is handing in her notice - she has just had her first novel published and has another one in the works. The boss of the paper has a niece, Susan Peabody (Ann Gillis) who is just raring to get into the newspaper business and she is instantly given Goldie's old job as a crime reporter.She is not the innocent she makes out - she cleans out the office in a poker game and admits she learned how to play in the Winner's Club in Big Town. She is all for cleaning up the rackets and convinces the Editor, Wilson (Philip Reed) to run a crusade against them in his paper. With a couple of shady characters following her around, it looks as though she has connections to the local crime boss. (Just how close you find out in the last 10 minutes). When Wilson escorts her to the club, he gets into a fight, after accusing a woman of dealing from the bottom of the deck. Then Susan disappears - Wilson and Lorelei fear a kidnapping. Susan's father is then contacted to pay a ransom. Next thing Susan saunters in with a story of a stolen car and then having to spend the night at her girlfriends. A lot of things don't add up but Goldie and her pal Louie (Vince Barnett) are the only ones who are suspicious. "You're carrying a torch for that guy like the Statue of Liberty"!!! "Goldilocks" does some investigating on her own and finds out that Susan never worked for the Mercury as she claimed she did!!!Ann Gillis, looking just the same as in her Becky Thatcher days - only with an upswept hairdo, plays the petulant Susan petulantly. Obviously, Becky Thatcher was the one great role she had in her. The film could have done with a lot more of the beautiful and elegant Hilary Brooke, who just didn't have enough to do.Recommended.