1945's Gritty Noir Thriller Officially Takes Over Free Streaming

With Obsession and Backrooms having grossed a combined total of around $1 billion worldwide this year, now is the best time to revisit a movie that remains a blueprint for scrappy, low-budget productions more than eight decades after its release. The movie in question is also a shining example of what Hollywood’s “Poverty Row” was able to produce during World War II, when film noir had become the defining reflection of culture. The classic film is currently streaming for free on a brand-new platform, which gives audiences who haven’t yet experienced its charms a terrific opportunity to do so.

The film was released in 1945 and was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, who utilized every trick that he had learned to maximize his limited resources. Adding the classic to his “great movies” list, the late critic Roger Ebert praised Ulmer’s resourcefulness and wrote, “This movie from Hollywood’s poverty row, shot in six days, filled with technical errors and ham-handed narrative, starring a man who can only pout and a woman who can only sneer, should have faded from sight soon after it was released in 1945. And yet it lives on, haunting and creepy, an embodiment of the guilty soul of film noir.” Among the film’s other champions is Bill Hader, who described the film’s villain as “the single most treacherous femme fatale in movie history.”

Here's Where You Can Watch the "Poverty Row" Noir for Free