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
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
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
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)
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, July 14, 2010 11:34 PM (1 year ago)
― The Unbassful Serpent (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 May 2012 00:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
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 (9 months ago) Permalink
It's really great.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:50 (9 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 (9 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 (9 months ago) Permalink
All bulldozed for Dodger Stadium. Still a contentious issue.
― nickn, Tuesday, 31 July 2012 23:19 (9 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 (9 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 (9 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 (9 months ago) Permalink
Thanks for the alert!
― Like Monk Never Happened (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 2 August 2012 22:09 (9 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 (9 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 (9 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 (9 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, those look good, thanks!
― Trewster Dare (jaymc), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:05 (9 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 (9 months ago) Permalink
glass orchid
― baking (soda), Thursday, 9 August 2012 01:22 (9 months ago) Permalink
sorry, conflated glass key and no orchid for miss blandish
― baking (soda), Thursday, 9 August 2012 01:23 (9 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 (9 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 (9 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 (9 months ago) Permalink
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 (7 months ago) Permalink
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 (5 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
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 (4 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 (4 months ago) Permalink
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 (3 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 (3 months ago) Permalink
I have not
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 18:28 (3 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 (3 months ago) Permalink
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 (1 month 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 (1 month ago) Permalink