Noir Films

[Dewey1960]

ChiO sez: Directors on the Edge: Outliers in Hollywood (James Ursini, 2011). Apparently the focus is on Hugo Haas, Reginald LeBorg, Ida Lupino, Gerd Oswald, and Edgar G. Ulmer. Quite the line-up.
Wow!! Reginald LeBorg -- one of my favorite poverty row auteurs!! You'd have to look pretty deep to find much critical appreciation for his work! Mix in the others and it looks to be quite an interesting read!!

[CineMaven]

Dewey, you're teaching a class?

Mr. D. has taught at Stanford University for several years now, but often lectures here for a smaller fee. You did pay at the door didn't you?

Uhmmmmm....no I didn't. And the bursars office was closed. Besides, when I saw her sitting in the classroom:


Black Eyed Peas' Fergie + Mayo Methot = CLEO MOORE

I knew she'd be the teacher's pet and I wouldn't learn a thing.

ChiO writes: "...Anyone nabbed this one yet? Directors on the Edge: Outliers in Hollywood (James Ursini, 2011). Apparently the focus is on Hugo Haas, Reginald LeBorg, Ida Lupino, Gerd Oswald, and Edgar G. Ulmer. Quite the line-up.

[ChiO]

SO YOUNG SO BAD (Bernard Vorhaus, 1950). I'm of two minds on this one: #1 - Gracious! #2 - WOW! This is what B-Kinda Noir is all about.

Life of Bad Girls -- but is any child really bad? -- in a "correctional school". JD WIP. Gratuitous cruelty and sadism dished out to the girls and a poor little bunny. Exploitation with shower scenes and a vicious hosing down by the cruel closeted matron. Our lead JD -- Anne Francis -- is not only a Lolita with sex hormones in overdrive, she uses them to smother our kindly and progressive, but thwarted (professionally and sexually), psychiatrist Victor Laszlo (aka Paul Henreid), in order to hide her real feelings about having put her born out of wedlock son up for adoption. Rosita Moreno (in her first movie and later becomes known as Rita) is withdrawn, but, with patience and nurturing, demonstrates her singing voice. Anne Jackson (her first movie) is a scamp. There is political blackmail. And flashback and voice-over narration. Of course, through love and understanding, the correctional school becomes a Garden of Eden -- why, girls will probably commit crimes just to be placed there.

Writing credit goes to two blacklist victims. Uncredited co-director is Edgar G. Ulmer. And the cinematography -- marvelous! -- shifts from standard '50s programmer to German Expressionism to Soviet Realism faster than you can turn a fire hose on the Bad Girls.

Not to be missed.

[CineMaven]

Whoa...it was interesting to read what Feaito and klondike wrote back in April...

by feaito » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:23 pm
Today I watched "I Walk Alone" (1948), a lesser known Noir directed by Byron Haskin, starring Burt Lancaster as an ex bootlegger who's been in jail for 14 years (1933-1947), who took the blame alone for contraband and saved his partner (Kirk Douglas), who's become a big businnessman and owner of a prominent Nightclub (The Regent)....the guy who takes care of the "books" is Wendell Corey, who's been doing things not of his liking under the pressure of ambitious Douglas and who apparently is still on the level with Lancaster....Alluring, sexy, husky-voiced Lizabeth Scott plays Douglas' girl who begings to fall for much more honest Lancaster....Kristine Miller plays a society nympho, not unlike Martha Vickers in "The Big Sleep". An interesting Noir which lacks a strong director and a better script. The stars do what they can with the material. Still interesting and worthwhile, especially the ambiguous tormented relationship between Corey, Lancaster and Douglas.

by klondike » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:45 pm
It's interesting to compare I Walk Alone with another early "little" Lancaster noir, Criss Cross, wherein he's also dragged back "down" against his better intentions.Then again, it would also be intriguing (if one wanted to make a real rainy-Saturday-afternoon playbill of it) to compare Douglas' conniving boss character in IWA, with his brassy puppet-master/journeyman crime boss role from Tourneur's Out of The Past, wherein he tries to sucker Bob Mitchum with a faux-fraternal con job very similar to the one he attempted on buddy Burt.

by feaito » Tue Apr 05, 2011 10:06 am
Thanks Moira, I'll check "Criss Cross" (haven't seen it). "Out of the Past" I've seen it twice already and it's a masterpiece of double crossing...with Jane Greer playing the deadliest of the femme fatales -a true Praying Mantis. Another film to compare with IWA would be "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946) in which Kirk Douglas and Lizabeth Scott are also featured (Was it Douglas' debut??) and co-star with Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin, an engrossing drama produced by Hal B. Wallis.

