Joaquim da Silva Fontes, Significação e Estabilidade do Género no ...

uncertainty of the noir characters’ situation, mired in existential despair. Henry
Hathaway’s message in this film is that crime can push us into a dark corner where we do
not know what we are up against, as fig. 33 suggests (this excellent shot is one of the many
impressive camera angles that interpret both the character’s (inner) shadows and the
merciless city itself). The title of the film comes from a cry of existential desperation as the
protagonist turns to his caring secretary and remarks: “There goes my last lead. I feel all
dead inside. I’m backed up in a dark corner and I don’t know who’s hitting me”. Another
similarly relevant quote that best sets the dark ironic mood of the film and this idea of
individualism and existential anguish comes from Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb): “I hate
the dawn. The grass always looks as though it has been left out all night”.
Figure 33. The Dark Corner
In his pursuit of knowledge that promises salvation, Bradford Galt, just like other
noir protagonists, starts a metaphoric search for a totalising explanation. However, in an
existential world, where the concept of a simple truth can find no philosophical grounding,
such a quest is condemned to failure.
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