Kick-Back Friday: #195
Pushover (1954): Back to noir. As a cop after a bank robber, Fred MacMurray romances the criminal’s girlfriend (Kim Novak) to get a lead on the stolen money; but then he falls hard for real. Essential elements of Pushover, specifically the police surveillance of Novak, echo the entire setup of Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954)—which was released almost simultaneously. And of course, Novak’s turn as a potentially duplicitous girlfriend anticipates her troubling role in Vertigo (1958). With E. G. Marshall, Philip Carey, and Dorothy Malone.
A native East Tennessean, Barbara Martin is a formerly practicing, board-certified neurologist who received her BS (psychology, summa cum laude) and MD from Duke University before completing her postgraduate training (internship, residency, fellowship) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She has worked in academia, private practice, medical publishing, drug market research, and continuing medical education (CME). For the last 3 years, she has worked in a freelance capacity as a medical writer, analyst, and consultant. Follow Dr. Barbara Martin on Google + and Twitter.
