The last of the films in my UNIVERSAL NOIR #1 box-set, and it made me wonder what the selection process was: are they the best Universal had to offer? Are some choices mere padding?  Are some meant to be representative samples, rather than the best of? Are others illustration of genre outliers that help define the central corpus? Re-releasing these films on blu-ray gives them a new life so there’s something at stake in the choices.

Recounting plot:

I raise these questions because THE WEB is almost a quintessential programmer, a standard crime film in which a rich industrialist (Vincent Price) scams a million dollars, kills his associates and tries to frame his secretary (Ella Raines) and her soon to be boyfriend (Edmond O’Brien) for the murder, only to be foiled by a detective who’s much brighter than he looks (William Bendix). It’s got some snappy dialogue and an attractive, second-string cast, though only Vincent Price is given enough to shine with.

A shot:

Visually, there’s an attempt to bring some flair (a shot that begins with contrasting close-up of two pianists playing, then mirrored in a piano and descending onto the subjects in a night-club scene — see above) and there’s a lovely edit with the sound of a gunshot over-taken by a truck discharging pebbles but is otherwise undistinguished (see below).

A cut:

There’s not much suspense EITHER as a third of the way through, in a hypothetical, the villain gives away the plot (see first. clip at the very top). All that remains is to catch him with enough to indict. William Bendix, with what comes pretty close to a deux ex-machina, takes care of it. An enjoyable if unimpressive watch; and, of course, one does need a sense of the norm before discussing whatever is better or worse, so far from useless viewing.

José Arroyo