...because it looks like your thoughts are coming to fruition.

BETRAYAL, DECEPTION AND LUST: TCM's FILM NOIR(ISH) TRIPLE DECKER TRIPLE FEATURE




On Tuesday, September 8th, TCM will air three films back-to-back (...to back) featuring guns, fedoras and femmes fatale. "THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS" "OUT OF THE PAST" and "I WALK ALONE" will be part of the film fare highlighting the career of KIRK DOUGLAS every Tuesday night in September. "...Martha Ivers" and "Out of the Past" are like dear old friends to me. And Paramount's "I Walk Alone" is a film I haven't seen in a while but I like very much. I'm looking forward to hunkering down with some junk food and movie snacks while I watch our heroes: HEFLIN, MITCHUM and LANCASTER step on every landmine a blonde or brunette leads them to.

The interesting thing for me about this triumvirate triple decker is how they're all enmeshed with movie star pairings. Many of the stars in Tuesday night's noir roster have appeared in other films with each other. These are some of the pairings I came up with. And trying to think of more will keep me busy until Tuesday night...

Wendell Corey appeared in "The Furies" with Barbara Stanwyck who appeared in "East Side, West Side" with Van Heflin who appeared in "Airport" with Burt Lancaster who appeared in "Desert Fury" with Lizabeth Scott who appeared in "The Company She Keeps" with Jane Greer who appeared in "The Big Steal" with Robert Mitchum.

And all of these actors worked with Kirk Douglas. Yeah yeah yeah...you have these movies already either on tape or DVDs. And that's going to stop you from watching this Tuesday night?

[JackFavell]

I'm looking forward to seeing this grand slam triple decker!

I just watched I WALK ALONE the other day. Although Burt was the less experienced actor by far, he held his own and occasionally rose above Kirk's powerful persona. He was pretty much the only reason I watched I WALK ALONE, and he came through for me. Since I am not a Kirk Douglas fan, it can be quite a chore for me to watch some of his movies. I prefer him early on, in ensemble pieces before he became the whole show. I also wanted to see Lizabeth Scott, because she impressed me in THE COMPANY SHE KEEPS. She doesn't really come through well in this film.

But as good looking and interesting as Burt was (and I mean TO DIE FOR here), in I WALK ALONE my heart belonged to Wendell Corey.....

agggghhhh! What am I saying? yes... it's true. He's better here than in any other film I've seen him in... and that ain't no lie, because generally, Wendell makes my skin crawl. "WHA??? That guy's a movie star?" is my standard reaction. Usually he's so flat and dull that I completely blank him out, but in I WALK ALONE, Wendell is constantly struggling internally. Every glimpse we have of him, something is happening inside - he has that hurt look on his face, but he's hiding it, holding it in, looking away. He's like a pup who's been beaten over and over for making a mess on the floor. The guilt, the inability to stand up for himself, the feeling of entrapment, It's all played very low key and under the surface, the traits I like best in an actor. And he does get his chance to step forward to redeem himself, late in the film - this is the one place where the writers did a good job. He has the showpiece role of course, the one that Thomas Mitchell would have played a few years before, but Corey is exceptionally fine playing Kirk's reluctant pawn.

The actors rise above the weak script and plain direction, with Burt carrying most of the film and Kirk taking the ending. It's worth it to see Burt in all his glorious youth. oh yeah and Wendell Corey.

[CineMaven]

Three of films’ finest actors appear tonite in what I call “BETRAYAL, DECEPTION & LUST: TCM’s Triple Decker Triple Feature." Our heroes will walk with eyes wide shut into the arms of The Femme Fatale.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I've got my recorder armed and ready for I Walk Alone (1948). I'm thrilled that TCM is finally highlighting Kirk's career and many of the films they will show prove that he was not a one dimensional player (a charge leveled at him for years), but a couple I wish had been included that could sit neatly in this thread:

Champion (1948)
The film that made him a star, Douglas gives an incredible performance of a man who seccumbs to fame and a corrupt nature. TCM hasn't played this film in over seven years. Why?

