I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes [Blu-ray]

Director: William Nigh William Nigh

Overview

A Cornell Woolrich novel was the source for the variable Monogram melodrama I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes. The plot refers to the dancing shoes of young terpsichorean Tom (Don Castle). A print from one of those shoes is found at the scene of a murder, and the police don't buy Tom's story that his footwear was stolen. The only person who believes in Tom's innocence is his wife and dancing partner Ann (Elyse Knox), and it is she who follows the trail of clues to the genuine killer. Without revealing the ending, it can be noted here that the actual miscreant has remained in very close proximity of both Tom and Ann all along -- and has been encouraged to do so by the police!

Product Details

Release Date:	07/20/2021
UPC:	0883929775859
Original Release:	1948
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:12:00
Sales rank:	26,741

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Elyse Knox	Ann Quinn
Don Castle	Thomas J. 'Tom' Quinn
Regis Toomey	Police Inspector Clint Judd
Charles D. Brown	Inspector Stevens
Rory Mallinson	Detective
Bill Kennedy	Detective
Ray Dolciame	Shoe Shine Boy
William Ruhl	Police Lieutenant,Police Lieutenant
Esther Michelson	Mrs. Finkelstein
Steve Darrell	District Attorney
Walter Walker	Shoe Clerk,Prisoner,Shoe Clerk
John Sheehan	Judge
Herman Cantor	Jury Foreman
John Elliott	Lawyer
Tito Vuolo	Grocer
Jimmy Aubrey	Tramp
John Shay	Salesman
Donald Kerr	Vaudevillian
Joe Bernard	Janitor
Stanley Blystone	McGee
Dorothy Vaughan	Mrs. Alvin
Robert Lowell	Kosloff
Matty Fain	Prisoner
Dan White	Prisoner
John Doucette	Prisoner
Ray Teal	Guard
Paul Bryar	Guard
Lou Marcelle	Announcer
Walden Boyle	Priest
Hugh Charles	Counterman
Laura Treadwell	Mrs. Stevens
Eddie Parker	Policeman

Technical Credits

Walter Mirisch	Producer
William Nigh	Director

Editorial Reviews

A lesser film noir and quite obviously made on a budget, I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes should nevertheless provide entertainment for noir fans looking for something that's not very well known. Shoes is based on a Cornell Woolrich book, which means that it's quite intricately plotted and is drenched in paranoia. When a typical Woolrich story is paired with a director that has a keen understanding of the underpinnings of the story and knows how to bring out the cinematic life in it, as in Alfred Hitchcock and Rear Window, the results can be outstanding. Director William Nigh, however, is no Hitchcock; his work is professional and relatively effective (if a bit sluggish), but the material requires more. The obsessiveness that is part and parcel of Woolrich has to be in the blood of the filmmaker, allowing the director to either go with it or fight against it, either of which can create beautiful results. Nigh doesn't have that connection, and so the viewer is made alarmingly aware of how farfetched much of the plot is and of the manipulative mechanics behind it. Of course, those who enjoy unraveling a murder will not particularly care about this. A pair of high powered stars in the leading roles would have made a major difference, but Don Castle and Elyse Knox are correct and nothing more; they don't do anything wrong but they don't light up the screen either. Much better is Regis Toomey, who turns in a slam-dunk performance that helps to carry the film.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler