Yes, it's in black-and-white, and it has trenchcoats, guns, and fog. But you can put a tuxedo on a chimp and he still isn't James Bond.

One of the things I like about you is that you always have something good to say about everything, HPG.

Wow.

I agree with you that Ridges is excellent—he really does seem like two different people. But for me, the "what ifs" make it impossible to enjoy the movie. It NEEDS to be Bela as the mad doctor torturing Boris. The proper order of things is being violated.

Yes, also pie.

I wouldn't change a thing about him!

Psmith, the first great character created by P.G. Wodehouse.

"Liberty" in particular is jaw-dropping.

We are all trapped inside a satirical novel, and I personally want out.

The first sequence of this film, with Karloff coming to life, is the best sequence in all of 30s horror in my opinion. "He went for a little walk!" Beautifully done, and genuinely chilling.

This movie also has my favorite line in a Neo-noir, when Huston's Lily visits her injured son in the hospital.

"Get off the grift, Roy."
"Why?"
[Long drag and exhale of smoke]
"You haven't got the stomach for it."

I love that the movie has 2 femmes fatales: Angelica Huston and Annette Bening, both stunning and both doing the best work of their lives (here's another Noir masterpiece with the name Huston on it). John Cusack and Pat Hingle are also magnificent, and terrifying in very different ways.