Have you ever noticed that in classic film noirs there's usually at least one, sometimes rather dramatically tenuous scene, with a central character who shows up on the doorstep of another character's home in the middle of the night?
When a disoriented and beaten Dana Andrews leans on Gene Tierney's doorbell in Where the Sidewalk Ends, or Linda Darnell shows up on Stephen McNally's porch looking like something the cat neglected to drag in during No Way Out or a bloodied and bowed Jack Nicholson pops by Fay Dunaway's manse in Chinatown, it's usually after a psychological or physical drubbing that the "lost soul" has just experienced. I guess it's supposed to dramatically highlight the extreme duress that our hero or heroine is experiencing, though it just dawned on my numb skull that this type of scene seems to be standard issue in noirs.
Are there any other scenes like these that you'd like to point out? Thanks in advance for sharing any of your thoughts.
"Lost Soul" Scenes in Film Noirs
-
moira finnie
- Administrator
- Posts: 8024
- Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
- Location: Earth
- Contact:
What you're describing is a trademark quality of many fine noir films. One in particular that I like a lot is in NIGHTFALL, Jacques Tourneur's wonderful 1957 film (airing on TCM for the first time next month). In it there's a scene where our hero (Aldo Ray) turns up at the apartment of Anne Bancroft (who may or may not be up to no good) after taking quite a shellacking (and escaping) from bad guys Brian Keith and Rudy Bond. Aldo's been pretty roughed up here and his ultra-sensitive demeanor is used quite effectively. Great scene, great movie.
Then there's the scene in which Ralph Meeker (as the ultra-insensitive private eye Mike Hammer) in KISS ME DEADLY turns up in the bedroom of his secretary Velda after his buddy Nick has been bumped off. The kicker here, of course, is that Velda's bitter and recriminating comments send Mike back out into the night, unsatisfied and surlier than ever.
Then there's the scene in which Ralph Meeker (as the ultra-insensitive private eye Mike Hammer) in KISS ME DEADLY turns up in the bedroom of his secretary Velda after his buddy Nick has been bumped off. The kicker here, of course, is that Velda's bitter and recriminating comments send Mike back out into the night, unsatisfied and surlier than ever.
-
moira finnie
- Administrator
- Posts: 8024
- Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
- Location: Earth
- Contact:
I'll have to catch Nightfall (1956) this time around on TCM. It is being aired again on Jan. 23rd at 9:15AM ET. I always liked Aldo Ray and thought that he was vastly underrated as an actor who could play nicely against his hulking image. Seeing Ann Bancroft in the '50s always seems so strange. Hollywood clearly didn't know what to do with her and kept trying to make her some kind of relatively simple hot babe, rather than appreciating the range and complexity of her talent. Watching her work in the '50s, it's almost as though you're seeing an entirely different person than the marvelous actress in The Pumpkin Eater, The Miracle Worker, and, for my money, the only reason to watch The Graduate.
To return to the topic theme, I thought of another "lost soul" middle of the night visit that went very much awry:
In Cry of the City (1948) wounded fugitive Richard Conte probably regretted the impromptu drop-in he made at Hope Emerson's abode/place of business. Her brand of "helpfulness" proved anything but a respite from the turmoil of Conte's life, but, boy, what a great villainous presence she had :!:
To return to the topic theme, I thought of another "lost soul" middle of the night visit that went very much awry:
In Cry of the City (1948) wounded fugitive Richard Conte probably regretted the impromptu drop-in he made at Hope Emerson's abode/place of business. Her brand of "helpfulness" proved anything but a respite from the turmoil of Conte's life, but, boy, what a great villainous presence she had :!:
-
Mr. Arkadin
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm