In theaters

THE STRANGE WOMAN, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, written by Herb Meadow, not rated, 99 minutes. Saturday only, 7:30 p.m., Bangor Opera House.

So, here it is at last, the bold, ugly truth about Bangor.

Apparently, in the early 19th century, long before we were considered one of the safer, better places to live, we were a bunch of caterwauling, conniving hooligans with mean mouths, shifty eyes and empty hearts.

Just imagine it. Low houses clogged the waterfront, grog bars served rage with their whiskey, shootouts were a mainstay in the streets, the lumber industry corrupted everything. We were animals – wild, angry and loose along the fringe – and the place had gone to hell. We were a wreck!

At least that’s according to Edgar G. Ulmer’s 1946 movie “The Strange Woman,” which shows at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow only at the Bangor Opera House courtesy of the River City Cinema Society. It’s a movie in which we learn that “Cleopatra didn’t live in Bangor” and that “there’s a pine victory in rum!” We hear that “Bangor is a boomtown – loud, rough, growing faster than law and order. It takes a strong, stubborn man to make his way here.” We also learn that “a young man of fashion would be popular in Bangor.” So, obviously, it’s not to be missed.

The film, which screenwriter Herb Meadow based on Ben Ames Williams’ popular novel, is pure, undiluted camp. Who knew that one of the best films to open recently in Bangor would be set in Bangor?

For a lot of reasons – and not just because it takes place in Bangor, which is unrecognizable here since the film was actually shot on a Hollywood backlot – this is the film to see Saturday night. For now, forget “Basic Instinct 2” – it’ll be around. Besides, there are plenty of baser instincts on parade in “The Strange Woman.”

The film stars Hedy Lamarr in a fine, mincing performance as Jenny Hager, a poor girl from nothing who has the means to get herself a whole lot of something – beauty, brains and a heart of wormwood that will help her achieve her dreams of great wealth and high social stature.

Jenny, whose drunkard of a father (Dennis Hoey) literally tries to whip her into submission, reveals in one telling moment that “this isn’t the world that I was born for. Men like me – and it’s the men who have the money in this world!”

After hooking up with and marrying the considerably older businessman Isaiah Poster (Gene Lockhart), Jenny cruises on a path of wealth and angelic deception, particularly when she tries to pick up Isaiah’s son, Ephraim (Louis Hayward), whom she tried to drown when they were children, and then George Sander’s John Evered, whom she steals from the meek Meg Saladine (Hillary Brooke). Since no movie of this ilk could ever let Jenny get away with her strange ways, the ending is wholly satisfying – brisk and brutal.

When audiences file out of the Opera House on Saturday night and step into the heart of downtown Bangor, you can only imagine the conversations this over-the-top, beautifully conceived movie will ignite.

Grade: A-

On video and DVD

DERAILED, directed by Mikael Hafstrom, written by Stuart Beattie, 100 minutes, rated: R.

Tucked in the middle of the Mikael Hafstrom thriller “Derailed” is a swell twist, one that’s better than anything else in the movie – and one that actually makes a measure of sense, as cinematic twists go, which usually is south.

It won’t be revealed here, but it does shift the movie into a higher realm, if only for a moment, before the film settles back into the average, derivative thriller that it is.

Here is a movie in which one must increasingly sustain a high level of disbelief in order to enjoy it. Clive Owen is Charles Christopher Schine, a frazzled ad executive with an unhappy home life who meets on a train the lovely Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston), who has a pretty face and the sort of legs that stretch up to here.

Charles would prefer that they hook around there, meaning his waist, so their flirtation heats up, with Lucinda revealing to Charles that she isn’t particularly happy at home, either. Like Charles, she has an adorable daughter, but her marriage is on the rocks and sex is in the can. So, what’s an absurdly hot-looking, bored married couple to do? Naturally, they head to a hotel, where things get dicey – really dicey – but in ways we’ll leave for you.

What can be discussed are techniques, and Hafstrom has a few to his credit, much of which he learned by studying such movies as “Double Indemnity” and especially “Fatal Attraction,” the thriller that gives “Derailed” an extended sequence many in attendance will swear they’ve seen before. That’s because they have.

Looking unusually haggard for someone who normally looks anything but, Owen grounds the movie with a performance that seems game for whatever Hafstrom and Beattie throw at him, which is plenty. As for Aniston, she is less sure of herself here than she has been in her other, better movies, though you have to give it to her for breaking from type and trying something new. She doesn’t appear in a great deal of the movie, but in a key scene where she must deliver the goods, she pulls through, sporting the sort of sneering mouth and hard eyes that would likely render an old friend still.

Grade: C+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Bambi II – B+

Batman Begins – A

Brokeback Mountain – A-

Broken Flowers – A-

The Brothers Grimm – D-

Capote – A

The Cave – C-

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – A-

Chicken Little – C-

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – A

The Constant Gardener – A-

Derailed – C+

Doom – C+

Flightplan – B-

The Fog (2005) – D

The 40-Year-Old Virgin – A

Full House: Complete Third Season – C+

Good Night, and Good Luck – A-

Guess Who – C+

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire – B-

A History of Violence – A

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – B-

Howl’s Moving Castle – A-

Ice Age: Super Cool Edition – B

The Ice Harvest – B-

In Her Shoes – A-

Into the Blue – C-

The Island – C+

Jarhead – B

Junebug – A

Just Like Heaven – C+

Kingdom of Heaven – B-

King Kong – C

Kung Fu Hustle – A

The Legend of Zorro – C+

Lord of War – C

March of the Penguins – A

Memoirs of a Geisha – C+

Must Love Dogs – C+

North Country – C

Oliver Twist – B+

Paradise Now – A-

Planet of the Apes: Legacy Box Set – B+

Pride & Prejudice – A

Prime – B-

Red Eye – B+

Rent – C-

Saw II – D-

Serenity – A-

Six Feet Under: Complete Fifth Season – A-

The Skeleton Key – B

The Squid and the Whale – B+

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – B+

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride – B+

Transporter 2 – B-

Undiscovered – D-

Upside of Anger – B

Valiant – C-

Waiting… – C-

Walk the Line – A-