The Sniper

The Sniper (1952) starring Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Richard Kiley. Noir thriller in which a man (Franz) with mother issues decides to start killing women who he feels have slighted him. He kills from a distance, using a World War II Army carbine. The case is solved by a police lieutenant named Kafka (Menjou), assisted by a police psychiatrist (Kiley). For today's viewer, this movie has little to offer, except for the authentic San Francisco scenery, which is nice to see. The psychology of the serial killer is just not convincing, and in early '50s fashion, they've got it all wrong. To its credit, the film has both subtitles and closed captions. Grade: C