Too Late for Tears
Encyclopedia
Too Late for Tears is a 1949 black-and-white
film noir
directed by Byron Haskin
and starring Lizabeth Scott
and Dan Duryea
. The screenplay was written by Roy Huggins
, drawn from a serial he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. The film was reissued as Killer Bait in 1955. Too Late for Tears has been in the public domain
for years but there are sundry edits and running times.
Alan and Jane Palmer (Kennedy and Scott) are driving to a party in the Hollywood Hills
one evening when someone in another car throws a suitcase stuffed with cash into the back seat of their convertible
. They are chased by yet another car for a short time but get away. Back at their (quite respectable) Hollywood apartment they find $60,000 inside the suitcase. Jane wants to keep the money, but Alan wants to take it to the police and stashes the cash in a locker at Union Station
, hoping he can sway her into willingly giving the money to the police. A few days later while Alan is at work Danny (Duryea) shows up at their apartment, tells Jane he is a detective and quickly learns she has the money and has already begun spending it. Her husband Alan likewise becomes upset when he finds she has been running up bills, clearly planning to spend their new-found, ill-gotten wealth. With her heart steadfastly set on keeping the money, she makes a deal with Danny to split the money. Hoping to kill him, she lures Danny up into the hills but he doesn't trust her and flees. She later asks a now wary Danny to meet her in the evening at Westlake Park
near downtown Los Angeles
, where she and her husband Alan take a romantic boat ride. Jane has planned to kill her husband Alan in the boat but is stopped by a pang of guilt and begs him to take her to shore, then blurts out that she wants to send the claim check for the locker to the police. Unaware of why his wife is upset, Alan wants to carry on with the boat ride. Hoping to find cigarettes, he picks up her bag and his own gun falls out. The startled look on his face tells Jane he knows straight off what she had in mind, she fearfully grabs the gun, they struggle and she shoots, killing him. When Danny sees the body he doesn't like the notion of being tangled up in a murder, but Jane threatens to tell the police he killed her husband unless he helps her. As she planned earlier, after dumping the body in the lake they leave the park together so as to mislead witnesses into thinking she left with her husband, whom she later reports as missing.
Don Blake (DeFore) claims to be an old army buddy of Alan's and in Los Angeles by happenstance. Whilst looking into what happened to Alan, Don falls in love with Alan's younger sister Kathy, who lives in the same apartment building and has growing worries about Jane. Jane finds out that Don never knew Alan and hits him over the head with a pistol. Having gotten the cash out of the locker at Union Station, she meets a wholly drunken Danny at his apartment and says she needs him to help her run away. Danny tells Jane he knows he still can't trust her, but that he has fallen in love with her and that money was a "once in a lifetime" blackmail payoff from an insurance scam. She kills him with a poisoned drink. After finding Danny's body, the Los Angeles police tell Don that if he wants them to drain the small lake at Westlake Park in search of Jane's missing husband, he must pay thousands of dollars. Meanwhile Jane flees with all the money to Mexico City
, where Don finds her living in a lavish, streamline moderne
hotel penthouse
. Thinking he is either after the money or with the police, Jane pleads with him to take half. Don tells her he is the brother of Jane's earlier, first husband Bob Blanchard and that he now understands how she could have driven him into killing himself. As Mexican police detectives rush into the room she quickly backs away in tears onto a balcony, then screams as she falls over the railing to her death.
Both Scott and Duryea appeared in many films noir during this era, however they did but one other film together, the western Silver Lode (1954).
wrote positively of the film, writing, "If proof be needed at this point that money is the root of all evil—a theme, incidentally, which has been the root of more than one motion picture—then Too Late for Tears, which came to the Mayfair on Saturday, is proof positive. For producer Hunt Stromberg, director Byron Haskin and scenarist Roy Huggins, who adapted his own Saturday Evening Post serial, herein have fashioned an effective melodramatic elaboration of that theme. Despite an involved plot and an occasional overabundance of palaver, not all of which is bright, this yarn about a cash-hungry dame who doesn't let men or conscience stand in her way, is an adult and generally suspenseful adventure."
Most recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz also wrote a favorable review, writing, "Byron Haskin's low-budget film noir makes good use of its Los Angeles locale and its lady bluebeard is fun to watch as she does her nasty gun thing with her nice guy hubby and rotten poison thing with her boyfriend (she took care of her first hubby off camera, so we're not sure how he got it!)...Though a minor film noir, it relates to the ambitions the middle-class had during the postwar period to better their life materially and socially. Jane's drive for wealth was so extreme that she will not stop at murder to rise above her impoverished middle-class circumstances, and her warped character is used to show how money can't buy one happiness. The husky-voiced winsome smiling Lizabeth Scott turns in a finely tuned performance as the femme fatale
; while Dan Duryea is in his element as the alcoholic weak-kneed cad, who shows he doesn't have as much stomach for his criminal mischief as does his lady accomplice."
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by Byron Haskin
Byron Haskin
Byron Conrad Haskin was an American film and television director. He was born in Portland, Oregon.He is remembered today for directing 1953's The War of the Worlds, one of many films where he teamed with producer George Pal. In his early career, he was a special effects artist, with a number of...
and starring Lizabeth Scott
Lizabeth Scott
Lizabeth Scott is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.-Early life:She was born Emma Matzo in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine...
and Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society...
. The screenplay was written by Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins
Roy Huggins was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including Maverick, The Fugitive, and The Rockford Files....
, drawn from a serial he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. The film was reissued as Killer Bait in 1955. Too Late for Tears has been in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
for years but there are sundry edits and running times.