The Brotherhood (1969)
This little shown film anticipated The Godfather by several years and Kirk's portayal of a mobster is much more subtle (and honest) than Brando's better known characterization (which I also enjoy).

[JackFavell]

Mr. Arkadin, forgive this noir rube , but what is your avatar from?

[Mr. Arkadin]

Raw Deal

[Dewey1960]

September 8 certainly does look to be a red letter day. OUT OF THE PAST needs no introduction (not from me, at least). I WALK ALONE is a film I've only seen once or twice, so the recorder will be well-oiled and ready to go. Looking forward to a lively post-game wrap-up!

[CineMaven]

BETRAYAL, DECEPTION AND LUST: TCM's FILM NOIR(ISH) TRIPLE DECKER TRIPLE FEATURE


Tonite ( date correction: September 6th ) is a great night of TCM programming, for me anyway...and for you, hopefully, as it’s the introduction into the career of Star of the Month: KIRK DOUGLAS. This evening’s noirish triple decker triple feature, “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” “Out of the Past” and “I Walk Alone” are samples of some of the best movies film noir has to offer.

I find “I Walk Alone” to be a quintessential dyed-in-the-wool 1940’s movie.

All three films dress themselves differently. If they were quilts, they’d have distinct patterns. They evince different shades and shapes of the noir pallette. I find “Out of the Past” the glossiest dime in this bunch with its outdoor scenes filmed in bright sunlight. The movie’s silver nitrate ‘pings’ with crispness. The message also seems to come across how small we humans are; see Mitchum walk along the lake when he’s fishing, with those mountains as a backdrop.

“...Martha Ivers” and “I Walk Alone” look flatter to me with all the in-studio shooting; a matte finish instead of a glossy one. (This is not a criticism; just highlighting the differences of how each movie feels and looks to me). “Out of the Past” has the more complex plot with flashbacks and sub-plots weaving seamlessly in and out of its noir-y tapestry.

“I Walk Alone” and “...Martha Ivers” have plots that go forward in a simpler, laser beam sort of way... straight and true. When I travel these three films noir, I can gaze along the way at the scenery of a straight road just as easily as I can check out the scenery of a winding, twisty road. All three films give me something to look at and enjoy. Part of the scenery along the road is...our heroes. They each have a distinct persona. And some I feel sorrier for than others.

VAN HEFLIN as The Sardonic, SAM MASTERSON



“I don’t like to get pushed around. I don’t like anyone I like to be pushed around. I don’t like anyone to get pushed around.”



“I wasn’t there, Martha.”

It took me a good thirty-five years and 11,329,099, 632 times of watching “THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS” to really fall for Van Heflin. Now, I’m crazy about him in this movie. He plays Sam Masterson and Sam is a wise-guy, wry and smart alec, he roams from thing to thing. Did a stint in the Army. He’s very flippant (“the road turned and I didn’t.”) Heflin’s is the easiest and breeziest of performances of tonite. But there are a couple of layers to our Sammykins. HURT - As he talks about his “people” we see a glimpse of the hurt of a boy who has been abandoned. SENSITIVITY - He covers Toni with a blanket when she falls asleep in his bed. He does so, tenderly, with Miklos Rosza’s music sweetly underscoring the scene. (Oh those lush violins make my heart swoon). To be honest, Toni could really be his for the asking as he wryly watches her eagerness to be with him. But she’s been victimized enough. OPPORTUNISM - Sam looks for a favor from his old childhood friend when he kind of stumbles onto his past. Maybe this film should be called ‘Out of the Past.’ If he can cut himself a piece of the coal-baked pie...he’s in. He’ll roll the dice with his grandmother if he had to. When he hooks up again with Martha, is it true love, passion with him? I don’t think so. Their first kiss was a tender nostalgic one, but when Martha opens her eyes in that glorious close-up, and then Sam does...it becomes something else; calculations and machinations I think Sam has more feeling for Toni than he does with Martha ‘roll-in-the-hay- for-old-times-sake’ Ivers. You know you really can’t go home again. Sam is very different from Jeff Markham. If you want to see what it looks like when the mighty falls, you ought to stay tuned at 10:00pm and watch Robert Mitchum in “Out of the Past.”

P.S. Love ANN DORAN’s little spot as Douglas’ secretary. She’s intriguing.

********

MITCHUM as Laconic Fatalist, JEFF BAILEY



”You build my gallows high, Baby.”

