Film noir: your favourites

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I'll keep to a narrow definition and exclude neo-noir, so we're talking mainly Hollywood movies released from 1940-1960.

Kiss Me Deadly is pretty terrific, possibly my favourite. I saw The Postman Always Rings Twice last night - great but not as great as the novel.

What is that Robert Mitchum as an ambulnce man falling for Jean Simmons? That was pretty amazing as well.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 8 April 2004 08:44 (9 years ago) Permalink

The Killers

― Dave B (daveb), Thursday, 8 April 2004 08:54 (9 years ago) Permalink

Does "The Big Sleep" count? That's one of my favourite films ever.

― Baravelli. (Jake Proudlock), Thursday, 8 April 2004 10:41 (9 years ago) Permalink

I watched The Third Man the other day for the first time--thoroughly excellent.

― sgs (sgs), Thursday, 8 April 2004 10:54 (9 years ago) Permalink

"The Postman Always Rings Twice" is a bit flat. But "Double Indemnity", also based on a Cain novel and with a similar story (wife plots with boyfriend to kill husband and pocket the insurance) is a great noir film, in my opinion.

Raymond Chandler, who scripted it and changed the story a great deal, wrote to Cain that the dialogue in the book wouldn't play onscreen as written, putting his finger, in my opinion, on why "Postman" had been somewhat two-dimensional: the film had been too faithful.

― Baravelli. (Jake Proudlock), Thursday, 8 April 2004 11:03 (9 years ago) Permalink

Yes I agree with you on Postman the film (I haven't seen Double Indemnity yet but I love the book which as you say is basically another riff on Postman). Also what Postman the film lacked was the novel's flat tone of amorality. You can see why Camus claimed it as an influence for "L'Etranger".

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 8 April 2004 11:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

Did Chandler also add the framing sequence, which is a great device because it allows for lots of lovely Raymond Chandler voiceover?

I was amused to find out that the 1946 Postman was already the third adaptation, one of them being a foundation-stone of Italian Neo-realism.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 8 April 2004 11:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

Double Indemnity is great! Especially because we get to see Fred MacMurray (aka the dad in whitebread TV show "My Three Sons") as a swift-talking con-man.

― sgs (sgs), Thursday, 8 April 2004 11:12 (9 years ago) Permalink

"The Big Sleep" is most absolutely classic noir. I like it lots, it was my introduction to Bogart & Bacall.
I remember liking "The Lost Weekend" but haven't seen it for years.
Gloria Grahame is a wonderful actor who was in Noir films, like The Big Heat.

― cuspidorian (cuspidorian), Thursday, 8 April 2004 11:32 (9 years ago) Permalink

.. and in the unusually poetic In a Lonely Place starring Bogart directed by Nicholas Ray.

― Dave Amos, Thursday, 8 April 2004 11:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

i love noir, to the point that i'll watch almost anything no matter how z-grade. some favorites: phantom lady, out of the past, the lady from shanghai, the third man, a touch of evil, night of the hunter, i wake up screaming, night and the city, force of evil, pick-up on south street, call northside 777, laura.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 8 April 2004 13:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

There's a Nicholas Ray festival on in Paris at the moment, In A Lonely Place is on next Tuesday.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 8 April 2004 13:56 (9 years ago) Permalink

Bladerunner!

― lucas (lucas), Thursday, 8 April 2004 14:01 (9 years ago) Permalink

'Especially because we get to see Fred MacMurray (aka the dad in whitebread TV show "My Three Sons") as a swift-talking con-man.'

Fred MacMurray playing SATAN in 'the Apartment' is even weirder.

'Gilda' to thread!

― Clubber Langston (Adrian Langston), Thursday, 8 April 2004 14:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

Is Touch of Evil considered noir?

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 8 April 2004 21:44 (9 years ago) Permalink

It's usually considered the last blast of the first wave of noir, I think.

I got Sam Fuller's Pickup on South Street today. Looks noiry.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 8 April 2004 21:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

I really want to see Double Indemnity, but the R1 DVD is OOP.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 8 April 2004 21:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

Double Indemnity has one of my favourite lines ever in it. "You bet I'll get out of here, baby - I'll get out of here but quick." I first saw it playing as a movie on a TV in the background during the 2nd Columbo pilot and my jaw dropped. I had to find out what it was from.

― jazz odysseus, Thursday, 8 April 2004 21:55 (9 years ago) Permalink

How bout The Killing? noir or no?

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 8 April 2004 21:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

my favorite noirs by your definition are

the big sleep
the third man
strangers on a train

outside of the definition i have to include

rififi
le cercle rouge
chinatown (my favorite noir, period.)
the long goodbye

― todd swiss (eliti), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:42 (9 years ago) Permalink

Weekend at Bernie's.

― Lara (Lara), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

so overrated

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:47 (9 years ago) Permalink

Night of the FUCKING Hunter and The Asphalt FUCKING Jungle.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

The Killing is pretty noir in my book.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

Night of the Fucking Hunter is noir?

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm gonna have to put my foot down and say no.

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

I think of almost all of those great 50's Mitchem movies as noir (Out of the Past, Cape Fear, Thunder Road, etc. . .) but my definition of noir is pretty broad.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

Also Touch of Evil (and Lady From Shanghai) is totally noir.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 April 2004 22:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

What about The Maltese Falcon ? Ca' maaaahn!

― jazz odysseus, Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:00 (9 years ago) Permalink

I love all the San Francisco noir (There was an AWESOME film fest at the Castro last year on local noir: Maltese Falcon, Dark Passage, Lady From Shanghai, Woman On The Run, Sudden Fear, Out Of The Past, Where Danger Lives, Thieves' Highway, Born To Kill, The House On Telegraph Hill, Nora Prentiss, The Woman On Pier 13, Shakedown, The Raging Tide, The Sniper, The Midnight Story, The Lineup and others) but my favorite remains Experiment In Terror, I can't recommend this movie to enough people.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

was the "maltese falcon" the first noir?

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:36 (9 years ago) Permalink

I think "The Thin Man" is considered to be the first noir? Anyway, two of my faves are Detour and Blast Of Silence - totally low budget but utterly amoral and extreme.
The Grifters is one of the best colour noir films, probably the only Jim Thompson adaptation I've seen that really worked.
Night And The City is the only noir film I've seen set in the UK, are there any more?

― udu wudu (udu wudu), Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:43 (9 years ago) Permalink

After Dark My Sweet would have been great if not for the atrocious presence of Rachel Ward.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:51 (9 years ago) Permalink

Night and the City is my favorite these days. I'm obsessed with Richard Widmark.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

He's amazing. I saw the Criterion Pickup on South Street a couple of weeks ago. Great performance (pretty good film.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 8 April 2004 23:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

This thread is well-timed since I'm going to see basically everything remaining at the American Cinematheque's Film Noir Festival that's going on at the Egyptian Theatre.

I especially recommend the Anthony Mann triple-threat of T-Men, Raw Deal, and He Walked By Night

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Friday, 9 April 2004 00:24 (9 years ago) Permalink

i thought 'noir' had been discredited as a category

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 9 April 2004 00:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

I've seen Pickup on South Street a few times, a few weeks ago most recently, one of those films who's charms grow on you, and you like it more the more you think about it. I was underwhelmed the first time I saw it, perhaps expecting more intensity after seeing the Naked Kiss and Shock Corridor. The scene where the spy beats the girl is still one of the more brutal things on film...

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 9 April 2004 00:43 (9 years ago) Permalink

"pepe le moko" (directed by julien dudivier,starring jean gabin,FR 1936)it's one of the greatest noir movie ever ,I suggest you guys to see it soon :) good easter:))

― claudja, Friday, 9 April 2004 19:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

Fritz Lang's "M" deserves a mention

― fcussen (Burger), Friday, 9 April 2004 20:02 (9 years ago) Permalink

"Side Street"!!!!! and if it counts as noir "Le Samurai"

― metfigga (metfigga), Friday, 9 April 2004 20:41 (9 years ago) Permalink

"M" is probably one of my favourite movies - I hadn't thought of it as a noir film. I've only seen the remake of "Night and the City", but really liked that, especially for the dialogue (which'll be totally different from the original) and Alan King. And the senselessness of "Father Time"'s heart attack.

