Noir Alley

[Hibi]

Don't think I've seen this one!

Desperate is a very good noir film. Note that Steve Brodie was in another noir that same year (1947), Crossfire with the 3 Roberts: Mitchum, Ryan and Young. The following year he had a minor but key role in Out of the Past.

Dont think I've ever seen him playing a lead before.

[MissWonderly]

Yes, in films like Desperate you can see why Raymond Burr was cast so often as the villain. And not just an ordinary "bad guy" type, but truly menacing and sinister, even. In this kind of role, I've never seen him be anything but scary.
Steve Brodie and lovely girlish-looking Audrey Long make a likable, sweet couple. You kind of wish they could have just stayed at Aunt Klara's forever. That trope of the old European immigrant couple, calling each other "Mama" and "Papa", making the young people lots of food, hugging and scolding them at the same time, seems to be a favourite during the '40s-- maybe a post-war thing.
You do have to wonder why Detective Ferrari refused to believe Steve when he shows up of his own volition to turn himself in. Steve obviously tells Ferrari the whole story, and really, it's not too hard to believe. Just because it was his truck used in the robbery is just not evidence, on its own, that Steve was voluntarily involved in the heist. Look at all the noirs where crimes are committed using stolen vehicles. No, I think Mann and screenwriter Essex just had the cop not believe him to further the plot, make things last a little longer. I guess that's ok, happens a lot in noir.

Question: In the final scene: Since the police were waiting outside Steve's apartment building, it seems they knew Radak was there in Steve's apartment. So why were they just hanging around the steps outside? If that neighbour hadn't come to "borrow a cup of cream" (does anyone do that nowadays? ), our guy probably would have been killed at midnight. Why didn't Ferrari and his men at least attempt to enter Steve's apartment? They must have known what would have happened to Steve if things hadn't gone awry for Radak. But then again, it makes for a more exciting ending than just the police bursting in and putting Walt Radak under arrest.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Yes, in films like Desperate you can see why Raymond Burr was cast so often as the villain. And not just an ordinary "bad guy" type, but truly menacing and sinister, even. In this kind of role, I've never seen him be anything but scary.
Steve Brodie and lovely girlish-looking Audrey Long make a likable, sweet couple. You kind of wish they could have just stayed at Aunt Klara's forever. That trope of the old European immigrant couple, calling each other "Mama" and "Papa", making the young people lots of food, hugging and scolding them at the same time, seems to be a favourite during the '40s-- maybe a post-war thing.
You do have to wonder why Detective Ferrari refused to believe Steve when he shows up of his own volition to turn himself in. Steve obviously tells Ferrari the whole story, and really, it's not too hard to believe. Just because it was his truck used in the robbery is just not evidence, on its own, that Steve was voluntarily involved in the heist. Look at all the noirs where crimes are committed using stolen vehicles. No, I think Mann and screenwriter Essex just had the cop not believe him to further the plot, make things last a little longer. I guess that's ok, happens a lot in noir.

Question: In the final scene: Since the police were waiting outside Steve's apartment building, it seems they knew Radak was there in Steve's apartment. So why were they just hanging around the steps outside? If that neighbour hadn't come to "borrow a cup of cream" (does anyone do that nowadays? ), our guy probably would have been killed at midnight. Why didn't Ferrari and his men at least attempt to enter Steve's apartment? They must have known what would have happened to Steve if things hadn't gone awry for Radak. But then again, it makes for a more exciting ending than just the police bursting in and putting Walt Radak under arrest.

I believe Ferrari did know Steve was innocent, but Ferrari wanted the head guy (Burr), and thus was using a little nobody to get his man. This is a fairly common trope that happens to a noir protagonist. If one is a little nobody and is at the wrong place at the wrong time in the noir world, that person is bait for the cops.

[Dargo]

Well, I'm afraid I'm gonna go against what seems the general consensus in regard to Burr in this film. Ya see, I have to say I almost found it comical in a way. Allow me to explain.

First, for someone who was supposed to be the feared leader and mastermind of this mob, he seemed to be too easy of a touch and caved whenever Douglas Fowley put the bite on him. There were also a few scenes in which one of his underlings with what seemed a cooler head than his would have to calm him down and advise him of a better tact to take. Not exactly acting like a "criminal mastermind" in my book, anyway.

Secondly, that whole thing about waiting to kill Brodie at the stroke of midnight in order to coincide with the moment his brother was being executed, seemed to me to be a farfetched plot point.

(...but then of course I guess you could say because this movie took place years before every Bond villain would pass up the initial opportunity to just simply shoot 007 once he had him and instead would devise some elaborate but doomed to failure plan to end his life, Burr wouldn't have been familiar with this sort'a thing at all anyway, huh!) LOL

And thirdly here, Burr evidently was one lousy shot with a handgun, and considering and at least according to the camera angles used in that staircase shootout, he had at least two clear and fairly easy shots at Brodie and still missed him every time.

