Alias Nick Beal

Ray Milland is super fun to watch in this. He's not right for every role, but here he has to be a disconcerting mix of charming and dangerous and he does it well, a little bit hammy when it needs to be, but never further than the script requires. It's a silly premise on it's face, but except for the ending the film sells it well and that makes following its twists and turns a pleasure.

This is the quintessence of noir, a genre where an allegorical modern take on Faust is right at home, especially with the presence of an ace trifecta of lead actors. I mean, Milland was born to play the devil.

Nice atmospheric noir version of Faust. Ray Milland makes a good devil.

Noirvembro 2024 dia 29: Noir adaptado para o rádio. Fausto noir? Tá tendo. Acho que o que mais atrai aqui mesmo é a mistura de cinema fantástico com noir, nem sempre gosto do cinema do Farrow, mas esse aqui é excelente, tal como o Milland de Mefisto. Box Versátil Filme Noir Volume 19. Noirvembro 2024 https://boxd.it/A5BUq

Neat noir with a different twist, as it's a political, supernatural, Faustian noir that follows the broad outlines of the genre but with quite unusual details. Mitchell is cast perfectly, and Milland is calm, creepy, and effective playing the Faustian role. Though the film is fairly dark for the time, I kind of thought it would be more effective with a darker ending.

While not as good, this still made me feel like this was an anti-It's A Wonderful Life. The ending was a bit abrupt but this was a fun watch.

"Alias Nick Beal" spins a classic tale of power and its corrupting influence, with a devilish twist at the heart, brought to life by the adept Ray Milland. Despite the predictable path the story may take, there's a compelling pull to witness Nick's schemes.

Ray Milland, Alias Nick Beal (1949), turns-up like one of those 'conscience Devils' you'd see on your shoulders in cartoons, to help the career of DA Thomas Mitchell in a crooked way, which naturally comes back to bite him in the ass. The drama surrounding the political aspect was fairly ordinary, but whenever things would feel boring, Milland would appear like a glaring sinister Satan and things would pick-up again. Quite a lovely dark dynamic.

watched: 2017, 2024

Brilliantly atmospheric noir film, sparked by Milland's creepy, unnerving rendition of The Devil, and fine work by Totter as a 'gangster's moll' surrogate. Perhaps in an attempt to not upstage Milland, Mitchell is fairly subdued and seems to lack credibility as a well-connected politician, but the film remains gripping and enthralling throughout.