Last Chance...Film Noir HoF V

[Citizen Rules]

https://feminema.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/fallen.jpg?h=366&w=480
Last Chance...Film Noir HoF V


Open to Films from: 1940 to 1959 that are tagged 'noir' at either IMDB or Wiki.


We'll have 2 MONTHS watch time. It'll be a smaller HoF with fewer members as we just did one of these, easy to do.

This is the LAST CHANCE to do a Film Noir HoF before the Noir Countdown deadline. It's a good way to watch some top notch noirs and a great way to promote a noir that you believe in, giving it a chance to make the Noir Countdown. Hope people will join!
Deadline: February 18th

Members Reviews:

Citizen - Finished
Ace in the Hole (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2429868#post2429868)
The Breaking Point (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2431812#post2431812)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2432368#post2432368)
Sweet Smell of Success (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433465#post2433465)
Kiss Me Deadly (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2432789#post2432789)
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2434487#post2434487)Double Indemnity (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2434815#post2434815)
The Night of the Hunter
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2435603#post2435603)
Diehl40 - Finished
The Night of the Hunter (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2434319#post2434319)
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/The Bigamist(1953) rating_4Citizen)Ace in the Hole (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2434332#post2434332)
Kiss Me Deadly
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436480#post2436480)The Breaking Point
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436704#post2436704)Double Indemnity (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2437932#post2437932)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2438312#post2438312)
Sweet Smell of Success (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2439156#post2439156)

KeyserCorleone - Finished
Kiss Me Deadly (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2429343#post2429343)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2429343#post2429343)
Ace in the Hole (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2429343#post2429343)
The Breaking Point (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433214#post2433214)
The Night of the Hunter (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436467#post2436467)
Double Indemnity (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436467#post2436467)
Sweet Smell of Success
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2435298#post2435298)
GulfportDoc - Finished
Double Indemnity (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2429988#post2429988)
Ace in the Hole (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2431521#post2431521)
Kiss Me Deadly
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2432529#post2432529)Sweet Smell of Success (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2433285#post2433285)
The Breaking Point
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433525#post2433525)The Night of the Hunter (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433587#post2433587)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2434440#post2434440)

Phoenix - Finished
Kiss Me Deadly
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433212#post2433212)Ace in the Hole (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433339#post2433339)
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433212#post2433212)The Breaking Point (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2434487#post2434487)
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433212#post2433212)The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2435750#post2435750)The Night of the Hunter
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436957#post2436957)Sweet Smell of Sucess
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2437071#post2437071)Double Indemnity
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2437440#post2437440)
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2437440#post2437440)
Siddon - Finished
The Breaking Point (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2429276#post2429276)
Sweet Smell of Success
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2438194#post2438194)The Night of the Hunter (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2438341#post2438341)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2439935#post2439935)
Kiss Me Deadly (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2439937#post2439937)
Double Indemnity (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2440042#post2440042)
Ace in the Hole (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2440052#post2440052)

Wyldesyde - Finished
Sweet Smell of Success
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2431792#post2431792)The Night of the Hunter
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2433940#post2433940)Double Indemnity
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436395#post2436395)Ace in the Hole
(https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2436909#post2436909) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2437496#post2437496)
Kiss Me Deadly (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2440235#post2440235)
The Breaking Point (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=2440252#post2440252)

[Citizen Rules]

The noms for the Noir V HoF



https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96753
Ace in the Hole
(Billy Wilder 1951)
KeyserCorleone

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96754
The Breaking Point
(Michael Curtiz 1950)
Siddon

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96755
Kiss Me Deadly
(Robert Aldrich 1955)
Phoenix

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96756
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
(Lewis Milestone 1946)
Citizen

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96757
Sweet Smell of Success
(Alexander Mackendrick 1957)
Wyldesyde


https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96786
Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder (1944)
Gulfport Doc

96828
The Night of the Hunter
Charles Laughton (1955)
Diehl40

[Citizen Rules]

Don't everyone join all at once, ha!...Don't be shy, I don't bite.

[Wyldesyde19]

I might join this. New year gives me more room to fit some Noir in.

[Citizen Rules]

I might join this. New year gives me more room to fit some Noir in.It just might be me or you in this HoF...so you have a 50% chance of your nom winning:D




We got 2 months I figure I'd like to explore noir more before the countdown.

[Siddon]

I'm in

[PHOENIX74]

I hope nobody has picked my nom yet!

[Citizen Rules]

I hope nobody has picked my nom yet!You're the first to chose a nom, it's all yours!

So far we have 3 confirmed members and 1 possible. This will be small and easy with a full 2 months so no rush....We need more members to join!

[GulfportDoc]

Will this be just like the #IV? We pick a HOF-worthy noir, then make some commentaries on all that are picked?

[Citizen Rules]

Will this be just like the #IV? We pick a HOF-worthy noir, then make some commentaries on all that are picked?Yup, just like that. Should be fun!

I will post a list of what noirs already won and were already in the last Noir HoF as those aren't eligible.

[rauldc14]

I'm not 100% in, but more than likely

[Citizen Rules]

I'm not 100% in, but more than likelyHope you can join, we'll have 2 months and noirs aren't really long.

[Citizen Rules]

These noirs aren't eligible as they were in the last Noir HoF IV
Act of Violence (1948)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Criss Cross (1949)
Detour (1945)
Gilda (1946)
Gun Crazy (1950)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Out of the Past (1947)
Thieves Highway (1949)
Touch of Evil (1958)

These aren't eligible as they already won a past HoF
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Laura (1944)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Third Man (1949)
The Big Heat (1953)

ALL of those noirs are very worthy of making the upcoming MoFo Top Film Noir Countdown.

[Citizen Rules]

We only got 6 members so far....would really like to get some more members! Promote your favorite noir and maybe others will love it enough to make their countdown ballots.

[Citizen Rules]

I'm going to tag some more people as we really need some team MoFo support for the upcoming Noir Countdown...I hope we get enough ballots to make it work...So if you haven't seen many noirs join! Or just join anyway to make me happy:) Don't tell me about Xmas it will be done and over before this HoF starts...ya all got plenty of time.

@cricket (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=68505) @edarsenal (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=50536) @Hey Fredrick (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=95709) @Harry Lime (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=52328) with a name like that you're a natural for noir! @Allaby (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=110465) time to jump back into HoFs bro @Torgo (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=109334) I see you posting, join already @Diehl40 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=88140) are you still around? And we need some dames @Thursday Next (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=9011) @CosmicRunaway (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=90868)

and @whoeverinthehellelseIforgot!

[Wyldesyde19]

I say just go with the 6 of us. Small and quick.
👍

[KeyserCorleone]

Maybe it's a bit too soon for another noir Hof?

[Citizen Rules]

I say just go with the 6 of us. Small and quick.
👍I think you'll get your wish.

Maybe it's a bit too soon for another noir Hof?Nah. I knew it would be smaller but still it's worth doing now for people to have a chance to see other MoFo's top noir selections.

[Wyldesyde19]

Nah. I knew it would be smaller but still it's worth doing now for people to have a chance to see other MoFo's top noir selections.
Agreed.

[Siddon]

I just bought my nom so I'd rather do double noms if you guys feel this field is too small. Noirs are typically short anyways.

[Citizen Rules]

I just bought my nom so I'd rather do double noms if you guys feel this field is too small. Noirs are typically short anyways.I like double noms....but only if everyone else agrees to it. I don't want to put anyone in a bind if they joined because it is a small HoF.