― jazz odysseus, Friday, 9 April 2004 20:45 (9 years ago) Permalink

American - The Man with the Golden Arm

French - Bob le Flambeur
Band of Outsiders

― webcrack (music=crack), Friday, 9 April 2004 20:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

The Man with the Golden Arm is great. I love that the main character's name was "Frankie Machine" - i'll say this again - his real name was "Frankie Machine" - and he wanted to change it to "Jack Duvall" for a stage name.

― jazz odysseus, Friday, 9 April 2004 21:02 (9 years ago) Permalink

I have a think for french noir/gangster films...Touchez Pas au Grisbi, Rififi, Bob Le Flambour, Le Samurai, Le Cercle Rouge...there's a book on french noir I've been meaning to get, any recommendations, much appreciated. I've definately been meaning to check out Pepe le Moko.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 9 April 2004 21:27 (9 years ago) Permalink

If 'M' is considered noir, wouldn't it be the earliest?

― oops (Oops), Saturday, 10 April 2004 06:34 (9 years ago) Permalink

My faves are "Scarlet Street" (Lang); "In a Lonely Place"; and of course "Double Indemnity."

I think the first noir was "Stranger on the Third Floor," 1940, RKO.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 10 April 2004 17:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Double Indemnity it being re-released on DVD in August. Looks barebones, though, as my price is only $9.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 10 May 2004 02:37 (9 years ago) Permalink

I think the low price is because you only get one indemnity.

― jazz odysseus (jazz odysseus), Monday, 10 May 2004 02:44 (9 years ago) Permalink

shut your yap, bo' or i squirt lead!

― Dave Amos, Monday, 10 May 2004 07:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

― Japanese Giraffe (Japanese Giraffe), Monday, 10 May 2004 11:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Any neo-noir recommendation, then?

― Le Baaderonixx de Benedict Canyon (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 08:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

'devil in a blue dress'

― the Enrique who acts like some kind of good taste gestapo (Enrique), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 09:02 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Romeo is Bleeding," "The Last Seduction," "Blow Out."

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 09:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

Brick

― LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 13:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

No mention (unless I'm missing it) of Laura, a personal favourite.

― frankiemachine, Tuesday, 2 May 2006 14:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

Brick was amazing, and is as noir as noir gets.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 14:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

From today, actually:
http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/features/bnoir.asp

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 16:27 (7 years ago) Permalink

No mention (unless I'm missing it) of Laura, a personal favourite.
I think lauren put it on her list. It should also be mentioned that someone once referred to Dr. Morbius the Waldo Lydecker of ILX.

In any case, frankiemachine, I would have thought you would have mentioned The Man With The Golden Arm, although I guess that's not a noir per se.

― Redd Temple Player (Two Headed Dogg) (Ken L), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 17:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

post-noir:Blood Simple - Cohen bros.

― dont stop go, Tuesday, 2 May 2006 17:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

I've been going to a bunch of those Bs Colin linked to, and highly recommend He Walked by Night -- John Alton-photographed, great LA sewer chase finale (year before Third Man), and the closeup on Richard Basehart as he removes a bullet from his side is an all-time masochistic moneyshot.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 13:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

Man, I missed the whole thing, and was this close to going to see He Walked By Night.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 14:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

Now that it's finally on DVD, Otto Preminger's Fallen Angel should be recognized as good if not better than Laura.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 14:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

Oh yeah, I saw that on TCM last year during the Mitchum festival.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 14:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

There are another few weeks, Ken! (DeForest Kelley -- unrecognizably young -- was in Canon City last night, and is in one of the Fuller pair I'm going to June 14.)

common '50s noir police descrip: "white American male"

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 14:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

I haven't seen it yet, admittedly, but I want to pistol-whip whoever wrote Brick upthread.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 17:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'll be at Heather's bar tonight from 8 till 1am, 13th off of A if you happen to be in NYC and have your pistol handy.

Brick was a more accurate translation of just about every Raymond Chandler book I've read then any Film Noir I've seen, including say, The Big Sleep or Murder, My Sweet.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 17:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

Has anyone seen Naked City yet? I have just read that a film was made (after the Weegee book?). I'm intrigued to say the least.

I'm such a dumbass for only now realizing it refers to the shadows in the film.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 17:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

The Big Combo is my favourite. It has all you need: tough-talking hoods, no-good, dime-store molls, flashes of machine-gun fire, cigarette smoke curling in the blinking neon light of a burlesque sign, and inky blackness.

― David Orton (scarlet), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 18:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

Brick was a more accurate translation of just about every Raymond Chandler book I've read then any Film Noir I've seen, including say, The Big Sleep or Murder, My Sweet.

How? Be specific. Give examples.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 18:28 (7 years ago) Permalink

(Bearing in mind that my favorite Chandler adaptation I've seen is the least "faithful": Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye.)

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 18:28 (7 years ago) Permalink

army of shadows, though it stretches the definition of "noir" just a tad

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 18:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

up until the very last scene, Altman's Long Goodbye is pretty damn faithful to Chandler, or at least the character of Marlowe.

(though similarly, my favorite Hammett adaptation is Miller's Crossing)

Anyone seen The Girl in Lover's Lane? I watched it as an MST3K episode, but it seemed like a really successful small town noir.

― p@reene (Pareene), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 18:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

1. Deadline at Dawn
2. A Bout de Souffle

― JTS (JTS), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 19:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

Now that it's finally on DVD, Otto Preminger's Fallen Angel should be recognized as good if not better than Laura.
-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn

Oh yeah, I saw that on TCM last year during the Mitchum festival.
-- Sons Of The Redd Desert

Actually, I haven't seen that one, but it looks pretty good. I was talking about Angel Face, which is mentioned in the very first post of this thread.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 19:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

I've mentioned it on both the Mitchum and Robert Wise threads, but I'm going to third my recommendation for Blood On The Moon - a straight-up hard boiled noir, only it's a western.

― LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 19:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

Other obscure faves...

- House Of Bamboo (Robert Stack & Robert Ryan in post-WWII gangster Tokyo. Sam Fuller directs)
- Scandal Sheet
- Nightmare Alley (Tyrone Power as a carny mentalist)

― LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 20:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

I wasn't that into the Naked City...and Night and the City is my favorite movie ever pretty much, so I wanted to love it. (both Dassin).

I found the dialogue in Brick, like Millers Crossing, totally stylized in a way similar to the books, they also shared the protaganist as punching bag cliche so common in the books. There was just something about the way the lead in Brick kept being knocked out, then seeing just a hint of light, then passing out again, then waking up somewhere else, then getting beat up, that to me represented the feeling I get from the Chandler books. Murder, My Sweat is one vintage noir that does this, of course, with it's expressionistic passing out sequence. The complicated plot that really doesn't matter so much, crime lords and their henchmen, the playing of sides against each other. All classic pulp fiction/film noir things.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 20:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm glad someone mentioned Nightmare Alley, it's one of my favorite movies.

― Bluebell Madonna (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 20:02 (7 years ago) Permalink

I've mentioned it on both the Mitchum and Robert Wise threads, but I'm going to third my recommendation for Blood On The Moon
Chris, you also plugged it on this thread

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 31 May 2006 20:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

One of the things I love most about noir is the black humour. Have just remembered D. Indemnity and some of the lines, like Neff's double entendre about insurance coverage when Phyllis is barely ‘covered’ by clothing:

"I’d hate to think of your having a smashed fender or something while you’re not, uh, fully covered."

It's still amazing that they could get away with some of this stuff considering the times.

Neo-noir can also be fab.

― salexander (salexander), Thursday, 1 June 2006 02:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

Murder, My Sweat is one vintage noir that does this...

Is this the one about the athelete with really stinky perspiration?

I second the recs for Detour and Long Goodbye because they seem to not get as much respect as they deserve.

― nickn (nickn), Thursday, 1 June 2006 17:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

I think "The Thin Man" is considered to be the first noir?

This is madness, surely? "The Thin Man" may be a Hammet adaptation, but it's still basically a screwball comedy where the main characters solve crimes!

Are these as good as that warner bros gangster box set that they resemble?

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 1 June 2006 21:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

I haven't seen the gangster sets, but I have vol. 1 of those noir sets and it is single-source-lighting-tastic.