There’s something devastating about a man who falls in love, and gets his heart broken. That’s part of the story of “OUT OF THE PAST.” I think it’s safe to say this film is considered by many to be the gold standard of film noir. From the crisp dialogue and cinematography to die for, the melancholy music that doesn’t intrude but underscores, the perfect cast and the fluid direction of Jacques Tourneur, “Out of the Past” has it all; night shrouds events, the requisite wide-brimmed fedoras and trenchcoat, a hero who stolidly meets his fate, and Jane Greer walking in from the sunlight.

It’s not like our hero doesn’t try to get out of the way. He does. ROBERT MITCHUM as Jeff Bailey changes his name and profession to start a new life. But his past catches up with him when Kirk Douglas’ character “big-time operator” Whit Stirling brings Jeff back in the fold. You’ve seen a bunch of movies where two guys fall for the same girl. Well, it happens here too. Whit sends Jeff to bring back his girl. Why would a man want back a woman who stole his money and shoots him? Believe me, he doesn’t care about the money. Jeff finally sees the girl. The build-up to WHO the Object of Desire is is great.



She walked in out of the sun...and blinded him.

Even with Lana and Ava and Rita and Gloria and Joanie et al making their seductive contributions to being lethaI ladies, I find Jane Greer the most devastating femme fatale I’ve ever seen. Her lies are criminal, her eyes should be against the law.

I’ve seen this movie a slew of times and never noticed until tonight that the earrings Jeff buys from the guide and offers to Kathie, which she refuses, are the same earrings she wears when they come in out of the rain running into her cabin. So you see, you can find something Jeff and Kathie have like a “Last Tango in Paris” type arrangement where he meets her on her terms, at night and asks no question. It’s Jeff’s falling that gets me. He’s so big, man of few words...waits for her like a school boy.When he’s betrayed it’s rough. He doesn’t drink like Bogie in “Casablanca” but it is a kick in the teeth. He sees who he’s dealing with now. And he’s got to beat her at her own game. But you don’t know Kathie Moffatt.

I have to beg to differ with TCM's guest host, Illeana Douglas, when she says the plot of this film is confusing. It’s not in the least.

[JackFavell]

I loved what you wrote about The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.

SPOILERS


This is a movie I keep coming back to, mainly because it's an easy watch. But there is something in Martha I don't understand. Even before I came to watch noirs, I watched this one , but always with a question in my mind.

Martha could have been portrayed in the most sympathetic way - her supposedly cold blooded murder of her aunt was almost completely justified, by movie standards anyway. As soon as she beat the innocent cat to death, that woman's number was up, and no one could have blamed young Martha for doing the same to her. She didn't even beat her, she struck her only once, then Aunt what's-her-name took the tumble down the giant staircase that came in so handy for murder in this picture.

So why is Martha portrayed as a cold blooded, controlling b-word? From the beginning, there is something off about Tina...um...sorry. Right teen actress, wrong movie.... I mean Martha. If she had been played as innocent victim at the beginning of the picture, changing into a controlling , conniving B-word by the end, one could almost make it into a comment on wealth and how it corrupts even those with the strongest convictions. Martha is proud of her father, who was a common laborer. At the end, she tells Sam of the countless charities she has helped on inheriting her aunt's fortune. But Martha is not tainted by money. Nor is she tainted by Whit's.... um....wrong movie.... I mean Walter's presence in her life, as she tries to make Sam believe.

The odd thing is, for all her inbred, inborn, lying murderous instinct, I LIKE Martha, and would probably do most of what she did, were I given the opportunity. Martha is strangely sympathetic, and it's only a simple twist of the director's screwy mind that she is a femme fatale at all, not a heroine in a domestic drama. So why? She even tells Sam the truth about the night she murdered her aunt - what self respecting lethal lady would do that? So what if she didn't know that he didn't know.... she still came clean with him. This inner emotional and psychological spin the director places on Martha makes this very obviously a noir movie, and no other title will do.

The script imposes it's own noirish psychology on Sam, who is obviously a good guy, but one who shacks up with one woman while having a sexual encounter with another. Sam is the type to go with the flow, he is a gambler sometimes and a possible blackmailer (though I think he just took advantage of the offer when it presented itself). He follows his own jovial inclinations.....noir but nice. These are just a few of the thoughts I have when watching The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, and why it's my favorite of the three movies that were on last night.