So what I can do is: after I announce the noms I'll ask if everyone wants to do double noms (assuming we only have like 6 members). If everyone wants to do it great, but if one person doesn't want to then will have to stay with just single noms. We do have a full 2 months and like you said noirs are typically short.

[PHOENIX74]

I like double noms....but only if everyone else agrees to it. I don't want to put anyone in a bind if they joined because it is a small HoF.

So what I can do is: after I announce the noms I'll ask if everyone wants to do double noms (assuming we only have like 6 members). If everyone wants to do it great, but if one person doesn't want to then will have to stay with just single noms. We do have a full 2 months and like you said noirs are typically short.

I agonized over two different noirs as to which one I'd pick for this, so to get the chance to nominate both would be a very happy circumstance.

[KeyserCorleone]

Double will make it more interesting. Although I wish there were more members involved, because I'd like more of a challenge, considering that when I won the doc HoF there were only seven participants. I like higher stakes.

[Citizen Rules]

I said I'd do the reveal on Dec 24th but what the hell I might be busy that day:p So I'm doing the reveal right now. Here they are all 5 of them. Wish there were more.
The noms for the Noir V HoF


https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96753
Ace in the Hole
(Billy Wilder 1951)
KeyserCorleone

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96754
The Breaking Point
(Michael Curtiz 1950)
Siddon

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96755
Kiss Me Deadly
(Robert Aldrich 1955)
Phoenix

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96756
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
(Lewis Milestone 1946)
Citizen

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96757
Sweet Smell of Success
(Alexander Mackendrick 1957)
Wyldesyde

[PHOENIX74]

Ace in the Hole - Billy Wilder & film noir - I love Ace in the Hole already and I haven't even watched it yet. High expectations for this one.

The Breaking Point - Never heard of it before, but it looks great and sounds great after reading the IMDb's plot synopsis.

Kiss Me Deadly - I've seen Kiss Me Deadly, but it's one of those noirs I have to watch again so I understand it better and appreciate it more. Big reputation.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - I wonder what's so strange about her love?

Sweet Smell of Success - I've seen this before in a different Hall of Fame, and absolutely love it. It's one of my two best ever Hall of Fame introductions to a movie.

I'd start right now but the next three days or so are going to be crazy busy and festive. Merry Xmas everybody.

[Citizen Rules]

Ace in the Hole - Love this one and have seen it several times. Kirk Douglas is balls to the wall bat ass crazy. Jan Sterling shines like a dangling silver bracelet that's poison to touch. I've seen Jan Sterling in a number of movies and she always turns in a memorable performance.

The Breaking Point - Never heard of it, never seen it, don't know nothing about it...and that's cool! It's the only noir in this HoF I haven't seen.

Kiss Me Deadly - Seen this one and also loved it, but it's been a long time, so looking forward to a rewatch.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - My nom with a stupid title and that's why I think this solid noir with standout performances by Kirk Douglas and Lizabeth Scott isn't really better known. It should've been called something cool like Blood Money. Van Heflin who you all seen in Act of Violence plays a much different role here, and so does Kirk Douglas.

Sweet Smell of Success - This was my nom in the 26th HoF. I love it of course and it's in my top 10 profile. Dialogue that flows like butter but cuts like a razor. A great jazz score and actual on-location filming in some well known New York nightclubs. Tony Curtis deserved an Oscar and so did Burt Lancaster.

[Siddon]

https://www.kviff.com/en/image/fancybox/227418/da6d/the-breaking-point.jpg

The Breaking Point (1950)

This movie would not have been made today. A common phrase often used when a film attempts to do something that wasn't PC...or was a classic. But the Breaking Point is a remake of the Bogart/Bacall/Huston classic To Have and Have Not...except it's not really a remake more an inspiration from the novel. It is Ernst Hemmingway's favorite adaptation of his work and you find that out real quick.

John Garfield plays Harry Morgan and this is a very different Harry Morgan from Bogarts. Morgan is a vet who is being squeezed by the system....he lives in a small house with his wife and two daughters and he's underwater paying for his boat. During an outing with a guy and his hooker he get's stiffed and stranded in Mexico where he ends sucked into the world of human trafficking and crime.

This isn't a long movie but it's an incredible one. Michael Curtiz gives the film a fuild feel to it. Garfield a known civil rights activist includes a supporting role from Juano Hernandez whose character Wesley Park is Harry's moral compass. Bacall's character in the original is aged up and de-glamorized by Patricia Neal. Her character is a hustler and barfly...implied to be a prostitute and she adds a layer of spice and temptation to the film.

But the art in this film is it's use of blocking. Harry's home is this claustrophobic three room place where something is always happening in other rooms. When he steps out of his home or his boat the world becomes much bigger. We constantly get powerful angle switches, mirror shots of fairly normal looking people. I won't spoil the third act of the film but it's violent, suspenseful and ends on a bittersweet and tragic note.

A

[edarsenal]

https://www.kviff.com/en/image/fancybox/227418/da6d/the-breaking-point.jpg

The Breaking Point (1950)

This movie would not have been made today. A common phrase often used when a film attempts to do something that wasn't PC...or was a classic. But the Breaking Point is a remake of the Bogart/Bacall/Huston classic To Have and Have Not...except it's not really a remake more an inspiration from the novel. It is Ernst Hemmingway's favorite adaptation of his work and you find that out real quick.

John Garfield plays Harry Morgan and this is a very different Harry Morgan from Bogarts. Morgan is a vet who is being squeezed by the system....he lives in a small house with his wife and two daughters and he's underwater paying for his boat. During an outing with a guy and his hooker he get's stiffed and stranded in Mexico where he ends sucked into the world of human trafficking and crime.

This isn't a long movie but it's an incredible one. Michael Curtiz gives the film a fuild feel to it. Garfield a known civil rights activist includes a supporting role from Juano Hernandez whose character Wesley Park is Harry's moral compass. Bacall's character in the original is aged up and de-glamorized by Patricia Neal. Her character is a hustler and barfly...implied to be a prostitute and she adds a layer of spice and temptation to the film.

But the art in this film is it's use of blocking. Harry's home is this claustrophobic three room place where something is always happening in other rooms. When he steps out of his home or his boat the world becomes much bigger. We constantly get powerful angle switches, mirror shots of fairly normal looking people. I won't spoil the third act of the film but it's violent, suspenseful and ends on a bittersweet and tragic note.

A
great write up, Siddon. Definitely sounds like an unknown gem that I should check out before the Countdown.

[KeyserCorleone]

Kiss Me Deadly

Jack Hammer was one of the first detectives in the noir scene that I actually felt a connection to, as his never-give-up personality was the best reason to watch this already fun movie. The level of tension felt all the more real because of the way Hammer interprets these situations. The real fun of the mystery was the seeming conspiracy here, but what really sticks with me in this movie is the third act act is touches on some very unique twists which, from a genre perspective feel a little out of place, but also makes logistic sense concerning its real-world influence. I mean, that climax had some major freakin' shock value to it, and it sticks with me today.


rating_5


Martha Ivers

I just saw this a couple weeks ago, believe it or not. And I gotta say, I like this movie more than most people do. While I don't think Milestone's direction here was the best that it could be, considering some obvious continuity errors and some surprisingly fake acting near the beginning, everything else is pretty much freakin' brilliant. All of the characters flow so beautifully together to create a twisty and shocking story that I kind of want Nick Cave to write a concept album about. Hell, I wanna remake this movie with Nick Cave doing the soundtrack. As far as noir stories go, this is one of the best IMO and a gold star for Lewis Milestone.


rating_5


Ace in the Hole

I nominated this one because it was very unique. Its story handles some different themes for noir, notably the necessity for a juicy story which was all about suffering and pity rather than the twisty political intrigue that often resides in (and occasionally plagues) noir and mystery. This is a movie all about the conscious itself being challenged rather than the law or the greater good. And with the plot development we do get, we also receive some realistic characters with excellent acting to bring out every side of them, especially on the point of Kirk Douglas who, because of movies like this, might be my favorite actor of the classic era.


rating_5


But are we really only doing five movies?

