The Spider | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert D. Webb |
Screenplay by | Scott Darling Jo Eisinger Irving Cummings Jr. |
Based on | play by Fulton Oursler Lowell Brentano |
Produced by | Ben Silvey |
Starring | Richard Conte Faye Marlowe Kurt Kreuger |
Cinematography | Glen MacWilliams |
Edited by | Norman Colbert |
Music by | David Buttolph |
Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 63 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Spider is a 1945 American crime film noir directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Richard Conte, Faye Marlowe, and Kurt Kreuger. [1]
A private detective is pursued by both police and a mysterious killer.
The film was based on a 1928 play which Fox had filmed in 1931. The project was announced in May 1945, and the original female star was meant to be Carole Landis alongside Conte. [2] [3]
The Los Angeles Times said it "was not without fair interest". [4]
Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Robert D. Webb directs a lackluster B-film noir from the play by Charles Fulton...The Spider was a poor remake of the 1931 film of the same title. It held very little suspense, and the plot was filled with gaping holes. But Richard Conte is a fine action actor, and gives this slight film noir story a little boost just by his presence." [5]
Edward Dmytryk was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for Crossfire (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their investigations during the McCarthy-era Red Scare. They all served time in prison for contempt of Congress. In 1951, however, Dmytryk testified to the HUAC and named individuals, including Arnold Manoff, whose careers were then destroyed for many years, to rehabilitate his own career. First hired again by independent producer Stanley Kramer in 1952, Dmytryk is likely best known for directing The Caine Mutiny (1954), a critical and commercial success. The second-highest-grossing film of the year, it was nominated for Best Picture and several other awards at the 1955 Oscars. Dmytryk was nominated for a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
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Nicholas Peter Conte, known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1939 through the 1970s, including I'll Cry Tomorrow, Ocean's 11, and The Godfather.
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