Oh yeah, and it's great that you mentioned the music, Cinie-Maven...one of my favorite parts of this movie is the highly fraught score, so fitting the emotional tone of the film we are plunged into.

[CineMaven]

FEMME NOIR: SUGAR AND SPICE...AND EVERYTHING NICE?



BARBARA STANWYCK and JANE GREER

Not once. Not once in all the three million and one times I've seen this movie had what you wrote occurred to me. What's wrong with me? I can't explain why ninety nine point five percent of the time I just go with what a movie tells me. YOU have given me much food for thought. And I'm about to enjoy this tasty meal you've prepared for my mooshed up brain.

So why is Martha portrayed as a cold blooded, controlling b-word? From the beginning, there is something off about Tina...um...sorry. Right teen actress, wrong movie.... I mean Martha.

Ha! See what Dr. Jacquith's cure did for Ti...Martha? Remember when she told her Aunt Mrs. Danvers "Shuddup! Shuddup! Shuddup!"? We could see that Martha was a head strong girl from the beginning. She insisted on going with Sam. She made Sam get food for the cat on the train. She wanted to pick up a couple of things from the attic first before skedaddling. But then 'that darned cat' got away. She was proud of being her father's daughter and fought against what Auntie Em was trying to make her into. You know, it might've made more linear sense to show Martha's growth from a poor put-upon little Cinderella to a bitter high-powered woman. But we could see the feisty-ness (when is it an "i" and when is it a "y"??!!) in Martha as a kid. And I think THAT determinedness would stand her in good stead in years to come as a female businessman...I mean a female in business.

The odd thing is, for all her inbred, inborn, lying murderous instinct, I LIKE Martha, and would probably do most of what she did, were I given the opportunity. Martha is strangely sympathetic, and it's only a simple twist of the director's screwy mind that she is a femme fatale at all, not a heroine in a domestic drama. So why?

Yes indeed, why did the director (if not book's author) twist the knife this way. I don't know. But I do know I like Martha too. I've always felt sympathetic towards her b'cuz I thought for all her wealth she was stuck in a life with a man she didn't want. And how many just ordinary middle-class women feel that way even withOUT whacking their dear old maid Aunt. She was trapped with Walter's father and then with Walter. She's railing against the control of Walter's father. From the moment she lied on the staircase and said she found her aunt dead...poor girl kind of sealed her own fate.



The silky serpentine Martha whispering sweet nothings of hate in Walter's soused ear.

So if Martha has to keep this hellish bargain for Walter not "telling" even he has to pay a price for it. I imagine the sweet nothings went something like this: "I may have had to marry you to keep your trap shut, but that doesn't mean I will have to sleep with you! But you're such a milk sop that you'll take any crumb I choose to give you! I hate your touch and worst of all I hate that dimple in your chin! How do you shave in there?!" I have some sympathy for Walter, because it's his misfortune to be in love with Martha.

She even tells Sam the truth about the night she murdered her aunt - what self respecting lethal lady would do that? So what if she didn't know that he didn't know.... she still came clean with him. This inner emotional and psychological spin the director places on Martha makes this very obviously a noir movie, and no other title will do.

You're right JackaaaAaaay, what self-respecting lethal lady would confess? But I think Martha needed the release...and in more ways than one. Could she be a heroine trapped in a lethal lady's body?



Old-time publicity shots that they don't (sadly) do anymore. (And I think Stanwyck looks very becoming here. Look at her hair).

I always chuckle in the movies when the guy gets upset that HE's not the FIRST to try and save the damsel in distress. "She was good enough for you when you slept with her two seconds ago, dude? Wha' happened?!" (See: "BRAINSTORM"). I found Barbara Stanwyck pretty sexy in this movie. Guess it's the power thing...the commanding thing; also when she sidles up to the guys to try to get something out of them, I thought that was it too. But then when she confesses, breaks down with that quivering chin thing Stanwyck does, I see that she, as Martha, is somehow still that little girl. She needed a break...one break to really change her life. She needed to get rid of the one man who knew the truth (Walter). But how, you wonder, can she trust Sam? B'cuz at her core she knew, "Sam will never tell."