Plot
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
one evening when someone in another car throws a suitcase stuffed with cash into the back seat of their convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
. They are chased by yet another car for a short time but get away. Back at their (quite respectable) Hollywood apartment they find $60,000 inside the suitcase. Jane wants to keep the money, but Alan wants to take it to the police and stashes the cash in a locker at Union Station
Union Station (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California. The station has rail services by Amtrak and Amtrak California and Metrolink; light rail/subways are the Metro Rail Red Line, Purple Line, Gold Line. Bus rapid transport runs on the Silver Line...
, hoping he can sway her into willingly giving the money to the police. A few days later while Alan is at work Danny (Duryea) shows up at their apartment, tells Jane he is a detective and quickly learns she has the money and has already begun spending it. Her husband Alan likewise becomes upset when he finds she has been running up bills, clearly planning to spend their new-found, ill-gotten wealth. With her heart steadfastly set on keeping the money, she makes a deal with Danny to split the money. Hoping to kill him, she lures Danny up into the hills but he doesn't trust her and flees. She later asks a now wary Danny to meet her in the evening at Westlake Park
MacArthur Park
MacArthur Park is a park in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, named after General Douglas MacArthur and designated city of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument #100.- Geography :...
near downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she and her husband Alan take a romantic boat ride. Jane has planned to kill her husband Alan in the boat but is stopped by a pang of guilt and begs him to take her to shore, then blurts out that she wants to send the claim check for the locker to the police. Unaware of why his wife is upset, Alan wants to carry on with the boat ride. Hoping to find cigarettes, he picks up her bag and his own gun falls out. The startled look on his face tells Jane he knows straight off what she had in mind, she fearfully grabs the gun, they struggle and she shoots, killing him. When Danny sees the body he doesn't like the notion of being tangled up in a murder, but Jane threatens to tell the police he killed her husband unless he helps her. As she planned earlier, after dumping the body in the lake they leave the park together so as to mislead witnesses into thinking she left with her husband, whom she later reports as missing.
Don Blake (DeFore) claims to be an old army buddy of Alan's and in Los Angeles by happenstance. Whilst looking into what happened to Alan, Don falls in love with Alan's younger sister Kathy, who lives in the same apartment building and has growing worries about Jane. Jane finds out that Don never knew Alan and hits him over the head with a pistol. Having gotten the cash out of the locker at Union Station, she meets a wholly drunken Danny at his apartment and says she needs him to help her run away. Danny tells Jane he knows he still can't trust her, but that he has fallen in love with her and that money was a "once in a lifetime" blackmail payoff from an insurance scam. She kills him with a poisoned drink. After finding Danny's body, the Los Angeles police tell Don that if he wants them to drain the small lake at Westlake Park in search of Jane's missing husband, he must pay thousands of dollars. Meanwhile Jane flees with all the money to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, where Don finds her living in a lavish, streamline moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
hotel penthouse
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
. Thinking he is either after the money or with the police, Jane pleads with him to take half. Don tells her he is the brother of Jane's earlier, first husband Bob Blanchard and that he now understands how she could have driven him into killing himself. As Mexican police detectives rush into the room she quickly backs away in tears onto a balcony, then screams as she falls over the railing to her death.
Cast
- Lizabeth ScottLizabeth ScottLizabeth Scott is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.-Early life:She was born Emma Matzo in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine...
as Jane Palmer - Don DeForeDon DeForeDonald John DeFore was an American actor who played "the regular guy" and "the good, ol' boy next door" in many films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Life and career:...
as Don Blake/Blanchard - Dan DuryeaDan DuryeaDan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society...
as Danny Fuller - Arthur KennedyArthur Kennedy (actor)Arthur Kennedy was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage" especially in the original casts of Arthur Miller plays on Broadway.- Early life and education :Kennedy was born John...
as Alan Palmer - Kristine MillerKristine MillerKristine Miller is an American actress who appeared in various supporting roles throughout the 1940s to the early 1960s.-Early life:...
as Kathy Palmer - Barry KelleyBarry KelleyBarry Kelley was an actor on Broadway in the 1930s and '40s and in movies during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. The heavy-set actor created the role of Ike in Oklahoma! on Broadway....
as Lt. Breach
Both Scott and Duryea appeared in many films noir during this era, however they did but one other film together, the western Silver Lode (1954).
Reception
When the film was released The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote positively of the film, writing, "If proof be needed at this point that money is the root of all evil—a theme, incidentally, which has been the root of more than one motion picture—then Too Late for Tears, which came to the Mayfair on Saturday, is proof positive. For producer Hunt Stromberg, director Byron Haskin and scenarist Roy Huggins, who adapted his own Saturday Evening Post serial, herein have fashioned an effective melodramatic elaboration of that theme. Despite an involved plot and an occasional overabundance of palaver, not all of which is bright, this yarn about a cash-hungry dame who doesn't let men or conscience stand in her way, is an adult and generally suspenseful adventure."
Most recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz also wrote a favorable review, writing, "Byron Haskin's low-budget film noir makes good use of its Los Angeles locale and its lady bluebeard is fun to watch as she does her nasty gun thing with her nice guy hubby and rotten poison thing with her boyfriend (she took care of her first hubby off camera, so we're not sure how he got it!)...Though a minor film noir, it relates to the ambitions the middle-class had during the postwar period to better their life materially and socially. Jane's drive for wealth was so extreme that she will not stop at murder to rise above her impoverished middle-class circumstances, and her warped character is used to show how money can't buy one happiness. The husky-voiced winsome smiling Lizabeth Scott turns in a finely tuned performance as the femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
; while Dan Duryea is in his element as the alcoholic weak-kneed cad, who shows he doesn't have as much stomach for his criminal mischief as does his lady accomplice."
External links
- Too Late For Tears film at You Tube (complete)