― Keywords: revenge, knife, granddaughter, demonic-possession, rock-star, eel (Aus, Thursday, 1 June 2006 21:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

Is there a good website out there with a concise list (and/or blurbing) of the best of noir?

― pleased to mitya (mitya), Thursday, 1 June 2006 23:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

http://noiroftheweek.blogspot.com

Not exactly what you're asking for, but it's in my bookmarks.

― Keywords: revenge, knife, granddaughter, demonic-possession, rock-star, eel (Aus, Thursday, 1 June 2006 23:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, that's a good site.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 2 June 2006 00:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

The gangster box set is absolutley essential - it's basically a Cagney's Greatest Hits, with some Bogart and Edward G. Robinson thrown in. Also, has a newsreel, a cartoon and a short film before each feature (I think the abscense of this is what disappointed me about the noir sets, at first.)

check it out

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 2 June 2006 11:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

I haven't read a whole lot of the pulp that led to noir -- one each by Cain, Hammett, Chandler -- but I prefer the bonus of chiaroscuro lighting in the films, and the ability of some actors to make the dialogue seem less ass.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 June 2006 12:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

all three of them are well worth reading. Which Hammett have you read?

― p@reene (Pareene), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:02 (7 years ago) Permalink

Maltese Falcon ... Big Sleep and Postman Always Rings Twice for the others. (I'm eager to read Mildred Pierce before long, which sure isn't likely to come up as a film noir favorite despite the murder linchpin.)

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

You should at least read Red Harvest, as so many movies works off it's basic plot.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

You gotta read Red Harvest -- despite it being a western, it's like the pulp novel/film noir rosetta stone.

if you've read The Big Sleep you've read Chandler, basically -- but Farewell, My Lovely is my personal favorite Marlowe book.

― p@reene (Pareene), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:31 (7 years ago) Permalink

Mildred Pierce the book is good, but it's not noir, although the film version tries to turn it into noir. Double Indemnity the book is great, although plotwise it's pretty similar to Postman. The later Cains are more episodic, with more likeable characters - it's only really Postman and Double Indemnity that have a real tragic noir feel to them with their flat prose, amoral protagonists, sense of desperation and 'perfect' murders that don't come off.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I want to read lots more Hammett and Cain. (The uniform loathsomeness of the Big Sleep characters kinda turned me off Chandler.)

I've also had the novel Out of the Past is based on -- Build My Gallows High -- forever, but haven't read it (tho I've read that Daniel Mainwaring's adaptation of his own book is judged an improvement).

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I've never had the desire to read Build My Gallows High, mostly because, you know, Robert Mitchum isn't in it.

HA, "loathsome." Yeah, Chandler was pretty irredeemably sour, but you know, Marlowe as chivalrous Arthurian knight in morally bankrupt world and all that; he's the most interesting character in pulp fiction, 'cause he's entirely self-loathing, never shoots or fucks anything, really a sort of pathetic repressed moralist masochist, he's as painful to watch as an early Woody Allen protagonist (impotent but for his cleverness, which just gets him beat up repeatedly), except he gets less satisfaction from this terrible modern society, 'cause Allen protagonists always get laid.

― p@reene (Pareene), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

I don't remember Red Harvest as a western. It was a Continental Op book, no?

Cornell Woolrich is fun too.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

yeah, "western" is a total gloss, i just meant "mining town," which sets it apart from the new york/la/san fran typical noir setting

― p@reene (Pareene), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

Three great little-known noir novels from the 1940s: The Deadly Percheron, The Last of Philip Banter and The Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly, all by John Franklin Bardin. Sort of Woolrich crossed with Patricia Highsmith. From Wikipedia:

The novels are distinguished by a combination of the hard fiction style of the late forties and a pervasive and morbid sense of psychology, in most cases pathological (psychiatrists and general discussions of insanity pervade the works). The protagonists are subject to extraordinary situations which provoke intense feelings of distress and mental agony, communicated to the reader with a lucidity that makes his storytelling logic surrealistic, fantastic, persuasive and disturbing at once.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:28 (7 years ago) Permalink

Red Harvest? Never heard of it.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 2 June 2006 17:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

If I can only get to the FF one night this week, should I go to the Sam Fullers tonight or the Allen Dwan and Anthony Mann tomorrow?

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 14 June 2006 12:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'll probably go to House of Bamboo in Scope tonight, never seen it (I'm not a huge Fuller fan tho -- didn't think a lot of Kimono). Border Incident is on TCM in a week or two, I think.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 June 2006 13:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I'm not as big a fan as some. Yeah, They already showed Border Incident once or twice- the previews looked great. Also to be taken into consideration: personal appearance by Arlene Dahl at tomorrow's 7:30 show of Slightly Scarlet.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 14 June 2006 13:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

Actually, I think Border Incident already came and went for this month.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 14 June 2006 13:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

Slightly Scarlet was very interesting. Lamely plotted, cheesily scripted story about an operator playing two sides against each other in a crooked town featuring the redhead sibling rivalry of Rhonda Fleming and Arlene Dahl- Technicolor noir played as Sirk melodrama that could have been titled Written On The Red Harvest.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 16 June 2006 17:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

I didn't make any the last week.

Border Incident is in a new Noir box.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 16 June 2006 18:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

I left during the middle of that one, I had to go home and go to sleep. It looks great, but the story has got an instructional video feel to it and Ricardo Montalban is, of course, not very good. It does have an appearance by Sig Ruman, though.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 16 June 2006 18:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ricardo Montalban is, of course, not very good

!!!

Of course, the only pre-"Space Seed" Ricardo I've seen is Cheyenne Autumn.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 16 June 2006 19:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

what was the last noir?

― duff (duff), Friday, 16 June 2006 22:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

Border Incident

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 16 June 2006 23:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

Based on the first 15 minutes, Elvis Telecom OTM about Raw Deal. In addition to the expected great photography, the writing and editing are super snappy. I guess after this I've gotta track down T-Men, the bits I saw of it on TCM were great.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Saturday, 17 June 2006 14:45 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ken, offtopic -- I'm out the door to see Army of Shadows at 1. You've seen, yes?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 17 June 2006 14:50 (7 years ago) Permalink

I loved Army of Shadows, but I'm a huge Melville fan.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 17 June 2006 16:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah Morbius, I went opening weekend. Enjoy!

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Saturday, 17 June 2006 16:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Anyone seen Cry Terror!... At Film Forum tonight, intriguing pairing of Mason and Steiger?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051501/

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 30 August 2007 14:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

How come we discussed Red Harvest and Enrique didn't come along to mention that Goldoni play?

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 30 August 2007 14:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

The Farmer's Daughter is in that movie, Morbs?

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 30 August 2007 17:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

I haven't seen it, no. I don't think I ever really watched the other feature either.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 30 August 2007 18:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

Has anyone got the recut of Touch Of Evil? Is it worth paying more for over the original?

― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Thursday, 30 August 2007 18:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

Absolutely.

― C0L1N B..., Thursday, 30 August 2007 18:34 (5 years ago) Permalink

Redd, I don't believe Loretta Young is in it.

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 30 August 2007 18:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

Touch of Evil is great if you can stand charlton heston.

it's tough to beat Out of the Past, although the faulkner-penned Big Sleep is classic, too (although the plot literally does not make any sense). I'm also a huge fan of Night and the City and Asphalt Jungle.

An interesting but unsuccessful noir is Dark Passage with Bogey and Bacall, which features a lot of 1st-person shots. Agnes Moorhead is great in it, however.

noirs i dislike: Force of Evil, The Postman Always Rings Twice (both John Garfield vehicles), Cat People (despite its alleged influence), Angel Heart (neo-noir).

― poortheatre, Thursday, 30 August 2007 18:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Curse of the Cat People is better than plain old Cat People.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

noirs i dislike: Force of Evil

!!!!

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

Yar, The Big Sleep film is tough to follow, but that's down to the production code.

― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

The I Love Film noir thread is pretty good; here's the link if it's not already upthread: film noir

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

Morbius, have you seen that Danish movie that's at FF now?

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:31 (5 years ago) Permalink

no.

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:34 (5 years ago) Permalink

boo Force of Evil. yay Touch of Evil.

another borderline noir is Kurosawa's High and Low, although a proper noir has to end more pessimistically.