The script imposes it's own noirish psychology on Sam, who is obviously a good guy, but one who shacks up with one woman while having a sexual encounter with another. Sam is the type to go with the flow, he is a gambler sometimes and a possible blackmailer (though I think he just took advantage of the offer when it presented itself). He follows his own jovial inclinations.....noir but nice. These are just a few of the thoughts I have when watching The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, and why it's my favorite of the three movies that were on last night.



HARD AND GLAMMED...LIZABETH SCOTT

Sam goes where the wind blows. I was happy that he treated Toni nicely. This is my favorite role of LIZABETH SCOTT's. I know I know she's usually so stiff and wooden...like she can't swing her arms when she walks (like Cathy O'Donnell). And her line readings are a little unbelievable. But see, baby I don't care. I liked her here b'cuz she's the Victim, pouty and pliable. Not good "p.c." reasons for a cine-maven. I know. I'll get out the hickory stick. The Weak Willed Husband, The Easy Breezy Opportunistic Hero, The Lethal Lady and The Nice Girl. I love "...Martha Ivers" to pieces. (But I CAN do without that "Ivers! Ivers! Ivers!" haunting voice at the end and Martha saying "No, Smith." I cringe here like I do when Virginia Weidler's in the closet in "The Women" talking about Mommy and Daddy dearest! UGH! Oh...and a GACK! to boot)!

Oh...and that murder/suicide is FANTASTIC!!!! A lethal lady ALWAYS should always take her own fate in her hands. How intimate to shoot her up close like that. Didn't another Walter do the same...to Phyllis Dietrichson?

By the by...in what order did you like last night's film fare?? Would you care to share any thoughts on The Lethal Lady of the Evening (And of All Time): Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat?

[JackFavell]

I have thoughts, but I am somewhat embarrassed to say them. I enjoy what you wrote, and you KNOW I love Jane Greer, but hope you aren't going to excommunicate me for my opinions here. So here's my list in order of liking:

Martha Ivers
Out of the Past
I Walk Alone

Like I said, I love Martha Ivers for no real reason except it's accessible and weird, two of my favorites. Stany is gor-geous. So is Lizabeth. Stany is just fantastic in this film, never a false step, I even didn't mind the Ivers Ivers Ivers thing (I am totally with you on Virginia Weidler BTW). Love the way Heflin really looks like a rapist when he's twisting Martha's arm backwards over the fire. I like how he is too good natured to be a patsy, but still somehow retains his noir street cred. Heflin should have gotten an honorary Oscar just for being in so many noir films and being different in every one. I like the addition of the good bad girl to the plot. LOVE the double suicide. Best part of the movie.

I Walk Alone looked better the second time, but I fell asleep. I really like the character actors in this one, Mike Makurki, George Rigaud and Marc Lawrence push this one up a notch for me. Ann Doran - yeah! I loved her bit! She always catches my eye, she was fabulous here. And of course,

Wendell Corey

who I've given my alarming opinion about above. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm completely dismayed with my feelings for Wendell right now. How disillusioning.

Burt and Kirk, Kirk and Burt, well it just doesn't get much better. I find Burt nearly irresistible when he's got a chip on his shoulder, or when he's a sensitive underdog, so that tells you everything you need to know. In this movie, he's both. He's one gorgeous man, who makes a suit of clothes look unreal but he acts like a giant, even at this early stage in his career. Still, I've got to give credit to Kirk, he controls his scenes like a precision timepiece, and just edges out Lancaster in the acting.

Out of the Past is shimmeringly beautiful, and I did like it better this time. It is so tight... like a drum tight....and so gorgeous to look at. One outstandingly virile but sensitive man, underneath it all, Jeff is smarter than everyone, and yet, a woman finds his Achilles heel and he falls for her - the only woman who could bring him down.... it's iconic. I think it all hinges on Mitchum, and he's great. I think you HAVE to fall for Mitchum in order to love this movie, and I can see he's really superb here, every nuance and humorous "You're wonderful." is pitch perfect. I just have no feelings for him. I'm sorry. I want to. But I can't conjure it up, no matter how hard I try. I am as cold blooded as Kathie I guess. The direction is lovely, moody and crisp, like a late fall day in the woods, at night time it is a waking dream. I usually like Jacques Tourneur and I do like the film, it's just not love. It's so understated that I feel I am missing something. I am hoping that one day, this movie will suddenly 'pop' for me, like The Searchers did, and I'll understand why its so great. Maybe someone can tell me now what it is about this movie that creates all the hubbub, bub.