+15
My first 2 for 2. Ground is my #12 while Violence is my #10. My writeups:
On Dangerous Ground
This is a lean yet affecting film noir from Nicholas Ray. After 11 years on the police force in a crime-ridden metropolis while mourning the loss of the football career that never happened, Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is at his wit's end. After brutalizing one too many suspects, Captain Brawley (Ed Begley in a small and functional role that he still makes memorable) assigns him to a small town in the mountains to join the hunt for a murderer on the run. There, he meets Mary (Ida Lupino), a lonely blind woman with whom he bonds and sees a little bit of himself in (no pun intended).
Jim's pursuit of the killer and his time spent with Mary amount to an affecting story about the importance of not letting your work rob you of your humanity. His assignment ends up being just what he needs to realize this because aside from meeting Mary, he sees how he would have ended up if he had stayed on his previous path in Walter (J.K. Simmons ringer Ward Bond), the father of the murder victim who only has vengeance on his mind. Luckily, the movie is not all human drama: those who love film noir for its tension and action will find it here, the highlight being when Jim and Walter pursue a suspect through the Colorado wilderness. Again, the movie is lean - perhaps too lean - and while the ending is sweet, it seems a little tacked on and studio-mandated. The movie is still guaranteed to satisfy even die hard film noir fans, especially ones who aren't particularly satisfied with their jobs. Oh, and Bernard Herrmann's bombastic score is one of his best.
Act of Violence
L.A. resident Frank Enley (Van Heflin) has an outstanding life: big house, beautiful wife (Janet Leigh), a baby, a successful construction business, etc. Suddenly, a man from Frank's past named Joe (Robert Ryan) he never wanted to run into again starts asking around for him. What does he want? I won't say, but I'll at least mention that he makes Frank's life a lot less comfortable. What follows is a tense noir that more than successfully explores one of the genre's main components: America reckoning with its involvement in World War II and its resulting good fortune.
From the foggy nighttime skyline of New York in the opening frames to the shadowy streets and alleys where most of the movie takes place, L.A. (do any other places in Hollywood's America matter?), the movie certainly nails the vibes associated with film noir. The look and feel of the train station in the finale is the highlight, which I partly wanted to last longer so I could take it in. This movie wouldn't work if the one playing Frank didn't convince at expressing the kind of guilt and remorse about something that would force an involved party to travel across America, and thankfully, Heflin is up to the task. Another moment involving a train, for instance, made me forget to breathe and fear for his safety. Ryan, who I also enjoyed in the noir On Dangerous Ground, also deserves praise for how unwavering he is in his mission. Another review I read compared Joe to the Terminator, which I agree with. Again, I don't want to say what drives Joe, but it's a dilemma that will make you wonder who to root for or if there's anyone to root for at all with each revelation. The perspectives of the much more forgiving women in Frank and Joe's lives make the dilemma even more interesting to ponder, especially for how they make you wonder how different the world would be if they had more say at the time.
The specter of World War II lurks in the corners of pretty much every film noir, but it's especially obvious in this one. If that is your least favorite component of the genre, I still think you should seek it out. Regardless of your interest in that subject, the ways the movie successfully exploits the fear of someone not only coming out of the blue to threaten your stable existence, but also who won't listen to reason makes up for it. For this reason, it would pair well with movies like Cape Fear and Caché.
Last edited by Torgo; 03-24-24 at 01:05 PM.