Road House

The only film noir set in a bowling alley, Jean Negulesco’s Road House is the story of jealousy becoming psychopathy. Fresh off his debut psychotic role in Kiss of Death, Richard Widmark plays Jefty Robbins, owner of a road house (and attached bowling alley) which his childhood pal Pete Morgan (a buff-looking Cornel Wilde) manages for him. When Jefty hires a new singer from Chicago named Lily Stevens (Ida Lupino), he takes an immediate romantic interest in her and begins planning his proposal, including registering for a marriage license. Lily develops feelings too, but hers are directed at Pete, who is initially reluctant out of devotion to Jefty, but soon the attraction is out of his control. When Jefty learns of Pete’s and Lily’s marriage plans, all hell breaks loose, including fistfights, gunfights, court cases, and murder. Celeste Holm plays eternally disappointed cashier Susie Smith who has always had a crush on Pete but ends up helping him escape with Lily. For the final act at Jefty’s hunting cabin close to the Canadian border, Negulesco’s penchant for expressionism comes especially alive, the final pursuit through the studio-bound forest beautifully shot and edited.