The Flame (1947)
The Flame (1947)
„The Flame“ is a 1947 film noir crime drama filim directed by John H. Auer. The screenplay by Lawrence Kimble is based on a story by Robert T. Shannon.
After George MacAllister enters a Long Island apartment and murders a man, he turns to leave, but is shot by the dying man. Fatally wounded, George returns to his apartment, where he phones the police and confesses to the killing. He then opens a letter from his sweetheart, Carlotta Duval, which takes him back to the day he convinced her to marry his billionaire brother Barry MacAllister, who has a terminal disease.
Despite his Aunt Margaret’s objections, Barry had proposed to Carlotta. Later, Barry asks George what happened to the $10,000 he had given him to find the woman he loved in Paris, the nurse who had tended him after he was wounded in the war. Barry is unaware that the woman was actually Carlotta, and George admits he gambled the money away.
Outside his apartment building, when George meets a man named Ernie Hicks, Ernie asks him to go see his sweetheart, Helen Anderson, who dances at a nearby nightclub. After her act, Helen joins them for dinner, and later meets George at his apartment, where they kiss.
Meanwhile, Barry gives Carlotta a bracelet and explains about the money he had given George, which causes Carlotta to think differently about both men. At George’s apartment, Carlotta says she no longer loves him and returns home to Barry. Moments later, Ernie arrives, angry about Helene, to blackmail George, after learning that he is having an affair with the wife of a wealthy man.
Helene again visits George’s apartment, where she breaks the frame holding Carlotta’s picture. She then goes to Carlotta to explain her involvement with George. The next day, George visits Barry’s mansion for a Christmas and asks Carlotta to leave with him, but she refuses. That night, after the rest of the guests have left, Carlotta finds George drinking downstairs. She asks for his gun, afraid that he will try to kill Barry, but he leaves.
The next morning, Carlotta leaves the house to save Barry. She goes to a church to ask for forgiveness when Barry’s physician, Dr. Mitchell, comes in. He decides to prescribe a long sea voyage for both of them in order to protect them from George. Carlotta returns to the house and rips up the note she had left for him. They prepare for their voyage, and Barry decides to visit George to say good-bye, so Carlotta writes George a letter begging him not to kill Barry.
At George’s apartment, while he waits for police, his servant, Chang, brings in the homicide detective. The detective asks George why he committed the murder he reported, and he explains that he shot Ernie after he threatened to go directly to Carlotta and Barry. As George dies from his gunshot wound, Barry and Carlotta, receive a telegram from him wishing them „bon voyage“ and set sail on the S. S. Queen Elizabeth II.
Cast:
- John Carroll – George MacAllister
- Vera Ralston – Carlotta Duval
- Robert Paige – Barry MacAllister
- Broderick Crawford – Ernie Hicks
- Henry Travers – Dr. Mitchell
- Blanche Yurka – Aunt Margaret
- Constance Dowling – Helen Anderson
- Hattie McDaniel – Celia
- Victor Sen Yung – Chang
- Harry Cheshire – The Minister
- John Miljan – Detective
- Garry Owen – Detective
- Eddie Dunn – Police Officer
- Roland Dupree – Bellboy
- Howard M. Mitchell – Doorman
- Martha Holliday – Hat Check Girl
- Jay Eaton – Hotel Guest
- Harold Miller – Hotel Guest
- Bess Flowers – Hotel lobby visitor
- Cyril Ring – Mr. Moffett
- Paul Power – Nightclub Patron
- Jeffrey Sayre – Nightclub Patron
- Ashley Cowan – Page Boy
- Harry Evans – Party Guest
- Rudy Germane – Party Guest
- Sam Harris – Party Guest
- King Lockwood – Party Guest
- Florence Wix – Party Guest
- Chuck Roberson – Policeman
- Vince Barnett – Stage Door Attendant
- Jeff Corey – Stranger
- Hal K. Dawson – Telegraph Clerk
- John Trebach – Waiter
- James Carlisle – Wedding Guest
- George Ford – Wedding Guest
- Kenneth Gibson – Wedding Guest
- Herschel Graham – Wedding Guest
- Shep Houghton – Wedding Guest
- Carl M. Leviness – Wedding Guest
- Edward Biby – Well-Wisher at Dock
- John Albright – Youth
„The Flame“ (dt. Die Flamme) ist ein 1947 gedrehter Film Noir-Kriminalfilm unter der Regie von John H. Auer. Das Drehbuch von Lawrence Kimble basiert auf einer Geschichte von Robert T. Shannon.
Nachdem George MacAllister eine Wohnung in Long Island betreten und einen Mann ermordet hat, wendet er sich zum Gehen, wird aber von dem Sterbenden erschossen. Tödlich verwundet kehrt George in seine Wohnung zurück, wo er die Polizei anruft und den Mord gesteht. Dann öffnet er einen Brief seiner Geliebten Carlotta Duval, der ihn an den Tag zurückversetzt, an dem er sie überredete, seinen Milliardärsbruder Barry MacAllister zu heiraten, der an einer unheilbaren Krankheit leidet.