OVER-EXPOSED (1956)

We meet Lila Krenshka (Cleo Moore) as she's being arrested with a bunch of other women employed by a bar to get men drunk and roll them for their money (or, let's be honest, being a hooker). She insists she's new in town and didn't know what she was getting into, haughtily dressing down one of the cops by saying, "I don't like being hustled by the fat hands of the law!" She's ordered to leave town on the next bus, and she begs photographer Max West not to publish her picture. He agrees, and finding out that she has an interest in photography, he hires her to pose for swimsuit pictures. Turns out Max is a good guy, and he is soon teaching her the basics of commercial photography. Eventually, he sends her off to New York City, renaming her Lila Crane, and gives her some equipment so she can start a career. In the city, she tries to get a job at the Allied News Service and fails, but also meets reporter Russ Bassett (Richard Crenna) who takes a liking to her, though she is rather prickly to him. While trying to get newsworthy shots at a huge building fire, Russ saves her when a wall almost falls on her, but she remains stand-offish. Lila gets a steady job as a "flash girl" at the Club Bamba, snapping pictures of guests having fun to sell to them. She moves up in the world to the Club Coco where she becomes friendly with society matron Mrs. Grange (Isobel Elsom) who used to pose for Max West. When Max, down on his luck, comes to visit, Lila hires him as an assistant. Russ proposes to Lila and asks her to become his photographer as he takes a new job covering Europe, but she wants to remain independent. But soon, Lila gets in over her head when she accidentally snaps an incriminating photo of a crime boss wanted for murder and winds up involved in blackmail and another murder.

Despite this movie being part of a Bad Girls of Film Noir DVD package, it's really just an urban crime melodrama, but noir fans will probably like it. Cleo Moore had a reputation as a sexpot lead in B-crime and noir films of the 1950s. She made one more movie and retired, and that was probably not a great loss to film history—she seemed capable but not much more, kind of a slightly older version of Mamie Van Doren—but she carries the film nicely. More interesting is the young Richard Crenna in his first leading role after coming to fame in the TV show (and movie) Our Miss Brooks. As Russ, he's good at balancing youthful enthusiasm, romantic yearning (which takes a long time for Lila to return), and clear-eyed practicality. He was 30 years old at the time, but the close-ups that reveal a mildly pock-marked face make him look even younger. Isobel Elsom, a frequent portrayer of society ladies, is good as Mrs. Grange. The nighttime urban setting does give this a film noir look, but thematically it's not a good noir fit, essentially being a damsel in distress (albeit a strong and independent damsel) crime movie. Despite some feminist feel concerning the importance of a career for Lila, the "happy" ending [Spoiler!] involves her giving it all up for Russ. I do love the fact that Lila's name is the same as the Vera Miles' character in Psycho. Pictured are Moore and Crenna. [TCM]