[Citizen Rules]

...But are we really only doing five movies I know! With all the time we have I'd love to do double noms. How does everyone else feel about that?

[Siddon]

I know! With all the time we have I'd love to do double noms. How does everyone else feel about that?


@Wyldesyde is the only one who hasn't responded positively....well and Raul but Raul didn't submit one nom yet

[rauldc14]

I'm going to sit out just so I can focus on 2023 films the next month or so

[Citizen Rules]

@Wyldesyde19 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=104656) are you up for double noms? There's only 5 of us so that would make 10 noirs in 2 months.

Everybody can send double noms to me my PM with the hope we can do them. I already have a second nom from Phoenix. We'll see what Wylde says.

[John-Connor]

The Breaking Point is one my favorite Film-Noirs. Great pick!
I'll be rooting for it during the countdown. 👍 Same goes for Kiss Me Deadly!

THE BREAKING POINT 1950 Michael Curtiz
84267
1h 37m | Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller
Writers: Ranald MacDougall, Ernest Hemingway
Cast: John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Juano Hernandez, Wallace Ford

4+

[THE ARS]

Am I too late? Ride The Pink Horse (1947).

[Citizen Rules]

Am I too late? Ride The Pink Horse (1947).Well we have already started...and this is a long commitment of a couple months. I see you just signed up today and that was your 1st post. I hope you stick around MoFo, it's a great place. But for now why don't you just hang out and get the feel for HoFs and MoFo.

BTW Ride the Pink Horse is a solid noir, I love that one myself.

[Siddon]

It's a great nom...but I do think The ARS sounds like an obvious fake troll name

[THE ARS]

Well we have already started...and this is a long commitment of a couple months. I see you just signed up today and that was your 1st post. I hope you stick around MoFo, it's a great place. But for now why don't you just hang out and get the feel for HoFs and MoFo.

BTW Ride the Pink Horse is a solid noir, I love that one myself.
Fair enough. I didn't know this place existed until today when I finally googled what that guy was eating out of a puddle in The French Connection and it sent me here.

It's a great nom...but I do think The ARS sounds like an obvious fake troll name
Siddon, nobody is going to troll your thread with an obscure Wanda Hendrix vehicle.

BTW, Robert Montgomery was a talented director if you haven't watched his other stuff.

96764

[Wyldesyde19]

Let’s just keep it at one nom each.

[Citizen Rules]

Let’s just keep it at one nom each.That's what we'll do then.

[Citizen Rules]

Am I too late? Ride The Pink Horse (1947).I tell you what, you can join but your nomination won't be required for the other members to watch until after you've watched all the other 5 noir noms, wrote up your thoughts on each film and sent me a ranked voting ballot. But before you decide if you want to join, you need to know the general rules for the HoF as I didn't list them in full this time as the regular members already know them.

This is a link to the general guidelines for HoFs (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1836293#post1836293) You should also take a look at the 1,2,3 post in that thread and of course the 1st post of this thread if you haven't already done that. Also take a look at the last Noir HoF III (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2077367#post2077367) to see how we do it, it would help to peruse the pages of that HoF to get the feel for it. New people are always welcomed but often they don't stick around as these HoFs take months, but I hope you do stick around.

[GulfportDoc]

That's what we'll do then.
CR, if you're needing another participant, I'll join in.

[Citizen Rules]

CR, if you're needing another participant, I'll join in.I do! PM me your nom.

[Citizen Rules]

Gulfport Doc has joined our merry group of HoF Noirers

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96786

Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder (1944)
Gulfport Doc

[Citizen Rules]

That makes two noms now with Billy Wilder as director...and two noms with Barbara Stanwyck.

[Citizen Rules]

https://www.filmkuratorium.de/filmk15-data/akten/screenshots/2018/11/ace-in-the-hole-1951-01-med.jpg
Ace in the Hole
(Billy Wilder 1951)


Now that's a shot! Lots of scope in that composition. My favorite scene is of the set constructed, 'Indian' cliff dwellings. They look so real, though they were constructed for the movie. Those dwellings add a lot of character to the story. Not that the movie needed any more character with Kirk Douglas aboard. Douglas is one powerhouse actor. Just watch this, then watch Douglas do a 180 degree turn in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers....and the thing is he's utterly believable in both types of roles, that's impressive.


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.explicit.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.WHKexPIfGwJKUEtEn-4UfQAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=5ec1b05e01ed267a988a9fb56d991070328ae5bcb15c7256a0b54d2949a6d847&ipo=images

Count me as big fan of Jan Sterling! I've seen her in a lot of noirs and other films and she always gives it her all. Jan can make any movie just that much better with her being in it. Here she's as cold heartened as Douglas is. I loved the way her and Douglas play off each other.

I've seen this a number of times and last time I reviewed it I gave it a perfect score of 5/5. I'm going to take that down a tad to 4.5/5 as I felt the ending went a little to bombastic. I know that's Wilder's forte but I think instead of ending the film with Douglas full of guilt choking Jan Sterling who then stabs him with scissors...and having him stubble off trying to confess his 'crime' to the newspaper...A better ending would've been that the little mild mannered editor of the Albuquerque Newspaper brings down Kirk Douglas from his throne by telling the world just what foul doings Douglas and the Sheriff concocted in the name of greed. That would've been more potent than the way the film did end.

[Thief]

Haven't seen Breaking Point, Kiss Me Deadly, or Martha Ivers, but the other three are great.

[GulfportDoc]

96796


Double Indemnity (1944)


Of the several James M. Cain novels made into noir films (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce - in order written) Double Indemnity exploded into the movie going consciousness, which both solidified and set the standard in the nascent film noir movement with its use of narrator, femme fatale, chirascuro lighting and set design, and moody tension.

It was directed by the incomparable Billy Wilder, its screenplay by by himself and Raymond Chandler, and was memorably photographed by Joh Seitz The perfect casting starred Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff, Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, and Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes.


Wilder stepped into what would become a famous mainline style purely from the desire for artistic exposition, and to make a good film. His famous quote: “I never heard that expression film noir when I made Double Indemnity ... I just made pictures I would have liked to see. When I was lucky, it coincided with the taste of the audience. With Double Indemnity, I was lucky.”

Most fans know the story: an insurance salesman mentored by a tough, moralistic, wily claims examiner falls for an enticing woman who later enlists him for a murder plot of her husband in order to collect the life insurance benefit from the company who employs both the salesman and the mentor. “Double Indemnity” refers to a clause is some life insurance policy that results in double payment as the result of an accidental death. Many characterize the story as one of a scheming femme fatale who uses her lover’s emotions against him in order to bring off the crime. And that’s true in part. But the real story is how the salesman tries to outwit his long time mentor, and to pull off the crime while fooling his hero. It’s as much a cat & mouse game as it is a doomed love story-- two men bound together in an intrigue, with only one of them knowing the truth until the end. Curiously the audience is inclined to sympathize with Neff, which is interesting given the matrix of mid-’40s morality.

