The defence The Big-Idea Head
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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The Web
Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1947
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
Movie details
The Web
1947 Crime · Drama · Thriller 1h 27m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Web?
For the defence
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Crime · 1950
A police detective's violent nature keeps him from being a good cop.
The Woman in the Window
Crime · 1944
A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.
Born to Kill
Crime · 1947
A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.
They Made Me a Fugitive
Drama · 1947
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
The Locket
Drama · 1946
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Witness to Murder
Crime · 1954
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder while looking out her bedroom window.
A Kiss Before Dying
Thriller · 1956
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
The Enforcer
Drama · 1951
After years of investigation, Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson has managed to build a solid case against an elusive gangster whose top lieutenant is about to testify.
5 Against the House
Crime · 1955
Former war-time Army buddies now students in college decide to rip off a Reno casino.
Time Without Pity
Crime · 1957
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Michael Gordon
Written by
William Bowers · Bertram Millhauser · Harry Kurnitz
Ella Raines
Noel Faraday
Edmond O'Brien
Bob Regan
William Bendix
Lt. Damico
Vincent Price
Andrew Colby
Maria Palmer
Martha Kroner
John Abbott
Charles Murdock
Fritz Leiber
Leopold Kroner
Court is in session
Put The Web on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.