― poortheatre, Friday, 31 August 2007 09:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

No mention here of D.O.A., which I saw last night. Man walks into police station, claims he's been murdered, then in classic noir fashion the whole movie is in flashback. It's not quite up there with the best noirs (Double Indemnity, Laura, etc.), but it's pretty terrific and almost an A-Z of noir tropes - flashback structure, protagonist doomed from the start, femme fatale/wholesome girl binary, urban paranoia...

― Zelda Zonk, Friday, 25 January 2008 12:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil are my shit. All-time.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 25 January 2008 13:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

hells yeah, BIG HOOS.

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Friday, 25 January 2008 13:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

Time to rep for Preminger's Fallen Angel and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 25 January 2008 14:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

'the big heat' ftw

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Friday, 25 January 2008 14:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

Naked City was better than I'd expected.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 25 January 2008 14:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

Just saw Murder, My Sweet. Pretty great. I'm still trying to work out the plot.

― brownie, Friday, 25 January 2008 14:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

So awesome that Netflix has its own section for this. Just watched "Woman in the Window", which was okay.

Now have "The Asphalt Jungle" running.

― kingfish, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 07:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

Asphalt Jungle
Le Doulos
The Second Breath
hell - basically just about all Melville that involves a raincoat or gun somewhere
Double Indemnity
T-Men
let's see...

Too many to mention but it's my fave genre

― Capitaine Jay Vee, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 07:34 (5 years ago) Permalink

Gotta be The Third Man.

― chap, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 10:42 (5 years ago) Permalink

IIRC, Scarlet Street is basically the same movie as Woman in the Window but better. Maybe it's the other way around though. Another Lang/Lorre american noir with a similar plot.

― dan selzer, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

Is Woman in the Window the one where he wakes up at the end and it's all been a dream? Cos that's a shitty shitty ending.

― chap, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:16 (5 years ago) Permalink

yes, that's the one.

― lauren, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

It's a shitty ending, but the rest of the movie is really good.

― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

Joan Bennett is excellent.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

'Out of the Past' anyone?

― Michael White, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

one of the best.

― lauren, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

I think I quoted about half the dialogue of OOTP on the other thread.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

in the french noir department: elevator to the gallows

― lauren, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:30 (5 years ago) Permalink

Preminger made several goodies: Laura, Angel Face, Where The Sidewalk Ends, Fallen Angel.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

xpost:
Yup. With the grebt Miles soundtrack with the grebt Pierre Michelot on bass. Speaking of gallows, the original title of Out Of The Past was Built My Gallows High. Well, title of the novel it was adapted from.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

in the french noir department: elevator to the gallows

If only for the soundtrack...

― Michael White, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

re crap ending of Woman In The Window, Wikipedia says: "Director Fritz Lang substituted the film's dream ending in place of the originally scripted suicide ending, to conform with the moralistic Production Code of the time." So blame it on the Hays Code.

― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

third man, big sleep, point blank, chinatown, all the obvious stuff.

― Jordan, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

Not to derail totally, but speaking of 'Elevator to the Gallows' (and Maurice Ronet), has anybody ever seen 'Le Feu Follet'?

― Michael White, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

I'm glad detour was rated by a couple people, but can't believe no one's mentioned gun crazy so far.

― Edward III, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

Scarlet Street is basically the same movie as Woman in the Window but better. Maybe it's the other way around though. Another Lang/Lorre american noir

no, SS is better (and it's Eddie G, not Lorre).

― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

I picked up Le Feu Follet on video for a couple bucks awhile back, but haven't watched it yet. Criterion's doing a DVD in May

― C. Grisso/McCain, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:53 (5 years ago) Permalink

Sweet! I haven't seen it in eons.

― Michael White, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:55 (5 years ago) Permalink

love the cover on the old vhs

― Edward III, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

Also, 'The Maltese Falcon'. There's actually a reproduction of 'the stuff dreams are made of' leering down from the top of a bookcase in my house.

― Michael White, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 14:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

'Maltese Falcon' is my favourite film.

― darraghmac, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 15:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

I was reading about Flitcraft just the other day in the intro to The Continental Op.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 15:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

Auteur Noir from Italy:

Chronicle of A Love Affair-Antonioni's take on The Postman Always... Lucia Bosé is the femme fatale.

Il Bidone-Fellini's noir about three conmen (Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, & Franco Fabrizi) who prey on Italy's poor. The final act, wherein Crawford attempts a last score without the aid of his comrades, is relentlessly brutal.

― C. Grisso/McCain, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 15:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

This is going on in LA for the next couple of weeks:
http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2008/Egyptian/Film_Noir-2008.htm

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 15:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

What's the one with Edward Robinson as a guy who drops out of his day job to paint and murder?

― Oilyrags, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 20:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

Seen recently and loved: Detour, DOA, The Killing, Thieves' Highway, Gun Crazy, Panic in the Streets (a couple of these probably not usually considered noir, but they're so full of NIGHT and GUNS and BARS and JAZZ that I don't care).

Thieves' Highway is weird--one of the few SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER Hollyowwod/Hays code era movies which ends with the hero ditching his 'good' WASP girlfriend and ending up with the foreign hooker.

― James Morrison, Thursday, 10 April 2008 00:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

What's the one with Edward Robinson as a guy who drops out of his day job to paint and murder?

That's Scarlet Street.

― The Yellow Kid, Thursday, 10 April 2008 02:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

Tonight is Shadow of a Doubt.

Awesome shots in the opening bits, all the dutch tilts of the buildings & vacant lots, with men criss-crossing around.

And starring Joseph Cotten!

― kingfish, Sunday, 13 April 2008 06:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

Thanks, TYK.

― Oilyrags, Sunday, 13 April 2008 19:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Out of the Past
Glass Key
Blue Dahlia
Murder My Sweet (aka Farewell my Lovely)
Kiss Me Deadly
Gilda
Dark Passage
Key Largo
In A Lonely Place
Where The Sidewalk Ends

― remy bean, Sunday, 13 April 2008 20:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

watching blast of silence this weekend, will report back.

― Jordan, Friday, 30 May 2008 18:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

after dark, my sweet

― cozwn, Sunday, 26 July 2009 00:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Double Indemnity" is incredible.

― DOES ANYONE IN THIS BITCH LIKE OMC (Tape Store), Sunday, 26 July 2009 00:14 (3 years ago) Permalink

The Maltese Falcon is one of my favorite movies of all time.

― Pancakes are one of my favorite ways to party. (ENBB), Sunday, 26 July 2009 00:14 (3 years ago) Permalink

naked city

stray dog

un flic

breathless

d.o.a.

touch of evil

la confidential

double indemnity is basically the best movie ever made imo

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Sunday, 26 July 2009 08:27 (3 years ago) Permalink

Unmentioned To Have and Have Not is my favorite film of all time.

― Mordy, Sunday, 26 July 2009 08:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

glad Scarlet Street was mentioned.

Act of Violence wasn't and has some pretty cool stuff going on too.

― Ludo, Sunday, 26 July 2009 08:50 (3 years ago) Permalink

For no reason I can think of, I've been getting into noir of late. Last week I rented The Big Sleep, which was excellent if incomprehensible. I've since added In A Lonely Place and The Maltese Falcon to my Lovefilm list.
And on friday I bought this Chandler novel:

― DavidM, Sunday, 26 July 2009 10:01 (3 years ago) Permalink

me too, but i bought the film noir collection! all great films. love alan ladd in these.

― Great Scott! It's Molecular Man. (Ste), Sunday, 26 July 2009 10:28 (3 years ago) Permalink

The Maltese Falcon, which I could watch on a loop forever

― Bobkate Goldtwat (darraghmac), Monday, 27 July 2009 15:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

It's nearly perfect.

― ENBB, Monday, 27 July 2009 15:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

I got to see most of the Noir City festival earlier this year - looks like they are playing Chicago later this week. Opening night was a double-bill of 2 newspaper noir classics: Deadline USA and Scandal Sheet. The Big Sleep is the best ever though.

― Jaq, Monday, 27 July 2009 16:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

I think Night and the City is my favorite movie, noir or otherwise. Picked up a Chandler collection from the library and so far it's fantastic. Never read him before.

― mile high guy (brownie), Monday, 27 July 2009 16:05 (3 years ago) Permalink

Chandler is probably my favorite writer ever. Everyone needs to get to The Long Goodbye eventually.