MacMurray and Stanwyck had worked together 4 years earlier in Remember the Night, a romantic comedy. And now each was the highest paid actor in Hollywood of their respective sexes. Stanwyck didn’t want the role, and had to be coaxed into it, whereas MacMurray --being a light comedy actor-- didn’t believe he could handle the part. He too had to be convinced. Their pairing for DI turned out to be one of the best in film history. And Robinson also wowed audiences with his portrayal. One of his best known scenes was the “method of suicide” monologue, which is one of the most memorable from the era.

Wilder’s direction was masterful, as he reportedly was trying to out-do Alfred Hitchcock in excellence. But it was the pregnant and rough clipped dialogue --chiefly written by the great Raymond Chandler-- that set the mood up on a pedestal, never to be knocked down. Chandler’s hard boiled word interplay was to be a master class in dialogue for future film noir writers. Wilder rewarded Chandler with a cameo, visible 16 minutes into the film, looking up as he sat outside the door of the insurance office reading a newspaper as Neff passed by. That cameo remains as the single instance of Chandler visible on film.

Cinematographer John Seitz brought with him years of experience from a catalogue of fine films to photograph the shadows and set design necessary to this picture. He was to follow it up with other top Wilder films such as The Lost Weekend and Sunset Boulevard. Also at a high level was Miklos Rozsa’s alluring score. He typically set moods by use of leitmotif musical passages representing the main characters, and also for surreptitious meetings between the two principals.

James M. Cain had written the novel on which the film was based, and many of the studios wanted the rights. But when Paramount finally acquired the rights the Hays office objected that the film was too tawdry, and that MacMurray’s character (Walter Neff) hadn’t received a decisive enough demise. Wilder had initially written and filmed an ending at great expense that showed Neff being executed in the gas chamber while his mentor looked on. But yet that ending was thought to be too gruesome by the censors. On reconsideration Wilder realized that the way Neff’s end was shown in the final cut was perfectly proper, given the nature of the two characters’ relationship, so he omitted the gas chamber ending entirely, and we all can be grateful for Wilder’s decision.

DI is one picture on a small list of films which would be difficult to imagine anything added or subtracted. It’s one of those happy convergences that have occurred over the decades that bring just the right people together at just the right time. Double Indemnity is not only arguably the finest example of film noir, but is on its own one of the great films.

[KeyserCorleone]

Can I get my reviews linked please?

[Citizen Rules]

Can I get my reviews linked please?Sure thing.

[Citizen Rules]

Good news! Diehl40 has joined us and sent in a nom...

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The Night of the Hunter
Charles Laughton (1955)
Diehl40

[GulfportDoc]

Ace in the Hole (1951)

Ace in the Hole is not a prime example of film noir, being mostly a straight drama about squalid journalism and a glory seeking reporter, however it does display one of noir’s common themes: a crushing sense of cynicism. Almost from the start we’re presented with an unrelenting portrait of some of the worst traits in human nature: greed, sensationalism, gullibility, and lying.

A newspaperman (Kirk Douglas) has been hired for a meager salary by a small Albuquerque daily after having been fired by most major publications for his underhandedness and temper. Soon a story arises with possible national interest when a local gas station owner gets trapped in a collapsed cave, which causes the newspaperman to scheme a way to build the story and his own involvement and reportage. He even convinces the authorities to alter the rescue method, which promotes a slower pace, allowing the story to be milked to a much wider audience as the carnival atmosphere with the snoopers and looky-loos builds at the site.

Along the way the trapped man’s wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling), who had already wanted to divorce him before this incident, becomes partly complicit in the newspaperman’s plot due to her new found income provided by hundreds of tourists flocking to the site and spending money at the gas station. But soon their relationship sours as the newspaperman starts to drink, and an altercation occurs which injures the newspaperman and causes him to renounce the whole mess that he has started. The story grinds to an ending in which everyone except the poor sole in the cave seems to get their just desserts.

This is reportedly Billy Wilder’s first film in which he both wrote, produced and directed. His story is his most disdainful and misanthropic of all of his films. He exposes the underbelly of human nature in such a way that one feels the urge to wash one’s hands at the film’s end. The single redeeming let up in the tale is when the newspaperman realizes that he’s gone too far, and seeks redemption. Sadly the portrayal of a gullible public blindly reacting to a sensational news story has not changed much in the intervening 77 years.

Billy Wilder had earlier directed two bona fide noirs: Double Indemnity (1944) and Sunset Boulevard (1950), so his association with the movement likely influences people to consider Ace in the Hole as a noir also. One interesting bit of trivia that caught my attention is that the name of the insurance company involved in this tale, the Pacific All-Risk Insurance Co., is the same fictitious company featured in Double Indemnity.

[Wyldesyde19]

Going to start this up soon.

[Wyldesyde19]

Sweet Smell of Success

“My left hand hasn’t seen my right in years.”
Of course, it’s dialogue like that gives us insight in Hunsecker. A man who is consumed by power and lords it over everyone all from behind a desk where he runs a weekly column.

That column is where he helps people’s careers. Or derails them. As such, he uses this column to get men to do unseemly things for them. People such as Falco, a press agent desperate for some publicity for his clients.*

First he has a task. He’s ordered by Hunsecker to break up a relationship between his sister and a musician. Having failed to do so, Falco finds himself iced out of the clolumn, depriving him of the much needed publicity.

The conversation between them gives us plenty of insight as to their business relationship. It is , as Hunsecker’s sister refers ti it as, one that resembles a trained poodle jumping through hoops for his master.

The dialogue crackles with contempt and sarcasm. There is an implied hatred between them. Hunsecker seems to hate everyone, it seems. Except for his sister. One he has a perversely controlling relationship with. Failing to keep them apart, he turns to framing the musician. This appeals even Falco, who is enticed with control of the column for a brief time while Hunsecker takes time off with his sister.

Great acting, great script and a wonderful morality tale. This is as good as it gets.

[Citizen Rules]

Sweet Smell of Success

...Great acting, great script and a wonderful morality tale. This is as good as it gets.I couldn't agree more, that's why it's my #1 top 10 profile movie. I was impressed on my first watch and when I watch again for this HoF I believe it will be my fourth watch. I'm saving it for a special occasion viewing.

[Wyldesyde19]

I couldn't agree more, that's why it's my #1 top 10 profile movie. I was impressed on my first watch and when I watch again for this HoF I believe it will be my fourth watch. I'm saving it for a special occasion viewing.

I think I’ve watched it about 4 or 5 times in the last two years. The dialogue is amazing to listen to.

[Citizen Rules]

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The Breaking Point (1950)


John Garfield considered The Breaking Point to be his finest performance...and I agree. I like Garfield as an actor but I haven't always liked his onscreen persona. Sometimes his characters just rub me the wrong way. Often he played the thick-headed, stubborn man with a chip on his shoulder...surly and angry at the world. I read a little about him at Wiki and I gather that might describe John Garfield the man. In the movies his character can work wonders when he's cast right, like in The Postman Always Rings Twice...and in films like The Breaking Point.


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Garfield is a married man with two small daughters and a nice devoted wife (Phyllis Thaxter). The family is out of money and struggling to make ends meet. His wife wants him to give up his charter boat and move inland to manage a lettuce farm owned by her father. Captain Harry Morgan (John Garfield) wants no part of farming and final gets desperate enough to use his ship for criminal actives.

