THE DARK PAST (1948) | William Holden, Lee J. Cobb | NO ADS!

Full Moon Matinee presents THE DARK PAST (1948).
William Holden, Nina Foch, Lee J. Cobb, Adele Jergens.
A deranged killer (Holden) escapes prison and takes a psychiatrist’s family and their weekend guests hostage. But the doctor (Cobb) is unshaken, and he attempts to help the killer by deciphering a recurring nightmare that may be the cause of his crimes.
Film Noir. Crime Drama. Thriller.

Full Moon Matinee is a hosted presentation, bringing you NON-MONETIZED (NO ADS!) movies, in the style of late-night movies from the era of local TV programming.

Pour a drink...relax...and visit the vintage days of yesteryear: the B&W crime dramas, film noir, and mysteries from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

If you're looking for a world of gumshoes, wise guys, gorgeous dames, and dirty rats...kick back and enjoy!

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“Cool Vibes” (Intro Theme), “Bass Walker” (Opening Segment), “Deadly Roulette” (Intermission),
“I Knew A Guy” (Closing Segment).

Music Performed by Pedro Esparza :

[cynthiaburgoyne]

I’m so thrilled I found Full Moon Matinee. The quality of the movies are top notch and The Detectives’ commentary couldn’t be better. Thank you Mr Detective!

[fullmoonmatinee]

I loved the photography in that nightmare/dream sequence !

[Hiber-Nate]

This is my favourite movie I’ve seen on here so far and I really appreciated it as an aspiring psychologist

[stevecline]

Hello, Detective! Me again. Thank you so very much for posting.The Dark Past. Immediately, after watching it, I viewed the original version, Blind Alley which was another jewel among noir films. Concerning Ellen Corby, she had a very brief role in Jimmy Stewart’s It’s a Wonderful Life as Miss Davis. It was the bank panic scene and she asked George Bailey ( Jimmy) for $17.50. He reached through the tellers window and gave her a big kiss on the cheek, a scene that was completely improvised, impromptu, and not in the script. Again, many thanks for the movies ( or “pictures” in 1930s and 40s parlance ). As Bogart would have said, Here’s lookin’ at YOU, gumshoe !

[cg]

Ellen Corby also played the maid that discovered Tony Jardine's body in Brad Galt's apartment in The Dark Corner (1946). Once again, I learned something new and always look forward to your movie postings. Thanks, Full Moon Detective!

[SeoWizardry]

What can I say but big thanks. Watched every movie at least once. More :😎

[zennabella]

GOOD MOVIE, THANKS, VERY GOOD ACTING.

[nellwackwitz]

Hi Detective! I love your channel! I watched Blind Alley just now, since you mentioned that this was a remake of that picture. This is, by far, the better picture, but I found it interesting that this film reused the dream sequence and the memory sequence exactly from the earlier picture. Could we watch that one together sometime? I'd love to hear what you think of it, and you always have the best information! Thank you!

[Wisdom-Nuggets-Tid-Bits]

What a great movie. I have never heard of this one before - to my surprise. A fabulous story line, acting, cast, and set direction. By the way, I would LOVE to have that cabin/house in the great Northwest woods over a lake!! My dream retirement. I wish this were in color. Cobbs was great in this role and I could think of no one better - with perhaps the actor, Raymond Burr. I did not know the mob lady was Bifia in Ten Commandments. Awesome. And I knew the maid was Ellen Corby. I have seen her in a couple of 40s movies and she was always great. You need to check out one of my favorite Joan Crawford movies, Harriet Craig! Ellen Corby also played a weak maid in that one too. She was intimidated and bullied by the JC role of Harriet Craig. And Wendell Cory was the controlled suffering husband. Corby was a great actress. Thank you so much for introducing this great movie. For the time, this must have been so educational. It was during the mid to late 40s that mental health rose to importance in society. Lots of movies focused on schizophrenia - examples were Snake Pit and Possessed. Tragic ending for William Holden. Sad to hear that. Cheers.

[jamespetersen]

Thank you Mr. Detective.
I am a happy subscriber. I tip my hat until next time.😊

[sihingable]

Your work is greatly appreciated. I saw you drinking Celtic Symphony, the other day. I'll try it out.
Btw I'm working on two books....all noir!

[Germinator]

This one was on my list and I couldn't watch it until I saw Blind Alley...and I have to say the remake wasn't as good to me as the original...but enjoyed it any way.

[sarafstop]

The other maid was played by Kathryn Card, who played Mrs McGilicuddy, Lucy's mother on I Love Lucy.

[j.w.]

I own an Insert poster from Dark Past, so of course, I wanted to view it again. While I found it and Bill Holden's performance "adequate", I sometimes cant help wondering what the Master Auteur, Alfred Hitchcock could have done with this script and staging the climatic barroom scene...? The narrative trope of a childhood trauma / witnessing the murder of one's parent was used in his Marnie (63). The slightly forgotten Shadow on the Wall (50) with Ann Sothern as an accidental murderess, is another Noir that uses the device. The late 40s seems awash with Freudian psychological stories of traumatized protagonists, trying to remember / make sense of their repressed experiences, many of them WWII related.

[rockribbedrushy]

Two psychological noirs come to mind: Sniper with Arthur Franz and Suddenly with Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden.

[humbertosoto]

i give you a thump down for your comments. stay at home.

[johngilbertnxxs]

Good film, lots of depth, well-known actors, they didn't reinvent the wheel. Although psychological stuff was still a new horizon in this contextual noir.