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Sunday, 2 August 2009 23:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

btw just watched Red Rock West last night, it was a fun little western noir with nick cage and jt walsh and dennis hopper all hamming it up. it felt like a showtime adaptation of a jim thompson novel.

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Monday, 3 August 2009 00:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

Oh yeah, I got to see In A Lonely Place last Friday. Not quite the film I was expecting it to be, but a good film nontheless. What an ending!

― DavidM, Monday, 3 August 2009 14:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

Movie Madness's film noir collection was like crack to me when I was studying in Portland, OR. The bulk of the most choice noirs have been mentioned already.

A few which haven't that immediately come to mind:

Ride the Pink Horse (massively underrated because it hasn't got a DVD release - would make a great double bill w/ Touch of Evil)
Sunset Blvd (obviously not at all underrated but nobody's listed it yet - do you guys not consider it noir?)
Touchez pas au grisbi (Jean Gabin classic, also see Pépé le Moko)
On Dangerous Ground (Robert Ryan was never better)

Also very good:

His Kind of Woman (Mitchum and Russell reunited!)
Kiss of Death (Widmark pushes infirm down stairs)
Sweet Smell of Success (badass Burt Lancaster)
Criss Cross (probably Siodmak's best)

The Narrow Margin is highly rated by some, but it's not in the top tier for me.

Sui generis but essential and noirish in their own ways:

Johnny Guitar
Vertigo

FYI, my absolute top four:

Out of the Past
Touch of Evil
The Killing
Kiss Me Deadly

― Goethe*s Elective Affinities, Monday, 3 August 2009 19:34 (3 years ago) Permalink

with noirs i always get mixed up with titles, all the noirs blend into one for me.

for example, what is the noir with a guy half-dead and dying at the beginning, relating his story in some kind of office, maybe even a tape-recorder (nah?) a typewriter hmm. i am sure it's famous.

― Ludo, Monday, 3 August 2009 19:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

Ludo, sounds like it might be the previously mentioned awesome classic Double Indemnity, but there are a lot of noirs that have that sort of structure.

anyone seen Detour? I think its a great one that doesn't seem to get mentioned often.

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Monday, 3 August 2009 19:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

oops, i just ctrl+Fed Detour and i see its already been mentioned a few times...

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Monday, 3 August 2009 19:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

Ludo, sounds like it might be the previously mentioned awesome classic Double Indemnity, but there are a lot of noirs that have that sort of structure.

exactly. i think that's the one though. it was one of the first noirs i saw. (ah it's a dictaphone!)

― Ludo, Monday, 3 August 2009 19:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

for example, what is the noir with a guy half-dead and dying at the beginning, relating his story in some kind of office, maybe even a tape-recorder (nah?) a typewriter hmm. i am sure it's famous.

DOA has the dying guy sitting in an office with a police officer explaining how he came to be dying.

― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Monday, 3 August 2009 23:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

for example, what is the noir with a guy half-dead and dying at the beginning, relating his story in some kind of office, maybe even a tape-recorder (nah?) a typewriter hmm. i am sure it's famous.

Double Indemnity?

― ice cr?m paint job (milo z), Monday, 3 August 2009 23:53 (3 years ago) Permalink

Absolutely it is. Double Indemnity is one of the top five noirs ever. Probably my #1.

― reared on Shakespeare (kenan), Monday, 3 August 2009 23:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

Sorry, "films noir."

― reared on Shakespeare (kenan), Monday, 3 August 2009 23:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

Ebert is very good on it: "Standing back from the film and what it expects us to think, I see them engaged not in romance or theft, but in behavior. They're intoxicated by their personal styles. Styles learned in the movies, and from radio and the detective magazines. It's as if they were invented by Ben Hecht through his crime dialogue. Walter and Phyllis are pulp characters with little psychological depth, and that's the way Billy Wilder wants it. His best films are sardonic comedies, and in this one, Phyllis and Walter play a bad joke on themselves."

― reared on Shakespeare (kenan), Tuesday, 4 August 2009 00:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

anyone know if Key Largo features the song 'Moanin' Low' in full or just a brief extract?

― unban dictionary (blueski), Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:48 (3 years ago) Permalink

Just watched Sudden Fear. Worth it for Joan Crawfords facial expressions and Jack Palances acting.

― Grady Sizemore's elbow (brownie), Tuesday, 4 August 2009 18:59 (3 years ago) Permalink

Young Jack Palance in that and 'Panic in the Streets' looks like an Easter Island statue come to life.

― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Wednesday, 5 August 2009 00:01 (3 years ago) Permalink

Double Indemnity, sure as ten dimes will buy a dollar

― Stop wishing death on people just for the cool thread titles (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 5 August 2009 02:11 (3 years ago) Permalink

totally just watched Rififi...it's great! i wondered how they'd sustain it after the heist sequence...the second half of the film is even better, even more engrossing. the bit where the money was delivered and Tony clearly didn't give a fuck about it any longer = noirest of noir

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

Carl Mohner dedicated a painting to me once.

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

Am watching Kurosawa's Stray Dog tonight.

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:07 (3 years ago) Permalink

Will be watching Le Cercle Rouge tomorrow. Saw Un Flic a few weeks back, and absolutely adored it. The stylish brilliance of the crooks. The mechanical, self-denying inexorability of the cop. Crime glorified in a way that only serves to heighten its tragedy, only serves to emphasise its ultimate folly. Morality plays, as they should be told.

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

I need to get Un Flic next week. Have you watched Le Samourai yet?

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

not yet but it is in the offing

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

All time fave tbh

― BIG HOOS's wacky crack variety hour (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

Am slightly annoyed that said friend watched it the other night with a mutual friend. Will have to borrow it. He's generally not averse to re-watching films, mind.

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

I love Double Indemnity, but it's too glossy and clean to be as purely noir as, eg, Out of the Past.

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

xpost

Even though I watched it on a beat-up VHS copy, IMO the most perfectly realized noir-ish Melville is Le Deuxieme Souffle.

― Goethe*s Elective Affinities, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

Morbs - there's one line of yours concerning film that I really dig - the one about a film's greatness being assured if it still works well with the dialogue removed. This kind of film strikes me as the sort for which this might actually be truer than in other cases. Would you say that the best films noir stand up without their dialogue, in practice?

(cheers mr goethe)

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 03:53 (3 years ago) Permalink

Forgot to mention, but I watched The Big Heat a couple days ago. That was some gritty shit. I don't remember Bogie ever dealing with a dead wife, a mob moll with disfiguring facial burns, dead hookers, etc etc.

― Jesus H. Crap (kenan), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 04:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

Panic in the Streets is really great.

― free jazz and mumia (sarahel), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 04:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

Un Flic I found not as good as the others, but still fun and stylish. But that train sequence...get one budget!

― dan selzer, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 04:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

the helicopter model attached to visible wires represents the impossibility of crime except as an artificial fantasy, dude

in all srsnss, scene is carried off by the acting and the in-train filming

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 04:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

*impossibility of SUCH a crime, even

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 04:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

This is such a boy genre.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 09:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

ilx's own Lauren P would beg to differ.

― dan selzer, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

cm, especially with the chiaroscuro lighting effects usually featured, sure.

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

Great, now I have to use Google! ;)

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

the starkly separated pools of light & shadow

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

Jane Greer, oh brother!

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan noo an' aw (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:45 (3 years ago) Permalink

Yep, got it! When done well (Night Of The Hunter, anyone?) that technique can be dazzlingly tense.

― cockles (country matters), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 12:47 (3 years ago) Permalink

Forgot to mention, but I watched The Big Heat a couple days ago. That was some gritty shit. I don't remember Bogie ever dealing with a dead wife, a mob moll with disfiguring facial burns, dead hookers, etc etc.

The protaganist in this movie is the like the angel of death. Every woman he comes in contact with dies.

― ussr (brownie), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 13:53 (3 years ago) Permalink

mob moll with disfiguring facial burns

Gloria Grahame, who gives a great "I've been rich, I've been poor" speech, ex-wife and daughter-in-law of one-eyed auteur and ILX favorite Nicholas Ray.

