Melodramatic voiceover? check
Crazed psychopathic killer? check
Montage of city lights? check
Well-endowed bottle-blondes? check check and grrrrrowwwwwwwllll!!!

Yes, this “Lost Noir” film hits many of the dots you’d expect from any of these hard-boiled tales, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Without Warning is certainly a film of its times in the best way possible.

The flick starts with a dramatic, voice-over intro that has all the subtlety of assless chaps:

“ …For it is a record of murder without reason, of fear and of terror, of a killer who strikes (dramatic pause) WITHOUT REASON!!!”

Isn’t that AWESOME!!?? Anyway, one of the first shots of the film starts off with a VERY tight, upside-down close-up of a now dead, nameless blonde; her lifeless eyes gazing at the viewer, and then we slowly pan up as a photographer dispassionately grabs the shot he needs with a jarring FLASH of a bulb. DAMN!!! That shot takes balls that would need two wheelbarrows to just get down the driveway to the mailbox. We’re talkin’ one for each testicle here! This subtle intro leads us to our main character, Carl or “He Who Wields Garden Shears” (Adam Williams). He’s a gardener with a meager life, a meager house and a lust for jabbing the blonde ladies with the big Ho-Ho’s in the back with gardening tools.

Now, Ol’ Stabby here isn’t the only character to which we are introduced. There’s Pete (Ed Binns), Don (Harlan Warde), and Charlie (Byron Kane). Yup. THE COPS! Even if the voiceover guy wasn’t popping up all the freakin’ time to remind us how “hard working” our purveyors of justice were, you’d still get a sense of pride when all three were in a room:

“Hey, Charile.”
“Hey, Pete. Don.”

Yeah, boyeeee. COPS!!! Cops with witty cop repartee, and no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase cop attitudes. Not only are they cops, but they’re investigative types, so they spend much of their time… wait for it… IN CHARLIE’S LAB!!! I fuck you not. White lab coat, bubbling tubes and all. It’s black & white bliss. Honestly, I couldn’t stop thinking of Police Squad every time they huddled around that microscope.

I kid because I love, though. At 77 minutes this is a quick bite, but a yummy one at that. Being one of the “lesser known” noir films, I was fully expecting large slices of cheese with stilted acting and slapdash direction. I was pleasantly wrong. Adam Williams plays Carl with an odd sympathetic quality, almost making you feel as if the guy just has a bad case of social anxiety disorder. Aside from his penchant for driving sharp objects into the flesh of chesty toe heads, he’s not a bad guy. The surrounding cast also gives the film a supportive boost without the need for an underwire (it’s all the pointy boobs everywhere. I can’t help it). Harlan Warde really kept me guessing as the alpha cop Pete. Check out the pure glee he exhibits when they are about to close on poor Carl. Trust me. You won’t be able to miss it. It’s kinda’ creepy.

Again, something must be said about Arnold Laven’s direction, here. This is obviously a lower budget film, but he really makes do with what he’s got; and what he’s got is a tight little script. The investigative cop stuff is never outlandish, and there’s a whole “lipstick theory” that blew my socks off. For you future filmmakers out there, HERE is a film to rip off… er… pay homage to and build your “cool cat” status. It’s a shame the dude only went on to direct series TV like Riptide and The Greatest American Hero. I guess his ability to make something out of very little worked best in those circles of mediocrity. Oh well. Forget all that. Just sit back and enjoy all of the ‘50s flavored melodrama without any of that messy pretense that can sour any later “noir influenced” movies. It’s a hoot.

How's It Look, Smartguy?
Very, very nice. I’m not kidding. Even the Mrs., in all of her non-film obsession beauty, had to remark at how sharp the picture was. There are certainly some flaws, especially during the opening credits and a rather nasty film tear within the last 10 minutes, but other than that, this sucker is sharp. Naturally, it’s fullscreen in 1:33:1.

How's It Sound, Ya Bum?
No distortion, no hissing, clear vocals… what’s going on here? There are major releases that aren’t this nice in the a/v department. There is no super-duper surround or anything, just the mono track, but anyone who knows me would realize I prefer that anyway. You also have English subtitles.

You Think I Just Wanted The Movie, Pal?
Well, we should just be happy with that. This ain’t an expensive release and the sound and video are top notch. Buuuuuut, you’d think they would at least dig up a trailer somewhere or round up the remaining cast and crew before... well… just before, that’s all. Let’s leave it at that. “Before.” All they toss at us are some scans of LOBBY CARDS and posters and such. Tsk-tsk.

Bring Us On Home, Brother
There are so many goddamned investigative cop dramas on the glass teat that something like this may no longer be appreciated, and that’s a shame. What we have here is a solidly above-average look at the Film Noir time period as it was still breathing, with a pretty smart script and acting that more than fit the bill. If you dig Noir and are only too familiar with all the major titles, you won’t be sorry in the least.