"You do everything so hard...No matter what it is, you do it hard." Leona (Patricia Neal) says that to Garfield...Maybe that's why Garfield felt this was his best performance as he was playing close to home. Patricia Neal is good here, though at times her interest in Garfield seems a bit forced. Her actions are necessary to cause Garfield and his wife even more stress in their marriage. There's literally two stories going on here. A noir about a honest man who gets sucked into doing shady business with criminals. And a drama about a happy marriage that goes sour due to the husbands utter stubbornness and his penchant for doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Really glad this was nominated as this is the only nom I hadn't seen. I did have my eye on it after watching Phyllis Thaxter a few weeks ago in Act of Violence and Women's Prison.

rating_4

[Citizen Rules]

I won't be doing such big reviews for the rest of the movie but I was excited about The Breaking Point so got carried away:p

[Citizen Rules]

I think I’ve watched it about 4 or 5 times in the last two years. The dialogue is amazing to listen to.Clifford Odets probably is responsible for most of the written dialogue in Sweet Smell of Success. He penned other noirs but one that I recommend as it has the same dialogue tone and flow is Deadline at Dawn (1946). A solid noir not on the same level as Sweet Smell of Success but still pretty good.

[GulfportDoc]

Clifford Odets probably is responsible for most of the written dialogue in Sweet Smell of Success. He penned other noirs but one that I recommend as it has the same dialogue tone and flow is Deadline at Dawn (1946). A solid noir not on the same level as Sweet Smell of Success but still pretty good.
Yeah, Odets was certainly dialogue-centric. There's a hilarious observation about Odets' writing in Clash by Night in Eddie Muller's Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir: “The actors are all great, but by the tenth self-revelatory Odets monologue you’re itching for somebody to grab a gat and start blasting.”...:D

[Citizen Rules]

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The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

This one is a lock for my noir countdown ballot. A pity more people don't know about this one, at least I don't hear it mentioned. I suspect it's the title that turns them off as it sounds like a romance drama, it's not! It's one of the best written, best constructed film scripts I've seen. It's two parallel stories with Van Heflin being the connecting element. The characters are given plenty of backstory and pathos to bring them and their actions to life. And the acting is top notch. If you've only seen Van Heflin in Act of Violence where he plays a meek man on the run then you need to watch this as here Heflin is playing the type of roll he's known for. Heflin is the rogue outsider who drifts into town and causes events to happen. He's good, real good so is Stanwyck who is controlling and rich. But it was Lizabeth Scott who utterly impressed me. This was her second movie and her first major role. It's clear to me she was taping into real emotions as she comes across very compelling, very real as a troubled woman with no place to go. Likewise I'm impressed with Kirk Douglas' first movie role. He's not the tough guy here. He's a weak willed DA who's married to Martha Ivers and controlled by her. They both have a secret that binds them together and sets events in motion that in true noir fashion ends in tragedy for some.

[GulfportDoc]

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

This is a lollapalooza of a noir based on Mickey Spillane’s 1952 novel of the same name featuring a two-fisted Mike Hammer. Directed by Robert Aldrich, and photographed by the noir veteran Ernest Laszlo, screen writer A.I. Bezzerides changed the basis of the novel from an organized crime story to an espionage thriller featuring a mysterious valuable box. Spillane was not happy about the screenplay.

The picture opens with a thrilling scene. As Hammer drives along a highway a woman named Christina, clad only in a trench coat, runs into the car’s path, causing Hammer to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting her. He invites her into his car. She is escaping from a mental hospital having been held against her will, and implores to him that whatever happens, to “remember me”. Presently some gangsters overtake Hammer’s car, drag the woman out, and trying to force information out of her, she is killed. The scene sets up the whole story, and is played beautifully by Cloris Leachman in her first screen role. They subsequently knock out Hammer, and along with the woman’s body, and push the two of them over a cliff in Hammer’s car.

Days later Hammer wakes up in the hospital with his assistant/lover Velda standing over him. Hammer is intrigued about the incident and decides to find out what mystery Christina held, that it’s “something big”. He first seeks out Christina’s roommate Gabrielle, and finds out that she is somehow in league with a group of people who are all involved in seeking out the valuable box. As Mike proceeds to investigate he comes into contact with a dizzying array of con men, gangsters and thieves. It all comes to head at a lavish beach house where the content of the box is revealed, and provides one of the most memorable of noir endings.

The movie is filled with indelible participants played by great character actors such as Jack Elam, Jack Lambert, Paul Stewart, Strother Martin, and Albert Dekker. Ralph Meeker’s Mike Hammer is written as more of a sleaze than Spillane characterizes him in the novels, although he still has a violent streak. The picture was a landmark film which influenced everyone from Francois Truffaut to Quentin Tarantino.

[Citizen Rules]

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Kiss Me Deadly(1955)
Robert Aldrich


If someone says that they don't like classic noir, show them this film! That says it all too, in my mind this is a perfect noir. It's not like other noirs it's quite unique. Call it one of a kind. Or call it a trend setter for other movies. Whatever you call Kiss Me Deadly, don't call it dull!

There's so much that I admire here that I really don't know where to start. That's always a good sign for any movie that I just watched. But let me try sounding coherent to some degree...The style of the film is nothing like I've seen in film noir. It has a feeling of a on-the-street, you-are-there independently made film, (sans Hollywood). Take detective Mike Hammer. He's no hero. He's not even a Philip Marlowe type appearing to be shady when in the end he does the right thing. Ralph Meeker's Mike Hammer is just a flat out heel...and I liked that about him! He doesn't care about doing the right thing, he doesn't seem to have any kind of moral compass, and ends up getting his friends killed just so that he can make a buck. I couldn't relate to him, but guess what! I don't need to relate to him...his character was a breath of fresh air and very unexpected....and so fun to watch.



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Gaby Rodgers who plays the blonde who's in fear of her life and is really interested in that 'box'...was like no actress I've seen in a Hollywood film from the 1950s. I won't say she was amazing, but damn if she wasn't so real, like a person off the street. I never got tired of listening to her when ever she was on screen. The other actress in the film Maxine Cooper wasn't what I'd call sexy looking, but she had this look in her eyes like she was ready for sex at any moment. Good casting. Neither actress had much of a film career outside of this movie, which is a pity. I enjoyed both.

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For what might seem like a b-movie this had a ton of on-location shots all around the city which made the film look alive. So too did that camera and lighting work...all top notch and a stand out. Loved the cars Mike Hammer drove especially that black 1954 Corvette. They just didn't have many black cars in the 1950s. Wish I owned that!
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Geez this scene was hard to watch. By not showing the actress face the torture seemed all the realer as the images are being produced in the viewer's mind. Good grief that's a long review!

[PHOENIX74]

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Kiss Me Deadly - 1955

Directed by Robert Aldrich

Written by A.I. Bezzerides
Based on the novel "Kiss Me, Deadly" by Mickey Spillane

Featuring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart & Juano Hernandez

Va va voom! Pow! Wow! It's not hard to speak in mechanic Nick's (Nick Dennis) vernacular when talking about Kiss Me Deadly - one hell of a gritty, dark, nasty film noir masterpiece directed by Robert Aldrich and twisted into shape using Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer novel. It's a surprise that films like this could exist at all in 1950s America - not that it wasn't considered as a "number one menace to American youth" from some quarters. I reckon some of it might have flown directly over the heads of most kids - it takes a lot of innuendo, suggestion and playful filmmaking to get this much sex and violence past the Production Code Office. But make no mistake - this film is violence, sex and death without let-up for over 100 minutes. Even before the opening credits start to roll a mostly-naked young woman stops Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), driving a 1951 Jaguar XK120 roadster, and uses her allure to desperately entice him into giving her a lift.

