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• Black Widow-A Film Noir In Color?

  • Bruce Reber
  • 1/28/13

  I totally agree with a previous reviewer. If "Black Widow" is supposed to be a film noir, then why is it in color? The term "film noir" means "dark film", and noir is the French word for black. Instead, it plays like a run-of-the mill suspense/murder mystery. "Black Widow" features a superb cast, i.e. Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, Ginger Rogers, Reginald Gardiner, George Raft etc., and it's OK for what it is - a murder mystery, but certainly no film noir. There's a process for colorizing black & white films; I wonder if there's one for doing the opposite: decolorizing films into black & white. I guess if I watched "Black Widow" on a now obsolete black & white TV it would look like a true film noir.

• Glossy Mystery

  • Heather
  • 1/27/13

  A fun bit of fluff typical of some of the overblown films Fox produced in the 50's. Good cast, none of whom really challenged by their roles. PLEASE tell Robert Osborne that it's Peggy Ann Garner, not Gardner, as he said repeatedly. There are many names mispronounced of late, as well as a bit of misinformation sometimes provided in his introductions.

• Black Widow

  • I_Fortuna
  • 12/27/12

  I enjoyed this film and gave it 4 stars. I had not seen it before as I recall. I don't know what more can be expected from Ginger and George with the script they were given. I think Ginger was fine and believable. I think their performances were fine although it seems someone's idealistic fantasy of Ginger was shattered by this film. Van Heflin was superb and I always love Reginald Gardiner. This movie is certainly worth watching at least once.

• Color film noir's are NOT noir's at all.

  • Steve S.
  • 8/27/09

  This film is simply a "who done it". Johnson's direction seems to be rushed and there is some miscasting. I would've liked to have seen Edward G. Robinson in the police detective's role in lieu of Raft. Van does a good job as always, but Rogers seems to be out of her league and Tierney struggles.

• Couldn't submit via error so tried this.

  • probist
  • 2/15/06

  Error in the brief Synopsis. Suspicion doesn't fall on Ginger Rogers and her husband isn't Van Heflin. Her husband is Brian (Reginald Garner) Heflins wife, Iris, is played by Gene Tierney. After it is found that Nancy (played by Peggy Garner) did not commit suiside but was murdered, suspicion does fall on Heflin's character.

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