Wasn't Jane Greer married to Rudy Vallee for a while? She was young, Vallee told her mom he would bring her out to Hollywood "under my auspices." He liked to have her dress up like a Marilyn Manson girlfriend. She eventually balked, although not before her marriage had got her into trouble with Howard Hughes, who was obsessed with her. She had a similar facial palsey to Sylvester Stallone, which gave her that intriguing expression.

― Horace Silver Machine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 13:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

Fans of OOTP should also see the "sequel" with Mitchum and Greer, The Big Steal. Here is an informative obit http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jane-greer-729365.html

― Horace Silver Machine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

Janey Janey, what a gal

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:08 (3 years ago) Permalink

a friend of mine used Greer for a radio narration job not long before her death. Apparently she turned down the Gloria Stuart role in Titanic.

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

xpost

I just saw "Laura" for the first time the other night. Oh my god, how could I have waited so long to see this movie? Gene Tierney and Clifton Webb are amazing, and it is so weird to see Vincent Price try to play a "Southern hunky gigolo" character. Plus the sets and clothes and lighting are scrumptious in every detail.

― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

Oh man, don't get me started on Gene Tierney

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

No, you can't get started. Have you seen Leave Her to Heaven?

And how about that haunting David Raksin theme?

― Horace Silver Machine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:50 (3 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I then watched that Biography documentary "Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait" about her life- really amazing/awful life story that makes you think again about what's going on with her performances, what was bottled up in there.

I've always known the Raskin theme, but the first version I ever heard was the Spike Jones parody version, perversely enough . . .

― Neotropical pygmy squirrel, Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

Gorblimey!

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

I've always known the Raskin theme
Not to be a pain, I just learned how to spell it five minutes ago, but it's Raksin.

I wonder how Dadaismus feels about Linda Darnell.

― Horace Silver Machine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

Not that much of a fan of hers, anyway I'm turning this into one of those dead people you fancy threads, apologies

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:59 (3 years ago) Permalink

Oh yeah, UKers there is a film noir night on BBC4 tonight.
An hour long documentary, The Rules of Film Noir, and four films: Farewell My Lovely, The Lady From Shanghi, The Big Combo, and Force of Evil. And tommorrow they are showing Build My Gallows High.

― DavidM, Saturday, 22 August 2009 05:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

Schizerkoff, I missed this. Now, if only they'd repeat it as often as 'Blues at the BBC'.

― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Saturday, 22 August 2009 07:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

No wait, it's Saturday today. Yays!

― aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Saturday, 22 August 2009 07:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

aargh no my digibox is broken!

― Great Scott! It's Molecular Man. (Ste), Saturday, 22 August 2009 10:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

Orson Welles' Irish accent is unbelievable!

― danski, Saturday, 22 August 2009 21:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

It really is!

That doc was predictably disappointing BBC four - I only liked the guy that explained how noir scores differed from the norm for that time.

― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 23 August 2009 20:07 (3 years ago) Permalink

btw Build My Gallows High was incredible. Robert Mitchum was some serious laconic but lethal motherfucker throughout.
"I don't want to die"
"Neither do I, but if I have to I'm gonna die last"

― all you proper coppers... i'm zipper the slipper (DavidM), Monday, 24 August 2009 17:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

Mitchum took laconic to an entirely new dimension. He had to be high on grass.

― ::googles Brett Favre:: (brownie), Monday, 24 August 2009 17:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

For anyone who doesn't already know, Build My Gallows High = Out of the Past. Mitchum was such a badass.

― Goethe*s Elective Affinities, Monday, 24 August 2009 21:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

I've been reading back-to-back Raymond Chandler novels all summer.
Trying to figure out a contemporary actor who could play Marlowe...

― Fox Force Five Punchline (sexyDancer), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

and I don't think Gould was that far out a choice for The Long Goodbye, I think he hit the mark even better than Bogart.

― Fox Force Five Punchline (sexyDancer), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:27 (3 years ago) Permalink

what happened to those planned Clive Owen / Marlowe movies? in turnaround I guess.

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

I guess Owen looks the part, but can he be funny? I'm thinking more Seth Rogan, Robert Downey Jr...

― Fox Force Five Punchline (sexyDancer), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

Robert Downey Jr would be great ... probably the most realistic choice (in terms of films that would make money) would be George Clooney.

― free jazz and mumia (sarahel), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

Clooney's funny, charming and tall enough ... but maybe not luckless enough? this is a guy who gets beat up every other chapter. That's what Bogey got wrong.

― Fox Force Five Punchline (sexyDancer), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:50 (3 years ago) Permalink

Clooney does tend to have a bit of a smug look a lot of the time.

― free jazz and mumia (sarahel), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

I think Chevy Chase could have pulled it off in the 80s.
Fletch is basically Marlowe with "gags."

― Fox Force Five Punchline (sexyDancer), Monday, 24 August 2009 21:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

I could see Clooney getting his ass kicked and wisecrack all the way through it. Very Marlowe.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 24 August 2009 22:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

wisecrackING

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 24 August 2009 22:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

Bogey gets beat up at least twice in The Big Sleep, that's a lot for a '40s movie "hero"

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Monday, 24 August 2009 22:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

...and he pretends to be gay, but doesn't get beat up for that.

― The Wild Shirtless Lyrics of Mark Farner (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 24 August 2009 22:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

Don't know if someone mentioned it upthread, but Robert Siodmak's Phantom Lady is a total classic.

Here the famous jazz scene, with Elisha Cook Jr as the satyr-like drummer (the quick shot when he touches Ella Raines' neck is still one of the most disturbing things I ever saw):

― Marco Damiani, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 08:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

So, my digibox went on the fritz and I missed all of these. I've already seen Build My Gallows High, and I'm sure Farewell will be on again, but the others - Stranger on the Third Floor, Lady from Shanghai, Big Combo, Force of Evil - are relatively obscure. My film guide says they're all brilliant and strange, but did anyone here actually see them? Thoughts? Recommendations?

― Dorian (Dorianlynskey), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 09:51 (3 years ago) Permalink

i just read "Film Noir" by Alan Silver & James Ursin. good book, beautiful pictures. i made notes of noirs i've yet to see, here's the list. (so this could be Alain Silver's recommendations in a way)

Criss-Cross
T-Men
They Drive By Night
They Live By Night
Human Desire
Phantom Lady (indeed)
D.O.A.
Detour
The Killers
Crossfiere
The Sniper
Brute Force
The Man I Love
The Reckless Moment
The Lady in the Lake
Gilda

---
also Hammett should be interesting a film Wim Wenders made about well Hammett the detective writer who was an alcoholic detective himself

― Ludo, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 09:55 (3 years ago) Permalink

<3 the reckless moment
human desire pretty good too

― also huh (velko), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 10:11 (3 years ago) Permalink

Lady From Shanghai is an Orson Welles containing at least a couple of extraordinary scenes (and a platinum Rita Hayworth).

I really like They Drive By Night (George Raft + Humphrey Bogart directed by Raoul Walsh),

Simply put, Detour is one of the absolute best low budget movies ever. Shot in 2 or 3 days, its impossibly grim, dark and cold and its a fine testament of Edgar Ulmer's huge talent; Lady in The Lake is another Chandler-inspired movie, this time all shot from the perspective of Philip Marlowe; Brute Force and The Killers have both Burt Lancaster in his early roles and they're stunning - I maybe prefer The Killers, another GREAT Siodmak movie with an impossibly beautiful Ava Gardner as the dark lady.

Check also Force of Evil (directed by a not yet blacklisted Abraham Polonsky) and, again if it not mentioned above, Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past.

― Marco Damiani, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 10:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

Gilda and Brute Force are pretty great.

― what happened? i am confused. (sarahel), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 10:14 (3 years ago) Permalink

dorian: Yeah, Lady From Shanghai is totally worth it, a few brilliant scenes in it. And Orson Welles' terrible accent just adds to the bizarre atmosphere of it.

Big Combo isn't super well known, but I remember it being pretty good.

― Nhex, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 10:29 (3 years ago) Permalink

I skipped watching Farewell my Lovely as I'm reading it (for the first time) at the moment, and didn't want it spoiled. I couldn't get to grips with The Lady From Shanghai for some reason. I don't think it was just because of Welle's Oirish brougue. The Big Combo however was excellent, full of noirish signifiers: all smoke and shadows, bursts of gunfire, duplicitous dames, the lot.