(...all in all though, and after watching this film for perhaps the third time ever, I did find the overall look and Anthony Mann's direction reasonably well done, AND that after a few recent films that Eddie has shown to us to only very questionably be in the Noir genre, at least there was no doubt about this one being so)

[Hibi]

Suggestion for watching Desperate: fast forward to scene with Raymond Burr; rewind the early scene with the swinging light (one of the great noir moments); fast forward to next Raymond Burr scene, etc., etc. Raymond Burr is even better and scarier than I remembered; the non-Burr scenes even dopier than I remembered.

YES!!!! Totally unbelievable plot. Turns out I'd seen Desperate before, I'd just forgotten the title. An OK B with a few good scenes, but the story! I about died when the ethnic aunt and uncle turned up! LOL. I FF'd through the wedding and dance scenes and most of the wife scenes. SNOOZE.

[Andree]

I thought this one was pretty good, sort of a noirish fairy tale. The charming newlyweds being chased by the wicked,
overweight ogre. Parts of the plot were not exactly believable, like how Burr finds them wherever they happen to be
hiding out, but nothing out of the ordinary. Ferrari not believing Brodie's story. Well, cops are always suspicious, even
when they have no good reason to be. Except for pure meanness I can't see why Burr was so angry at the private
eye he hired. The guys did his job and wanted to be paid. A pro like Burr should understand that. Yeah, the shot of
the light going back and forth on Burr's face was a nice visual touch, though after the third or fourth time it was
a bit much. Yeah, we get it. In the end everything turned out fine, though I did wonder why there weren't more
cops chasing Burr, leaving Brodie to chase him all by his lonesome, except for it being more personal and dramatic.
The kids are back together, the ogre is dead and Anne can bake some more of those delicious overly sugared cakes.
Yum.

[Hibi]

I'd forgotten Noir Alley takes a powder for a month. I hate August! We've already had 2 Noirless months earlier in the year.

[MissWonderly]

I'd forgotten Noir Alley takes a powder for a month. I hate August! We've already had 2 Noirless months earlier in the year.

yes, agreed, three Noirless months this year ! too much. Yes, I'm aware that many of the Summer Under the Stars days will feature actors who were in noirs, and doubtless some will be shown. But it's not the same as Noir Alley and Eddie sucking back a cocktail or two...

[cmovieviewer]

Most viewers probably don’t remember that Desperate (1947) was first introduced by Eddie back in September of 2018. It is interesting to compare the recent presentation with the first time.

In the original introduction, Eddie largely follows the same script verbatim:



The wrapup this time around was reduced quite a bit. A discussion of minor role player Freddie Steele and his boxing career in the first wrapup was removed:



I’m not trying to be critical of Noir Alley for repeats. After 5 years they are probably unavoidable, and at least Eddie is freshening up the material as he sees fit. I’m sure there are viewers who missed the first presentation and appreciate the chance to see Eddie’s comments for the films.

[jimimac71]

Thanks for the above links. My cousin, the one who flew with both Pan American and United, doesn't have TCM.
She was interested in the information I sent her from Wikipedia and she purchase the DVD of Julie.
She very much enjoyed the film. I'm sending her the wrap-around by Eddie from the same YouTube site.
(My Mom has a birthday this Friday. She will be getting Noir Bar from me)
I've quickly looked at it and hope to read it more later.

[Hibi]

I'm sure that's where I saw Desperate for the first time. It's not something I'd tune in for otherwise. (cast, etc.)

[C*i*g*a*rTheJoe]

One of my favorites. This is a top notch Noir visual treat. However some plot points make no sense. The top cop on the case Ferrari, we at first figure for a Chicago Police Detective. But he later shows in some Podunk town where Steve is now working as a driver for Mountain Trucking like it's a part of his jurisdiction. Steve has crossed multiple state lines throughout the tale. Another head scratcher, is in one tenement dump that they are living in the place has a china cabinet full of fancy dishes, most of the time they are on the run with a couple of suitcases, they'd never have time to accumulate that kind of stuff.

[Dargo]

...I’m not trying to be critical of Noir Alley for repeats. After 5 years they are probably unavoidable, and at least Eddie is freshening up the material as he sees fit...

And exactly the reason I've been saying for years now that I hope Eddie will eventually get around to featuring some Neo-Noir films as well.

(...I'd love to hear what he could tell us about movies such as 'Chinatown' and 'L.A. Confidential', or lesser known ones such as 'Red Rock West' and 'The Last Seduction' for instance and when TCM gives him this extra wraparound time to do his thing)

[Andree]

I am going to try through sheer will power and maybe even a dash of self-hypnosis to persuade myself that I will
actually miss Eddie during the month of August.