The woman is Christina Bailey (Cloris Leachman) - and on the run from dangerous people. Before Mike can even get her from point A to point B their car is stopped and the two are abducted, with Christina tortured and murdered before an unconscious Mike is tipped over a cliff and left to die. Luckily he doesn't, but from that moment on he's trying to link up anyone connected with Christina to find out what was valuable enough to necessitate such treatment. With the help of his co-worker and lover Velda Wakeman (Maxine Cooper) he uncovers a list of names which either feature people that have since been murdered, or those doing the killing - all after a "whatsit", the location of which has been cryptically hinted at by Christina's exhortation to Mike : "Remember me..." If Mike does end up finding what has been causing all of this fuss, he might very well wish that he'd left well enough alone...

Talk about anti-heroes. Mike Hammer is a private investigator, but his work ethic sure is interesting. He entices wives to cheat on husbands, and uses Velda to entice the husbands - playing each side against the other with him the ultimate winner finance-wise. The cops yuck it up when questioning him - but this is a seriously twisted person to be a protagonist. When on the hunt for the "whatsit" at the center of this story, he breaks valuables, uses violence, seduces, pays off, and does whatever is necessary to get him the information he needs. A cornoner has his hand crushed. A storage proprieter feels the wrath of his fists. An opera singer sees his valuable record smashed. All because Mike can smell a big pay-off when he gets his hands on whatever it is everyone is killing and dying for. In the meantime allies are killed and kidnapped as consequences of his obsessive quest.

Kiss Me Deadly does everything noir with accomplished confidence and style - but always with an added bad attitude. Famed cinematographer Ernest Laszlo deliniates shadows sharply, and goes to town with them in nearly every scene - as expected. Frank De Vol's music pounds with dramatic flair. The opening credits are accompanied by the sexualized gasping of Christina Bailey, and scroll from bottom to top as if the film were being purposely defiant. There's something sleazy about the feel of it, and before long we're hearing Christina's cries of pain as she's tortured, naked, upon a table as an unconscious Hammer lolls in the foreground. Sound is being used as a substitute for visuals because Aldrich and co appear to have realised that the Production Code doesn't really come down as hard on what we can hear as long as we can't see it.

In it's conclusion this film is as nasty as it's been throughout - everything burns - but overall there's a wonderfully subverse quality that goes against the grain of Mickey Spillane's trashy writing at the time. The violent vigilante at the center of all of this is in no way justified, excused or redeemed. His greed and overconfidence instead perverts the course of justice, and the power at the center of the story is unleashed in it's horrifying fury. In Samuel Fuller's 1953 Cold War spy film noir film Pickup on South Street the crimes of the anti-hero are excused and condoned in the name of fighting communism. In Kiss Me Deadly Spillane's anti-communist Hammer has been transformed by having more selfish motives - lest the hysteria of the time make all of the horror seemingly in order. None of it is - the violence and criminal activity reeks, just as it should do.

Watching all of the bad activity in this - it's so much fun. Every edge is razor sharp, and every comment dripping with nasty innuendo, threat, lust and a hardness only the most corrupt can summon from their minds. The power everyone fights for is almost as extreme as that the Ark of the Covenant has in Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is what it reminds me of when finally found - explaining why people are fighting and dying for it. A timely reminder that this was the beginning of the atomic age. We side with the anti-hero for the simple reason that we want to see it already - sharing in that grim kind of curiosity. Kiss Me Deadly is bad - in the Michael Jackson use of the terminology. So bad. As bad as the end result of the power at the film's center finally unleashed. As bad as the reasons for wanting to harness that power and own it - to steal it by any means necessary. Nothing good could ever come from that, and what better lesson could be taught to American youth?

4.5

[KeyserCorleone]

The Breaking Point

To expand on what I wrote when I added this to my log, I didn't really feel like this was very noirish. That sense of darkness seemed largely like a standard drama rather than the special dark quality that noir's known for. Maybe this is because most of the movie deals with the boat's situation rather than the actual crime orientation. Now this isn't to say there weren't strengths in the drama. The characters were used very well. While the acting itself was rarely ever great and never perfect, the charisma between the various characters was stronger than everyone's acting qualities. Their reactions to each other bounced between them so well that the plot couldn't help but progress with a strong presence. But there's not a lot of darkness or drama that comes from this simple illegal transport drama, so it could've used a little more oomph in both the plot and the atmosphere. So it's a good movie for what it's worth,. but not powerful enough to stand with the Olympians.

rating_4

[GulfportDoc]

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Despite containing no murder or even any crime, Sweet Smell of Success has plenty of noir credentials from its display of sleaze, tension, mood, and darkness. All the locations are in the general Times Square area of New York which provide a suffocating and intimidating atmosphere in which to ply this tale of double dealing, deceit, and one man’s almost incestuous determination to control the life of his sister.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner, it tells the story of a highly influential but unscrupulous popular New York newspaper columnist (modeled on Walter Winchell) who is determined to break up his sister’s (Harrison) relationship with a jazz musician (Milner) whom the columnist deems beneath her standing. The media kingpin (Lancaster) enlists a shady press agent (Curtis) to frame the jazz musician as a dope user in order to quell the relationship with the sister. The story continues replete with subplots and double dealing, leading to a satisfactory ending.

The two chief standouts in the picture are the impressive photography by the great James Wong Howe, and the memorable against type performance by Tony Curtis. Howe was a natural fit for noir filming due to his penchant for dramatic low key shadow lighting, and his ability to frame New York’s Times Square area as threatening and foreboding. Cutis had been known for his roles capitalizing on his good looks. But he campaigned for the part of the sleazy press agent in order to show that he could be a serious actor. He was under contract to Universal, who was reluctant to loan him out in case the part would ruin his reputation, but in the end United Artists won out. Curtis’ impressive performance really cemented his value as a fine actor. In fact Lancaster himself stated that Curtis should have won the Oscar for his performance.

The original script was written by author Ernest Lehman from his novelette, but later Clifford Odets, known for his flare for dramatic writing, was hired to further develop the screen play after Lehman became ill. The impressive jazzy score was composed by Elmer Bernstein, which perfectly framed contemporary New York City.

It’s a landmark picture that has steadily grown in status during the years since its release.

[Wyldesyde19]

Starting The Night of the Hunter. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen it so it’ll be a nice refresher.

[PHOENIX74]

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Ace in the Hole - 1951

Directed by Billy Wilder

Written by Walter Newman, Lesser Samuels & Billy Wilder

Featuring Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur & Porter Hall

There are many great journalists populating the world of Ace in the Hole, proving that it's not a hatchet job on the profession as a whole, but more of a character study on Kirk Douglas character Charles "Chuck" Tatum - a tinsel-toothed shyster ready to show the world how the game works, and how he's the best at what he does. We've all come across the type - overconfidence, all-too-easy grin and always something to prove. Likeable enough at first, I was ready to go either way with what Billy Wilder and co had in store for me. Tatum had been shown the door from one newspaper after another for various reasons - his temper, his alcoholism or his readiness to sleep with the wrong lady. He has great spirit though, and for all we know this might be his redemption story. It's not though. This is Chuck Tatum's fall. This is Chuck Tatum pushing all of the seedy, amoral and unethical levers in conjunction with manic glee when he finds what he thinks is his big break.

