Noir Films

[JackFavell]

Not at all - I haven't seen much of Mickey's later work either, just because it makes me feel bad for him.... but lately I think maybe he didn't feel bad while he was struggling along, he probably just concentrated on his performances and getting work.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Did you get to see The Last Mile?

I recorded it and the one that showed after. I'll let you know what I think when I get around to watching it next year.

Requiem is on in a bit and don't miss Pulp late tonight. Rarely has a film made me laugh as much as that one. Lionel Stander and Liz Scott also provide great moments.

The ancient Requiem for a Heavyweight thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1206

[JackFavell]

Is it supposed to make you laugh?

[Mr. Arkadin]

Could this be a more affirmative answer:

YES!

And yes, I also think film noir can be funny and incorporate comedy. Actually, Pulp spoofs and satirizes the older crime writers and films, much like Tarantino would do 20 years later.

[JackFavell]

Alright! That sounds like my kind of movie!

As much as I want your opinion of The Last Mile, you have every right to make me wait for about three months.... as payback. I did finally get to The Bravados, in case you missed my oblique hint over in the westerns thread at TCM a few weeks ago....

[Mr. Arkadin]

Alright! That sounds like my kind of movie!

As much as I want your opinion of The Last Mile, you have every right to make me wait for about three months.... as payback. I did finally get to The Bravados, in case you missed my oblique hint over in the westerns thread at TCM a few weeks ago....

I'll look for it. I'm having a rare opportunity at the computer tonight. I just don't have any time to myself right now, but that's as it should be.

[ChiO]

THE LAST MILE was the Rooney movie I was looking forward to most -- not because of Rooney, but because it was directed by Howard Koch whose SHIELD FOR MURDER (co-directed by Edmund O'Brien), BIG HOUSE U.S.A. and THE GIRL IN BLACK STOCKINGS I enjoy. While a bit too stage bound, more a filmed play than a movie, for my taste, it is worth watching and I plan to re-visit it soon to see if there is more at second blush.

The acting was fine, with Rooney and Michael Constantine standing out. The cinematography certainly helped counter the stagy aspects.

While I don't think of myself as a Rooney fan, his work in QUICKSAND, DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD, THE STRIP, BABY FACE NELSON and this is enough for me to reconsider (I recorded, but have not watched THE KING OF THE ROARING 20s: THE ARNOLD ROTHSTEIN STORY).

[kingrat]

Three cheers for Mr. Arkadin, and for the rest of you who recommend your favorites to the rest of us! Without Mr. A's nudge, I'd never have tuned into Pulp, and that means I wouldn't have been laughing out loud. Great sets and cinematography, interesting views of Malta, a sharp eye by director Mike Hodges, and Michael Caine at his drollest. All This, and Lizabeth Too. Caine has a bad haircut, but since in the early 80s I had a curly perm like Tony Geary on General Hospital, I've forfeited the right to sneer at anyone else's hairdo. Pulp runs out of steam a bit toward the end, but there are plenty of funny lines and sight gags to remember fondly. I won't reveal the sight gag that involves a wardrobe with a mirror, but should I ever have to abandon the name Kingrat, I'll have to borrow one of Caine's pseudonyms: Guy Strange, Les Behan, or Dr. O.R. Gann.

[ChiO]

Double-crossing. Blacklisting. Incest. Framing. Racism. Vigilantism. Selling out. Shifting loyalties. Corporate and criminal enterprises cooperating. Filicide.

THE UNDERWORLD STORY (1950) has it all. A weaselly reporter, Dan Duryea (is it redundant to call Duryea "weaselly"?), is blacklisted from the Big City newspapers after reporting a mob turncoat will testify, thereby resulting in the mobster's assassination and ruining an investigation. Duryea slimes his way into becoming editor of a nearby community newspaper owned by Gale Storm. A Big City newspaper owner's daughter-in-law is murdered in that community (where the Big City rich folk live) by her sleazy husband, who privately confesses to his father, Herbert Marshall, who's had a yen for his daughter-in-law. The maid, a Negro, is framed. Duryea, for money and power, uses the newspaper to convict her in the press and to raise funds for her defense. Always in the background anxious to assist Marshall and his son in staying above the scandal, is the head of the Mob, Howard Da Silva.

This gem was directed by the later-to-be blacklisted Cy Endfield in the same year as his TRY AND GET ME. Da Silva and Ned Glass (uncredited appearance) also were later blacklisted.

And Stanley Cortez's cinematography is reason enough to watch.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Sounds like an amazing film and Duryea is one of my wife's favorite classic actors. Where did you find this one?

[ChiO]

Warner Archives. It's not mentioned in any of my Noir reference books. When Warner's was having its big sale awhile back, it must of popped up as I searched for Noir. Endfield, Cortez, Duryea and Da Silva. I figured that was worth a shot (and it was even after learning that my DVD player won't play any of the Warner Archives titles).

[Mr. Arkadin]

I guess I know what's going on my B-day list this year!

[kingrat]

TCM showed The House on 92nd Street last night in a magnificent print. Every shot was so beautifully lit that it kept taking my breath away. Docu-noir isn't my favorite kind of noir, but if they all looked like this . . . . Most of the scenes were saturated with bright light, but the final showdown where William Eythe has been captured by the Nazis was shot in high noirish style with plenty of shadows.

If only the available version of every film could look as close to the filmmakers' intentions as this one did. Years ago I'd seen this movie on TV, and it didn't have half the impact.

[feaito]

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.

[klondike]

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.