Crime Wave (1953), directed by André De Toth There’s a peculiar feeling in André De Toth’s films, as if the camera is held by a man who finds it painful to look. Crime Wave isn’t noir in the classic sense; it’s a diary of people cornered by life. De Toth isn’t chasing beauty, he’s chasing truth, and his truth always comes unvarnished. Everything is shot with near-documentary precision: the streets of Los Angeles, cramped apartments, sweating faces, the echo of footsteps in empty hallways. The ca