His big break isn't the fact that the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin will give him a chance. This small newspaper is only a small stepping stone on Tatum's climb back to the top. Tatum's big break is running across Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) - a man trapped deep down in a cave which has a roof threatening to fall on him. His legs pinned, Minosa can't get out, and Tatum has known about stories of this type that have grown out of all proportion and captured the entire nation's imagination. Soon the newspaper man is coordinating the influx of engineers and rescue workers - along with scooping corrupt Sheriff Gus Kretzer (Ray Teal) into his pocket. Before long he's promised young partner Herbie Cook (Robert Arthur) a sterling career, and Leo's unsatisfied wife Lorraine (Jan Sterling) instant cash and a ticket to freedom. All he has to do is keep the trusting Leo trapped down there long enough for a circus atmosphere to prosper - and soon enough the carnival is in town.

Yeah, before our very eyes Chuck Tatum turns into one of the slimiest snakes we've seen in motion pictures. Instead of rescuing Leo the proper way (shoring up the cave and blasting him out) - Tatum gets Sharriff Kretzer to make sure it'll be the long route. That's a 6-day drilling operation, with poor Leo trapped the entire time in the filthy, cold, loneliness that's his prison. He then monopolizes the rights to the story, and teaches the Minosas how to profit as much as they can from the situation. We've reached the character of Tatum at a time in his life where he has to push any break he thinks he's getting to the absolute limit, and use all of the dirty tricks he's learned over the years. It reminds me a little of what getting to know Richard Nixon would have been like during his presidential era. People who think they've learned how the whole filthy system works, and are all-in. People who think that it's their turn, and hell, they'll step on whomever they have to because they figure that they've been stepped on all their lives.

So, overall, I think Ace in the Hole is a good study of that kind of character. It didn't need to be journalism - this could have been about politics, the law, or management in a corporation. Sure, there is that kind of gutter journalism that panders to rubber neckers and morbid curiosity - with extra dashes of manipulation - but for the most I think journalism is a good profession. Most of what I read I trust, and you won't find me reading anything from sources I find to be untrustworthy (there goes the entire internet.) I think Wilder and his writers were more interested in the character himself - a control freak, know-it-all, with a great big helping of malignant narcissism. Chuck Tatum reminded me of someone with bipolar. Riding a rocket to the moon until it invariably breaks, whereupon they come crashing to earth taking out anyone they just happened to drag along for the ride.

Ace in the Hole was Oscar-nominated for it's screenplay - overlooking what I thought was a really good performance from Jan Sterling as the fed up Lorraine Minosa. It's all put together in a decent enough way - not at all what I'd expect from a film noir except for the film's very dark final act - which is when all of the shadows lengthen and it not only feels noirish, but looks and sounds the same way. One thing I never get with Billy Wilder films is the whole 'humour' angle, which here again misses the mark for me. On Wikipedia this is described as a 'comedy-drama', but even with the occasional lighter moment, I'd never describe this movie as a comedy. To me it's pretty far from it, even if some of the grotesquery is meant to be funny. Kirk Douglas might have had some of the manic energy as part of who he really was, so his hyper-active performance has a certain natural ring of authenticity.

I liked the film a fair bit, as I share Wilder's disdain for shyster characters - and I think the critics got it all wrong when they perceived the film as a slight on American journalism. More confronting from an American perspective is the tendency to turn big events like this into complete carnivals - and Wilder hits hard on that front as well, bringing a literal carnival to town with joy-rides, snacks, music and celebration while Leo Minosa suffers. It's a natural progression from a "how can we make money out of this?" mindset which comes naturally to a people who embrace capitalism almost as a religion - without any moral restraints at all. That's where Ace in the Hole really stings, and in 1951 is would have seemed inconceivable to question the viability of this system. So much so I think many critics overlooked that, and focused on the journalist thrust which narrative-wise delivers the blade. We never get to hear much of Tatum's journalism, but we hear plenty about his various ways to make a buck from Leo's misfortune, of which the story is but one overriding method.

4

[Citizen Rules]

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Sweet Smell of Success
(1957, Mackendrick)


Sweet Smell of Success...this is my kind of movie, with its greedy manipulation of people in a high power stakes game played by unscrupulous newspaper columnist & publicity agents. It's a fascinating world.

The film's razor sharp dialogue is a trademark of screenwriter Clifford Ordets. The words are poetically aimed like daggers at the unfortunate recipient. In Sweet Smell of Success words are weapons...One well placed remark, one turn of the screw and someone is elevated to high places...or burnt to the ground.

One of the star 'characters' is NYC, with it's crowded night spots in Times Square, the bustling sidewalks of 42nd street and all those famous night clubs with such vitality and movement.

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The cinematography of legendary James Wong Howe is critical to the film...So many movies use tight shots of the actors, as it's economical to shoot with a telephoto lens. But bless James Wong Howe! He uses mid to wide angle lens out on the actual streets of NYC and in that way he captures a realistic feel of night life and raw power that flows from the streets into the veins of men like Sidney Falco and J.J. Hunsecker.

J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) was patterned after real life newspaper columnist Walter Winchell, a man reportedly as notorious as the fictional Hunsecker.
Walter Winchell was so obsessive about his daughter's love life that he had her institutionalized as being emotionally unstable, and with the help of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had forced her lover to leave the country.

Tony Curtis known for comic-romantic roles, played against type by playing the slimy press agent Sidney Falco. For me this is Curtis' film...He infuses his character with just enough charm with that 'ice cream face' of his, that just maybe one day he'll wise up and stop allowing his all consuming greed to drag him down to the gutter...Then again this is noir, sophisticated but a noir none the less...and like any good noir the 'heavy' might have a touch of humanity residing in him somewhere, but not enough to save him from himself.

It's probably no surprise to anyone that I liked this. After all it is my #1 top 10 profile movie.

[GulfportDoc]

The Breaking Point (1950)

The chief recommendation for this over-wrought melodramatic crime picture is Patricia Neal’s alluring and sexy performance of Leona Charles, a free spirited vamp who tries to seduce John Garfield’s character, Harry Morgan. She commands the viewer’s attention whenever she appears on screen. Otherwise this noir themed tale of a man who, in order to save his charter boat, but against his better judgment, signs on to an escape plot for several heist gangsters, which inexorably leads to a bad outcome.

Phyllis Thaxter turns in a reliable performance as Harry’s wife, Lucy. And Wallace Ford is his sleazy shady best as F.R. Duncan, who continually tempts Harry into illicit money making schemes. The veteran Juano Hernandez does a reliable job as Wesley Park, Harry’s boat assistant and conscience.

The prolific Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) directed on a screen play by Ranald MacDougall (Mildred Pierce). The cinematography by Ted D. McCord (Johnny Belinda) was competent and realistic, but not in the least noirish.

This was the second screen adaptation of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, and although it was reported to be more faithful to the novel, this version was not quite as absorbing as the 1944 looser adaptation with Bogart and Bacall.

[GulfportDoc]

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

The Night of the Hunter is really a fantasy horror film. It’s noir element is chiefly due to the studied chiaroscuro photography of Stanely Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons). Considered to be more of an art film when released, it had a poor reception but has steadily grown in stature in the years since.

