I'm really late to the party, but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this (and also the link to the amazing Pearl Divers Punch recipe - holy cats, tiki is an unknown country all by itself), and I just regaled my Best Beloved with much of it. I really like Anne Baxter, and I like the idea of a noir film that resolves into something other than nihilism, as you say.

As well, and perhaps more importantly, it gives me hope to be reminded, through this really thoughtful review of one movie, of the past's reality, and the importance to remember it as fully and three-dimensionally as possible. Whether that's in politics or culture (and I know they're inextricably intertwined), we can't let ourselves believe in the cardboard good/bad old days, for precisely the reasons you give.