― all you proper coppers... i'm zipper the slipper (DavidM), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 14:33 (3 years ago) Permalink

Joseph H Lewis, who directed THE BIG COMBO, also made GUN CRAZY, which might not be strictly noir but is one of the greatest psychosexual girl/guy/gun flicks of all time

also love the two noirish thrillers that Fritz Lang made in the 1940s, WOMAN IN THE WINDOW and SCARLET STREET

― Ward Fowler, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 14:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

Gun Crazy is plain great: always puzzled me why John Dall didn't really have a movie career.

― Marco Damiani, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 15:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

Gun Crazy always looked mildly hokey to me. Worth a screening, then?

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 16:05 (3 years ago) Permalink

I loved Woman in the Window until the final five minutes, which seemed like a betrayal of the whole noir aesthetic.

― Dorian (Dorianlynskey), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 16:11 (3 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, the ending of that movie is pretty disappointing, but apparently Lang (rather cinically) enjoyed performing this cheesy trick.

― Marco Damiani, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 16:34 (3 years ago) Permalink

recently seen Classe tous risques (the big risk), the 2nd movie by claude sautet, and it's def. one of my favourite noirs ever.
it's actually a combination between noir and neo-realism. Melville was highly influenced by it, and it shows.

― Zeno, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 16:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

I need to watch more Tourneur. Recently saw I Walked With a Zombie, which isn't strictly noir but is amazingly atmospheric and features the spookiest calypso singer ever.

― Dorian (Dorianlynskey), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 17:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

features the spookiest calypso singer ever.

Tying the whole thing together here...

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 17:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

Weird true fact--I bought the 'Phantom Lady' novel by Cornell Woolrich a couple of years ago, and the bookshop person is "Oh, that comes with an action figure, I think."

And it did:

Strangest thing I've ever got at a bookshop.

― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Wednesday, 26 August 2009 00:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

Gun Crazy always looked mildly hokey to me. Worth a screening, then?

Oh SHIT yes! Worth it for the one-take bank-robbing scene alone, but it's all great. Has this fascinating complicated sexual vibe all the way through--Lewis wanted Dall to play the 'hero' as though he was maybe gay.

― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Wednesday, 26 August 2009 00:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

oh hoos, plz, it's only "hokey" to those cretins who laugh their way thru Every Old Movie Ever.

John Dall didn't really have a movie career.

? He's in Spartacus, that's a dozen years later. Figured he was handicapped in later years by seeming so obviously gay.

Big Combo was photographed by this guy, who did tons of good/great stuff:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0023003/

― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 August 2009 01:14 (3 years ago) Permalink

"He's in Spartacus, that's a dozen years later. Figured he was handicapped in later years by seeming so obviously gay"

Quite probable. I remember seeing Rope when I was a kid and being struck by his sneer.

― Marco Damiani, Wednesday, 26 August 2009 09:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

This Gun for Hire is great, really liking Alan Ladd

Drifted off with Maltese Falcon on last night, and ended up dreaming with Bogie popping up occasionally. Remember playing darts with him at one point, but he was throwing the darts from about 20 yards away and throwing them really hard. I had to ask him to be careful and watch my windows, to which he smiled "you're windows will be fine"

― Great Scott! It's Molecular Man. (Ste), Friday, 28 August 2009 09:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Just watched another Bogie effort, Dark Passage. Pretty good, some great shots of San Fran too. love how they don't show Humphrey's face for the first part of the movie, until he's had his plastic surgery.

― Great Scott! It's Molecular Man. (Ste), Thursday, 17 September 2009 23:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

Just ordered this, am hoping they're good!

1950s Japanese noir movies

― When two tribes go to war, he always gets picked last (James Morrison), Friday, 18 September 2009 00:28 (3 years ago) Permalink

I own that box but have only watched the first movie so far. Not conventional noir, not even in the way that, say, some of Kurosawa's stuff qualifies. Nikkatsu aimed for a teen market, so there's a lot of starcrossed lovers, theme songs sung by handsome lead actors, etc., though the movies do seem to be very dark and violent in a post-war poverty sort of way. But I think the noir categorization is mostly marketing on Criterion/Eclipse's part.

― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 18 September 2009 02:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Wow this 1948 UK film Daughter of Darkness was just given dvd reissue by Redemption films. It's both British noir and femme fatale wrapped in one with plenty of chiaroscuro and gothic vibe. Definitely recommended.

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 29 November 2009 22:47 (3 years ago) Permalink

7 months pass...

Anthony Mann's Side Street makes really amazing use of NYC locations and a great cast of supporting players. MGM was clearly trying to cash in on Naked City's success of the preceding year, but I think this one's better.

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 15 July 2010 03:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

Human Desire was finally released on DVD last week. Caught it yet? Not one of Lang's best noirs, and no pox on Renoir's version.

― I'm never gonna do it without the Lex on (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 July 2010 03:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Just saw Deadline At Dawn, (mentioned 4 years ago) last night, and it's fascinating: bizarrely pseudopoetic dialogue by Clifford Odets, and a very Edward Hopper-ish visual design; Susan Hayward is beautiful.

― Taller than the president (Dan Peterson), Monday, 11 October 2010 14:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

Came to say that the 1998 sc-fi noir Dark City with Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly and William Hurt is grebt, but the 1950 not-quite-noir Dark City with Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Jack Webb, Harry Morgan, Dean Jagger, Ed Begley and Viveca Lindfors is fun but doesn't really satisfy.

― buffalo stence (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 11 October 2010 14:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

The Carlton here (not a rep theatre; a little hard to classify) has a "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Weekend" going on. I'd like to see a bunch of them, but the way the price structure's set up, I'll limit myself to a couple--maybe I Walk Alone and Deception.

Fri 11-Sun 13 - Toronto Film Society presents a festival of film noir classics. $10 rush tickets; Fri or Sat pass $65, Sun pass $50, full weekend pass $150.

Fri 11 - Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) D: Carl Reiner. 9:15 am. Notorious (1946) D: Alfred Hitchcock. 11 am. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) D: Tay Garnett. 1:25 pm. Double Indemnity (1944) D: Billy Wilder. 3:35 pm. The Killers (1946) D: Robert Siodmak. 6:50 pm. The Lost Weekend (1945) D: Billy Wilder. 8:50 pm. Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) D: Anatole Litvak. 10:45 pm.

Sat 12 - The Big Sleep (1946) D: Howard Hawks. 9 am. This Gun For Hire (1941) D: Frank Tuttle. 11:10 am. Humoresque (1946) D: Jean Negulesco. 1:15 pm. White Heat (1949) D: Raoul Walsh. 3:35 pm. I Walk Alone (1948) D: Byron Haskin. 7 pm. In A Lonely Place (1950) D: Nicholas Ray. 8:50 pm. Suspicion (1941) D: Alfred Hitchcock. 10:40 pm.

Sun 13 - The Bribe (1949) D: Robert Z Leonard. 9:30 am. Deception (1946) D: Irving Rapper. 11:10 am. Johnny Eager (1941) D: Mervyn LeRoy. 2 pm. Dark Passage (1947) D: Delmer Daves. 4 pm. The Glass Key (1942) D: Stuart Heisler. 6 pm.

― clemenza, Friday, 11 May 2012 17:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wow.

― The Unbassful Serpent (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 11 May 2012 20:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Got out to I Walk Alone and Johnny Eager. The first reminded me a lot of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers--partly that Kirk Douglas and Elizabeth Scott are in both, but more for the structure. I find Liz Scott kind of annoying. First time I've seen Johnny Eager. Lana Turner as a sociologist is right up there with Jennifer Lopez, child psychologist in The Cell. I've never found Turner that beautiful in The Postman Always Rings Twice--don't like the way she's got her hair--but she sure is beautiful here. I don't recall any mention of Van Heflin's character in The Celluloid Closet, but Heflin's portrayal seems ahead of its time. Robert Taylor's fake niece has a great scene.

― clemenza, Sunday, 13 May 2012 23:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

I have some problems with LS as well.

Anthony Mann's Side Street makes really amazing use of NYC locations and a great cast of supporting players. MGM was clearly trying to cash in on Naked City's success of the preceding year, but I think this one's better.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, July 14, 2010 11:34 PM (1 year ago)

I forgot to second this two years ago.

