Page 2 of 5

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 3:27 pm
by JackFavell
Thanks, Moira! These are some great resources, I am so glad you posted them. I am especially curious about the Susan Harrison one, since SSOS is a new favorite of mine.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 4:04 pm
by moira finnie
JackFavell wrote:Thanks, Moira! These are some great resources, I am so glad you posted them. I am especially curious about the Susan Harrison one, since SSOS is a new favorite of mine.
I'm interested in your impressions too, JF. Susan Harrison seems quite fragile to me, and I don't think that she has had an easy life, though the then 18-year-old was excellent as the trapped sister beloved by her squirrelly and powerful bro, played by Burt Lancaster in SSoS. I've always wondered why she didn't do more.

Perhaps part of the reason for her unfulfilled promise in film was that her "deer caught in the headlights" persona may not have been prepared for her Hollywood handlers' toughness. The actress eventually wound up suing the Hecht, Hill & Lancaster production company for money she lost due to the management of her contract to them. From reports from others contracted to them, including Ernest Borgnine, career management was not their forte, though the trio made some great flicks.

It was only recently that I recognized Susan Harrison as the ballerina in The Twilight Zone episode about "Six Characters in Search of an Exit" made in 1961--that's the one about the clown, the soldier, a bagpiper and others trapped inside a round cell with high walls. Her career on film never seemed to blossom as it might have. Thank goodness she was able to provide this oral history about this experience.

I've been reading Vanity Fair's Tales of Hollywood: Rebels, Reds, and Graduates and the Wild Stories Behind the Making of 13 Iconic Films (Penguin) by Graydon Carter recently and you might enjoy the backstory that the author provides on SSofS, among other movies.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 8:36 pm
by JackFavell
Moira, after watching SSOS, then re-watching it again because I liked it so much, I found Harrison's performance even better the second time around. I wondered myself about why she didn't go on to great things.

It's a real shame that the production company did not follow through financially, since the movie is so artistically complete. To me she is much better than some of the other sensitive brunette starlets of the time, and deserved to have a really fine career. We look on the film as a great one, but I think at the time is was not popular - perhaps this had something to do with Harrison's career not really taking off? Or maybe she was typed so specifically that there simply were no roles for her in the (what seems to me to be) shrinking film industry of the late fifties? She did another film with Jeffrey Hunter called Key Witness,billed fourth, which is currently up on youtube. I haven't watched it yet. I hope it's OK to post it here, though it's not part of the archive.

[youtube][/youtube]

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 8:59 pm
by moira finnie
Thanks for posting Key Witness. I have only heard of it, and usually find Jeffrey Hunter interesting. I'd like to see Harrison again, a few years later.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: November 12th, 2011, 9:13 pm
by JackFavell
They talk about it briefly in the interview, but don't go into the specifics of it. I'm looking forward to watching it after seeing Jeffrey recently in Brainstorm. He's moving up my list of good actors.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: December 19th, 2011, 7:47 pm
by CineMaven
Hi there Dewey. The latest news from Turner Classic Movies Film Festival releases this:

STYLE IN THE MOVIES - THE NOIR STYLE
Presented by Eddie Muller, founder of the Film Noir Foundation, this collection explores the unique style of film noir, known for its often-shadowy black-and-white photography and stylistic set design.

* Gun Crazy (1950) Long before Bonnie and Clyde rattled moviegoers came this ruthless tale of a gun-toting husband-and-wife team. Peggy Cummins and John Dall star, with a script by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (credited to Millard Kaufman).
* Cry Danger (1951) – Restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, in cooperation with Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., and funded by the Film Noir Foundation Shot in only 22 days by former child star Robert Parrish, this gripping film noir stars Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming in the story of a man trying to clear his name after being sentenced for a crime he didn't commit.


This is probably just the beginning of TCM's film programming, but you're an expert. Could you offer TCM a suggestion of what they could program from the world of noir in keeping with their theme of Style??

Thanx!

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 4th, 2012, 4:00 pm
by moira finnie
Actor, musician and art connoisseur Conrad Janis, played a featured role in that rarely seen Raymond Chandler film, The Brasher Doubloon (1947) at only 17 years of age. When the Film Noir Foundation screened this movie recently in Santa Monica, Mr. Janis stopped by to discuss this movie with our friend Alan K. Rode (fellow SSO member moxie) . Mr. Janis touches on his prickly relationship with director John Brahm, his co-workers, and life as a contract player at 20th Century Fox. (The interviewee even mentions a favorite actress, Jeanne Crain, in her best film, Margie, in which he played her best friend). He is funny and quite honest. Enjoy.

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 4th, 2012, 4:05 pm
by moira finnie
Angie Dickinson, an iconic actress then and now, sat down for an exchange with Eddie Muller recently in San Francisco. During the Q & A, the actress discusses The Killers (1964), her many other films, as well as John Cassavetes, Ronald Reagan, Lee Marvin, Frank Sinatra, coming to California, and her early career. This is probably as close as we will ever get to sitting down and having a chat with a legend.

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 4th, 2012, 8:23 pm
by Lzcutter
Hey Moira,

Marco (MoraldoRubini) and I were the audience at the Castro (we had good seats) the night Eddie Muller sat down and interviewed Angie. I wrote about it in one of the threads, maybe the Lee Thread or the "Recent Films" thread.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 5th, 2012, 7:57 am
by moira finnie
Lzcutter wrote:Hey Moira,

Marco (MoraldoRubini) and I were the audience at the Castro (we had good seats) the night Eddie Muller sat down and interviewed Angie. I wrote about it in one of the threads, maybe the Lee Thread or the "Recent Films" thread.
I'm sorry I missed that, Lynn. It is probably just me, but I find those "omnibus" threads like "what movie did you see last night" hard to follow unless I catch the original post and the responses. I wish I had been there!

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 5th, 2012, 8:10 am
by MissGoddess
I missed your posts, too, Lynn so I'm glad you put these links here, Moira...I will be sure to have a look at them this weekend. I really like Angie.

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 5th, 2012, 9:50 pm
by Lzcutter
Moira and April,

Here's the link to my recap from seeing Angie in January:

http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... gie#p98299

Hope you enjoy it!

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: April 6th, 2012, 8:02 am
by MissGoddess
Thanks Lynn, I usually just skim that thread on occasion, so I definitely would have missed your post without this!

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: June 3rd, 2012, 9:57 am
by moira finnie
Actress Terry Moore, interviewed by Alan K. Rode, remembers the making of Shack Out on 101 (1955), her co-stars (especially Lee Marvin, to whom she remained a friend for the rest of his life), and her career in Hollywood and her marriage to Howard Hughes, covering many topics from her childhood to today:
[youtube][/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]

Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the son of Geraldine Fitzgerald and a noted director in his own right, is interviewed by Eddie Muller about his mother and her career, Warner Brothers, the under-appreciated director Jean Negulesco, the films Three Strangers (1946), Nobody Lives Forever (1946), his own links to Orson Welles and more.
[youtube][/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]

Re: Film Noir Foundation Video Archive

Posted: July 7th, 2012, 11:17 am
by moira finnie
Eddie Muller and Alan K. Rode interviewing Marsha Hunt at the recent Film Noir Foundation's introduction of the recently restored Mary Ryan, Detective (1949), a film that the leading lady had never seen before! The subject matter ranges from this film, as well as her friendship with Orson Welles, Fred Zinnemann, Eartha Kitt, Robert Florey, Robert Cummings and more.

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]