Noir's Hard Luck Ladies: Mary Astor

In masterpieces like THE MALTESE FALCON and ACT OF VIOLENCE she helped to form the image of women in film noir, but off screen her life was a struggle. Over at Criminal Element, check out my new post on the great Mary Astor. 

Noir's Hard Luck Ladies: Cleo Moore

This week I profile a new hard luck lady of noir, the lovely Cleo Moore. Though she was widely dismissed as just another Monroe clone, Moore had her own charms and is is well worth rediscovering. Check out my piece on her over at Criminal Element.

Whatever Happened to Carmen Sternwood?

I'm going to go ahead and say that most fans of Howard Hawks's THE BIG SLEEP will have, at one time or another, wondered about Martha Vickers. She plays the lethal nympho Carmen Sternwood, and she's so sexy and twisted, she nearly steals the film out from under Lauren Bacall. (In fact, the imbalance in their charisma was felt to be such a danger to the film--which was intended first and foremost as a Bogart/Bacall vehicle--that some weak Bacall scenes were cut and new ones that upped the sex-and-sarcasm were added.)

But whatever happened to Martha Vickers? Why didn't she become a star in her own right? I explore that question in a new essay over at Criminal Element.

Bad Blonde: The Hard Fall of Barbara Payton

For a hundred years, Hollywood has been a place where beautiful young women go to die. Few stories are as tragic as that of Barbara Payton--the blonde sphinx who made a handful of films (TRAPPED, KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE, BAD BLONDE) before she fell, and fell hard, from grace.

Check out my new essay on Payton over at Criminal Element.

The Tragedy of Peggie Castle

Check out my new essay over at Criminal Element on one of noir's most beautiful and talented hard luck ladies, Peggie Castle.

You can also read my full reviews of her films 99 River Street and I, the Jury.