― The Unbassful Serpent (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 May 2012 00:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Triggered by the name-that-still thread, I was looking at some images from Force of Evil last week; fantastic.

David Thomson reviews a re-release today and says it's better than On the Waterfront:

http://www.tnr.com/article/film/105544/david-thomson-force-of-evil

I'd be surprised if I liked it that much, but I do need to see this.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:25 (10 months ago) Permalink

It's really great.

― dan selzer, Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:50 (10 months ago) Permalink

But I don't think of it when I think of the most expressionistic cinematography. It's more about the script and characters.

― dan selzer, Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:51 (10 months ago) Permalink

I watched a neat one last night (actually 3AM, damn insomnia) -- Without Warning!

Quiet, unobtrusive LA citizen Carl Martin picks up look-alikes for his estranged blonde wife and murders them with garden shears.

Actually more police prodecural than straight noir, but what made it better than average for me was location footage of a long-gone Hollywood, including many scenes shot around Chavez Ravine, a ramshackle Latino neighborhood in the hills above the then-under-construction freeway system. I didn't know the story of this area until I researched this morning; I found it fascinating.

― David Allan Cow (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 31 July 2012 19:29 (10 months ago) Permalink

All bulldozed for Dodger Stadium. Still a contentious issue.

― nickn, Tuesday, 31 July 2012 23:19 (10 months ago) Permalink

This is a nice piece; great pics and a salient quote:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2009/05/eric-avila-is-an-associate-professor-of-chicano-studies-history-and-urban-planning-at-ucla-his-book-popular-culture-in-the.html

the city reneged on its promise to build housing for poor people because government-subsidized housing was "socialistic," then turned around and subsidized (Walter) O'Malley's bid to build a stadium in the area... Many Angelenos saw that as pure hypocrisy (and it very much reminds me of current accusations of "socialism" in the U.S.)

― David Allan Cow (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 1 August 2012 14:24 (10 months ago) Permalink

Force of Evil is great, much less sentimental than Waterfront, no sop-to-the-audience finish.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 1 August 2012 14:26 (10 months ago) Permalink

think I can only catch one of two lesser-known Siodmaks at Film Forum tonight... probably Christmas Holiday, w/ Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly! Yes, it's a noir, apparently!

http://www.filmforum.org/movies/more/the_dark_mirror_christmas_holi

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 2 August 2012 21:17 (10 months ago) Permalink

Thanks for the alert!

― Like Monk Never Happened (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 2 August 2012 22:09 (10 months ago) Permalink

This really turned out to be an excellent double feature by the way, both Christmas Holiday and The Dark Mirror, with Olivia de Havilland and Thomas Mitchell.

― Zing Can Really Hang You Up the Most (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 4 August 2012 03:18 (10 months ago) Permalink

My wife, who's not much of a movie buff, is for some reason really interested in the Noir City festival. What should we see? Kiss Me Deadly is probably at the top of my list (I haven't seen any of them); The Window looks intriguing, but we've already got plans the night it's screening.

― Trewster Dare (jaymc), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 15:56 (10 months ago) Permalink

Besides KMD, I would recommend On Dangerous Ground, White Heat, Phantom Lady, Caught.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:03 (10 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, those look good, thanks!

― Trewster Dare (jaymc), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:05 (10 months ago) Permalink

What Dr Morbius said, plus This Gun for Hire

― computers are the new "cool tool" (James Morrison), Thursday, 9 August 2012 01:12 (10 months ago) Permalink

glass orchid

― baking (soda), Thursday, 9 August 2012 01:22 (10 months ago) Permalink

sorry, conflated glass key and no orchid for miss blandish

― baking (soda), Thursday, 9 August 2012 01:23 (10 months ago) Permalink

Is No Orchid any good? Never seen it. Glass Key was cool.

― computers are the new "cool tool" (James Morrison), Thursday, 9 August 2012 02:07 (10 months ago) Permalink

no, it's not any good, that's what it's famous for.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 9 August 2012 02:20 (10 months ago) Permalink

Ha, right--I knew the book had that rep, didn't know about the film.

― computers are the new "cool tool" (James Morrison), Thursday, 9 August 2012 02:22 (10 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

video essay on Chandler adaptations:

http://filmstudiesforfree.blogspot.de/2012/10/hard-boiled-studies-of-raymond.html

― cancer, kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 14 October 2012 17:06 (8 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Just watched Blast of Silence, partly for its Christmas setting. When it was done, one of my friends said, "Well that was a fuckin' gangster movie." Pretty amazing film. So much in it that could be ridiculous and kind of is -- especially the sneering narration -- but it's so uncompromising and flinty straight to the end that you can't laugh it off.

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Monday, 17 December 2012 03:19 (6 months ago) Permalink

Anthony Mann's Side Street makes really amazing use of NYC locations and a great cast of supporting players. MGM was clearly trying to cash in on Naked City's success of the preceding year, but I think this one's better.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, July 14, 2010 11:34 PM (1 year ago)
I forgot to second this two years ago.
― The Unbassful Serpent (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 May 2012 00:50 (7 months ago) Permalink

Thirded. I just stumbled across this one last night, it's really great.

― Rocking Disco Santa (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 20 December 2012 15:43 (5 months ago) Permalink

It seems I rated Blast of Silence five stars on Netflix, but I don't remember watching it. Will have to re-screen.

― Peacock, Friday, 21 December 2012 01:50 (5 months ago) Permalink

I had never seen Dark Passage before last night. The POV camera gimmick, Bogey's dream sequence, nonsensical plot, odd supporting characters, beuatiful San Fran location shooting... even if this isn't maybe a great movie, it's great fun!

― Rocking Disco Santa (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 2 January 2013 16:12 (5 months ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

Michael Atkinson:

Auteurism has encouraged us to think of a director’s filmography as a whole, but within it each film is measured by how beautifully or not it expresses that director’s aesthetic personality.

Noir isn’t like that. It often doesn’t matter who directs which film, what studio made it, or even how “good” each individually is. If we’ve learned anything from catching up with the genre—and I expect to still be seeing “new” noirs made between 1945 and 1962 into my dotage—it’s that each noir is not an individual piece of work, and shouldn’t be diminished by being seen that way. Rather, it’s a zone you enter into, a gallery of bastards and luckless fools, of urban lostness and night streets. It’s bigger than both of us, bigger, certainly, than the often-too-precious romance between a director and his auteurist fan. You go there and find what you can. Simply, noirs are best considered as a whole, as a hive-mind bum’s rush, America whiskey-talking to itself after an innocence-torching war and during a social moment that was supposed to be bliss and was instead empty and scarred. Each noir itself is not equivalent to a painting or a symphony, but all of them together are a cathedral, the massive and chastening temple of the mid-century American Dream betting the Devil its heart, and losing.

This is why noir-based fiction, like David Thomson’s novel “Suspects” and Martin Rowson’s outrageous Eliot-meets-Chandler graphic novel lark “The Waste Land,” come at this particular cultural eruption folding scores of films and characters and references into their narratives. It may be the one page in cinema history where it’s not only permissible but desirable to mix the films and storylines and character arcs together, commingling the experiences of Robert Ryan’s various bigots and Charles McGraw’s various trenchcoated badasses and Yvonne DeCarlo’s various vampire-tramps into one midnight stumble into the shadowlands. Still, that doesn’t mean that noirs are or can be homogenized, or that their use of familiar genre tropes are what’s interesting about them. Each noir has a layer, a dose of beleaguered humanity, to add to the larger story.

http://blog.sundancenow.com/weekly-columns/viva-mabuse-22-noiristan

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 16:37 (4 months ago) Permalink

Wow. Well put. Have you ever read that one book by Geoffrey O'Brien where each chapter is the retelling of a dreamlike uber-film based on one particular genre? The Phantom Empire: Movies in the Mind of the 20th Century

― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 18:25 (4 months ago) Permalink

I have not

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 18:28 (4 months ago) Permalink

I remember it being an evocation of something like what Atkinson is describing.

― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 18:35 (4 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

holy shit at the final scene of Kiss Me Deadly

― four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 17 April 2013 19:31 (2 months ago) Permalink

Just skimming through this thread I noticed Devil In A Blue Dress gets mentioned but no One False Move?? Surely not. Like the look of Side Street.

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 20:37 (2 months ago) Permalink

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