But that said, though Angel Face and Laura aren’t as instantly entertaining as Sidewalk, they are both very ballsy films with ridiculously good endings. (Sidewalk’s ending is no slouch either!) Though the mystery is a bit blah in Laura, the fact that we get scenes of the cop creepily hanging out in Laura’s digs, generally obsessing over her was very cool for its day. And Angel Face is a real wonder, a movie that stars Robert Mitchum yet never has him really do anything but waiver between the alluring but clearly fucking nuts Simmons and his dependable nurse girlfriend – that’s interesting shit right there. And especially in Angel Face I had no idea where the hell the story was going. The only thing I predicted was the ending, but I wasn’t positive they would actually go for it. God was I happy when they went through with it! (Yes, this is all very vague but I’m assuming you guys’ve seen the film.)

And though Laura wraps up fairly predictably, the way they stage the final action sequence was ridiculously well-done, just as good as the pre-1950′s Hitchcock stuff. So while my Sidewalk held my attention the most (Ben Hecht script, how could I not be wrapped up in it!) I think that Laura and especially Angel Face are probably the films I would show if I was teaching a course about film noir. They may be wonky, kinda stilted entertainments, but their ambition and ballsiness is really something to see.

* Although it turns out Dewey never had his kidneys removed in the first place, he would most likely not die in four hours. It’d take weeks or months – maybe even years – for toxins to build up to lethal amounts. Poisons and their side effects would torch other critical organs. It’s a gradual process. Heck, my two bum kidneys operated at less than 10% for most of my life. And I didn’t even know it.

* It’s mentioned twice (once by the creepy doctor, once by the strippers) that kidney transplants occur in sets of two. This isn’t true. You only need one kidney. That’s all that’s ever donated. The creepy doctor was selling himself short by claiming to have one recipient in Chicago for two kidneys.

* Cutting a kidney out and selling it on the black market in a matter of hours won’t work. Aside from blood types, there are all kinds of factors to match a donor to a recipient. An example is PRA (panel reactive antibody). The PRA measures what tissue attributes, called Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA), a recipient’s immune system will attack compared to the donor. My PRA was a 6% compared to my donor, which is well below the threshold of 25% needed to get in the clear. Sound confusing? You’re right. Which is why a quick turnaround on a black market kidney isn’t going to work.

* A character (I forget which one) mentions a kidney taken out of a drowning victim. This is extremely rare. As my doctors told me, “Most people don’t die correctly.” Most cadaver kidneys come from people who died in controlled settings, such as on life support. With car wrecks, drownings and any sort of unexpected death, the kidneys usually die from lack of oxygen unless promptly removed.

* Although the creepy doctor never took Dewey’s kidneys, the incisions he made were totally off. You’d need some nimble fingers to reach the kidneys after cutting on either side of the abdominal muscles. Incisions are made closer to the waist.

What it got right: http://tinyurl.com/7pkddfv