There were elements I liked: the apartment complex, some of the photography (especially in the masseuse scene and some of the outside landscapes), but the off-centre murder didn;t work for me as it made the film less embedded in the noir genre.
Things I didn't like:
- I couldn't stand the Shakespearian actor/drunk- the soundtrack music- the 'clever' dialogue- Bogart's performance - needed more light and shade- the change in Gloria Grahame's character from smart strong female as the film goes on- the wooden supporting characters
It's possible I could have been is something of a un receptive state of mind - but I don't think another viewing would lead me to re-think it as 'wonderful'.
― Luna Schlosser, Sunday, 3 December 2017 12:51 (six years ago) link
the change in Gloria Grahame's character from smart strong female as the film goes on
well, love does things to people.
I wonder if anyone will ever film the plot of the novel, in which Dix is much younger, not a screenwriter, and (not a spoiler) a killer.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 3 December 2017 14:47 (six years ago) link
also, it is signalled that she might be a bit of a flake and a fantasist through her backstory about jilting the real estate magnate
― plax (ico), Sunday, 3 December 2017 15:56 (six years ago) link
in the movie Laurel lies to provide Dix with his alibi in the first place, "strong" might be one way of describing that but "implicated" would be another.
― Illegal Ethiopian Dance Music (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 3 December 2017 16:38 (six years ago) link
You’re ganging up to deny her agency!
― Luna Schlosser, Sunday, 3 December 2017 18:05 (six years ago) link
does she lie? I thought she, like we the viewers, did see the girl leave, but can't be sure of what happened after. Why was he still dressed etc. ?
― plax (ico), Sunday, 3 December 2017 18:29 (six years ago) link
without going back to watch i can't be certain but i'm sure she makes the alibi stronger than what she actually could have seen, because she already finds Dix interesting - which isn't denying her agency! it's more that she starts the relationship already knowing that, at least, he has a propensity for "trouble"
― Illegal Ethiopian Dance Music (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 3 December 2017 19:45 (six years ago) link
this film is really something. it's very clever in how it first positions Dix as a wrongly accused, misunderstood suspect in a vicious murder, and puts us reflexively on his side, but then in a parallel fashion as he fights to clear his name, it shows what kind of monster he is.
He's a very violent, abusive, cruel man. His life is a tragedy, for somewhere in there is a good man who is completely destroyed by his anger and vicious streak. And it's only due to pure luck (a cry of protest, a timely phone call) that he winds up not being a killer. Narratively that initial set up (and then pulling the rug out from under the audience) is terrific.
― omar little, Friday, 14 September 2018 17:42 (five years ago) link
Rewatched this for the first time in years, again in connection to James Harvey's Movie Love in the Fifties.
Morbidly fascinating for sure, although I wouldn't quite put it in my first rank of '50s American films (On the Waterfront, Sweet Smell of Success, Paths of Glory). Dix is another one for that Ethan Edwards/Scottie/Dave Bannion borderline psycho list.
Harvey doesn't mention something I just assumed: that Laurel was planning to run off with Martha the masseuse at the end. There are clear intimations of this, I think.
― clemenza, Monday, 25 May 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
Not sure if this comes up in the thread, but according to Harvey, Ray's original script (all but four pages of which were altered) had the film end with Dix murdering Laurel, then having his friend arrive at the apartment to clear him of the other murder.
― clemenza, Monday, 25 May 2020 17:05 (three years ago) link
"Dix Steele"--that's like one Hays Code warning away from Johnny Wadd.
― clemenza, Monday, 25 May 2020 17:10 (three years ago) link
this is one of the best movies ever made imho
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Monday, 25 May 2020 17:32 (three years ago) link
this is certainly Graham's best and that's saying something!
― plax (ico), Monday, 25 May 2020 17:36 (three years ago) link
My fave Bogie performance (even if it isn't the most Bogie performance).
― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Monday, 25 May 2020 17:38 (three years ago) link
This is a good movie.
― Trouble Is My Métier (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 25 May 2020 17:39 (three years ago) link
this is one of the best movies ever made imho― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Monday, May 25, 2020 12:32 PM (yesterday0
This.
― Vegemite Is My Grrl (Eric H.), Tuesday, 26 May 2020 16:01 (three years ago) link