The Web is a 1947 Film Noir directed by Michael Gordon, starring Edmond O'Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix, and Vincent Price.
Bob Regan (O'Brien) is a lawyer hired for an unusual task. You see, his client Andrew Colby (Price) is being threatened by a recently-released embezzler, and he needs a subtle bodyguard. The embezzler shows up, and Regan ends up killing him in defense of his client. However, as events turn up, our hero begins to suspect that the entire thing was a setup...
This film contains examples of:
- Bad Boss: Colby kills his henchman Charles because Charles knows about the dead engraver, and to add another charge to Regan's Frame-Up.
- Big Bad: Andrew Colby is responsible for the whole setup.
- Clear My Name: After Regan figures out that he's a patsy, his goal becomes to clear himself of any murder charges while taking down the true mastermind.
- Crusading Lawyer: Regan is not above personally barging into a high-end office to deliver a summons if he feels his letters are being ignored. His clients being pushed around is his Berserk Button.
- Faux Affably Evil: Colby acts super friendly and charming, but is secretly a stone cold sociopath.
- Frame-Up: The Big Bad has this as his M.O. Every time he commits a crime, he frames somebody he needs out of the way.
- Friend on the Force: Lt. Damico, to Regan.
- Friend to All Living Things: Leopold Kroner was so kind that he refused to go to a zoo because cooping up animals like that was cruel in his eyes.
- Moment Killer: Regan and Faraday are flirting and about to dance, when they're interrupted by a gunshot.
- Reckless Gun Usage: When Regan stops into the police station to get a permit for the gun Colby gave him, he casually points it at Damico, who is not amused.
- Red Herring: Kroner didn't commit any of the crimes he was accused of. Colby framed him for them all.
- The Sociopath: Andrew Colby, who framed a business partner for embezzlement, arranges things so that he can murder him when he gets out of prison, then kills anybody, including his bodyguard and nearly his daughter, who tries to figure out the truth.
- This Is Reality: Everybody, including Regan and Damico, voice their suspicions of the plot to point out that it sounds like a pulpy detective novel.
