LeonLouisRicci Sharply Photographed and at Times Brutal Study of a Psycho-Sexual Serial Killer with Freudian Aspects and Authoritarial Misunderstandings. Police and Politicians See it Through the Scope of Nothing More than a Criminal Needing Killed or Captured. The Psychiatrist sees it as Cure or Institutionalise and that is the Gist of this Fifties Attempt at a New Take, a Liberal Take, on Understanding Societies Misfits.This is a Stunning Movie in a lot of Ways. The Sprawling On Location City Landscapes, the Phallus Sexual Symbolism, the Powerful Murder Scenes, and in its Short 88 Minutes is a Mini-Masterpiece of Condensed Ideas and Contemplations.Arthur Franz is Outstanding as a Highly Disturbed Killer of Women, a Self Mutilator, and is so Mentally Disturbed He does Everything but Turn Himself In to Draw Attention to His Pain and Suffering. The Actresses in this Prescient Picture are Much Better than the Men.Adolphe Menjou is Miscast, Gerald Mohr is His Usual Forgettable Self, and Richard Kiley as the Doctor, again, Miscast. The Only Male Actor who is more than OK is the Title Role.Overall, a Movie Way Ahead of its Time, the Cinematography is Excellent, and the Script is Remarkable. A Must See for Fans of Film-Noir, Crime Dramas, and Psychological Studies. It is a Gripping Fifties Movie that is One of the Best Noirs of that Decade.Note...In the 1950's Film-Noir was changing and Police procedural and brightly lit daylight scenes were changing the look of Noir. It looked more luminous and illustrated a more conventional delivery for the Genre. But occasionally this did not hamper the Film-Noir aesthetic, but it undeniably made them look and seem different than their forties forerunners.

blanche-2 "The Sniper" is an unusual noir from director Edward Dmytryk in his first film after being on the blacklist. It's unusual in that it's the story of a man's violence against women - multiple women, and he's seen shooting them.Filmed in San Francisco, though the city isn't mentioned, the film stars Arthur Franz, a familiar face to TV audiences and a man who rarely had a lead in films -- in fact, this may be his only lead. Nevertheless, he does a compelling job as a disturbed man who wants to be stopped.The chase scene at the end is particularly good. Another familiar face, the wonderful Richard Kiley, plays a psychiatrist.Violence against women certainly became a big subject later on, but there wasn't much about it back in the'40s and '50s. There was, however, during and post-war, a good deal about the psychological trauma of returning soldiers. This is one of them, and it's excellent.

eleanor-rose-7 All of the reviews I have read say it well. It is an astoundingly well made movie.But the hair-raising part is that it so closely resembles the SON OF SAM shooting spree that it looks like the authors used the Son of Sam crimes as a model for the story.SPOILER ALERT---in order to show the similarities, I have to describe what happens in the movie as compared to the real life SoS happenings-- SPOILER starts HERE ---The two on-camera shootings happen with the bullets hitting and shattering glass---reminiscent of the auto windshields shattered by the .44 bulldog pistol.The fictional Sniper writes a note to the police, and Son of Sam is famous for the letters he wrote to the police and the media.Much is made both in "The Sniper" and SOS shootings, that the victims were all brunettes.The final victim in the movie is sitting with her boyfriend, just like the final victim in real life.In the final scenes, there is panic in the streets, as crowds gather to demand the sniper be killed. This looks like the scenes in New York when angry crowds screamed for Son of Sam's life. The real panic in New York, which happened over two decades later, is astoundingly portrayed by the man on the smokestack screaming for someone to pay attention.And, just as SoS was spooked by a dog, there is a scene where the fictional Sniper is spooked by an animal.And in the movie, as in SoS real life, the killer is apprehended without a fight. SPOILER ENDS HERE-----If this movie had been made yesterday, I would have thought the authors just took the SoS story, and adapted it to fiction. The fact that it was made over two decades before the SoS shootings, and so closely resembles them, is really breathtaking, and a trifle spooky. It is a really well-made movie, and actually wears its "age" very well. It does not seem like an "old" movie.

Michael_Elliott Sniper, The (1952) *** (out of 4) Edward Dmytryk directed this thriller about a psychotic maniac (Arthur Franz) who gets his kicks by killing women with a high powered rifle. This film wasn't a lost classic like I was hoping for but it's still a solid little movie that works best by breaking various codes, which were in place during the time of its release. The violence in the film is pretty graphic and there's no editing to take away the effect of the gunshots. Instead, the director shows this violence the way it would be seen in real life, minus the blood, to great effect. Another added bonus is that it's made clear that this guy is having sexual problems, which is leading to the murders. A serial killer had been featured in earlier films but the sexual thing was certainly something new. Franz is very good in his role as are supporting players Charles Lane, Richard Kiley, Adolphe Menjou and Marie Windsor. I think at times the film is a little too low key for its own good as it never really gets overly exciting but it still remains a solid little picture.