Robert Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a murderer and self-proclaimed preacher who becomes the cell mate of a man named Ben Harper (Peter Graves) who had killed two bank guards and had stolen a large sum of money which he subsequently hid in a place that only his two children knew about. Powell cannot wheedle the hiding place before Harper is executed. Upon his release Powell seeks out Harper’s widow (Shelley Winters), hoping he can find the stolen loot. He deceives the townspeople with his flase piety, and subsequently marries the widow. When he finds out that the widow does not know the location of the loot, but that the children do, he promptly kills the widow, and threatens the children who escape and hide down river under the protection of Rachel Cooper (Lilian Gish), an elderly widow who looks after stray children. Powell tracks them down but is foiled by Cooper.

The film was directed by Charles Laughton in his singular instance as a director in film, although he was an experienced stage director. The novel of the same name was by Davis Grub, and Laughton and Grub worked closely together to develop the style of the story, although a lengthy screenplay by James Agee was eventually used in portion. The art direction by Hilyard Brown focused on providing abstract and sparse sets, giving the picture an almost dream-like fantasy look which fomented an other-worldly feel in many of the scenes.

Most studios as well as most actors would not have backed a film of this type in the mid 1950s, but United Artists had come to be known as a studio that would give their producers and directors free reign. And in fact the picture has attained classic status, and appears on many best picture lists.

[Wyldesyde19]

Damn. I forgot to write my review from the other night. I’ll have it up tonight after work

[Citizen Rules]

Damn. I forgot to write my review from the other night. I’ll have it up tonight after workYou can write it in your head while you're at work:p I do that sometimes.

[Wyldesyde19]

The Night of the Hunter

“Children….oh children….”


Perhaps Robert Mitchum’s most iconic role, the villainous Father Powell is a viscous serial killer who hates women, and what they represent. He believes he is doing the lords work, which makes him more frightening. He goes from town to town killing, a false prophet. When he hears about a widow who has moneys at she’s away from her dead husbands bank robbery, he strikes out to seduce her…not with sex, but with kindness, and promises to take care of her and her children. The children are the key here, because only they know of the money and where it is hidden. She isn’t aware of his intentions until after they have been married. By then, it’s too late. She’s been broken down by his mental cruelty.

Mitchum switches effortlessly between charming and sinister in the blink of an eye, and is the kind of role he should have been awarded for. His tattoos on his knuckles (live on his right, hate in his left) has become synonymous with evil and has been parodied many times from the Simpsons to Seinfeld. I tho k I remember seeing it on De Niro in the Cape Fear remake? Need to verify.

The film itself is pretty good, but falls short of being a classic for me. While the cinematography is excellent, I’m a sucker for fog effects and goodness does the town seem to be covered in fog on a nightly basis, but the ending feels rushed and almost like a different movie. I’m talking about the last 10 minutes.

Decent pick, regardless. Good to revisit this after about 7 years or so?

[Diehl40]

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Night of the Hunter

Laughton 1955


I thought that this movie has held up well for a mid-fifties film. My main praise centers on Harry Powell (Mitchum's character). I thought the film maintained a large degree of suspense throughout the movie, and a lot of this was due to how Mitchum played his character. It did not rely on hokey story lines or over the top violence to maintain its suspense. This is one of my favorite noirs so far.

[Diehl40]

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Ace in the Hole Billy Wilder 1951

I thought this movie had a timely message for its audience of today. When news becomes "entertainment" there are real consequences for Leo Minosa and for us as we enter an echo chamber and loose all proper perspective on the events of our time. Sorry for the two short reviews.

[GulfportDoc]

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

I’ve wondered if Paramount hadn’t taken a bit of a risk with this title, since it makes it sound like a melodramatic love story. The fact is that the picture is one of the best examples of classic down and dirty noir. The film is epic in nature, the tale beginning in 1928, and concluding in 1946. It stars Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwyck, Lizbeth Scott (in her second film role),Judith Anderson, and Kirk Douglas (in his first). Directed by Lewis Milestone (Casablanca), and photographed by the veteran Victor Milner (The Lady Eve).

Martha Ivers (Janis Wilson, Stanwyck as an adult) is the niece of a wealthy industrialist (Anderson) who has been Martha’s guardian since the demise of her father, a man named Smith. She hates her cold domineering aunt, and tries to run away with a young rogue friend Sam Masterson (Daryl Hickman, Heflin as an adult). The aunt has her captured and brought back telling her that she’ll never be able to escape. Another boy, Walter O’Neil, Jr. (Mickey Kuhn, Douglas as an adult), the son of her tutor, Walter O’Neil, Sr. (Roman Bohnen), is responsible for ratting out Martha’s escape.

Soon Martha attempts another escape with Sam, but Mrs. Ivers overhears them upstairs. During Mrs. Ivers’ walk up the stairway she stumbles upon the pet cat, and starts to beat the cat with her cane. Martha and Walter Jr. appear, whereupon Martha grabs the cane and strikes Mrs. Ivers, who tumbles down the stairs to hear death. Walter Sr. appears but agrees to testify that Mrs. Ivers’ death was an accident as long as he and his son can benefit.

Years later Sam happens by the town on a trip, where he learns that Martha is now the wealthy industrialist, and that she has married Walter Jr. --who has become the town’s district attorney-- in a pact to keep Martha’s involvement in the Ivers death a secret. Sam visits his old home which is now a boarding house, where he meets a girl who is on probation, Toni Marachek (Scott). Sam soon approaches Walter to see if he’ll rectify Toni’s legal problem, but Walter wrongly suspects Sam is blackmailing him.

What follows are several twists and entanglements which lead to a classic memorable noir ending.

The picture was a huge success, and along with Double Indemnity two year prior, it cemented Stanwyck as one of the best femme fatales in film history. In fact she was never again to do a comedy. It was Heflin’s role in this film that made me realize what a great actor he was. Like Stanwyck, he was completely at home in any type of film. In addition this is the picture that put Kirk Douglas on the map. One can recognize the kernels of depth that he exhibited in his many subsequent films. And Lizabeth Scott was absolutely smoldering in her portrayal of a blithe probationer who gets her man.

The success of Robert Rossen’s complex screenplay insured his future succcess as a director in such memorable films as All the King’s Men (1949) and The Hustler (1961).

[Citizen Rules]

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
I’ve wondered if Paramount hadn’t taken a bit of a risk with this title, since it makes it sound like a melodramatic love story... Bad title, good movie....What were they thinking of? Was this the first time you seen it?

[PHOENIX74]

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The Breaking Point - 1950

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Written by Ranald MacDougall
Based on the novel "To Have and Have Not" by Ernest Hemingway

Featuring John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter & Juano Hernandez

There's a real scrape in The Breaking Point that has protagonist Harry Morgan (John Garfield) hang on to his livelihood, home, family and peace of mind by the barest free edges of his fingernails - constantly juggling to keep going another day, or even another few hours. This film noir classic has it's dingy, shadowy focus on a working man. A fishing boat captain who takes sporting fishers out for a certain amount of money, and barely makes a cent after paying the various fees, fines and costs that keep his business operating. Ernest Hemingway's novel, "To Have and Have Not", had kind of been adapted to the screen in the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall 1944 film of the same name, directed by Howard Hawks - but that film differed wildly from the novel. That's the reason why this film came along after so little time - the story in the novel was really being told for the first time here. It's a really dark, rough and rugged film that throws little counter-balance out apart from the loving exchanges Harry has with wife Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter) and his kids.

Harry starts the film having to spend most of the advance money he gets on either fuel for his boat, or food for the family, and that's before his next customer stiffs him - meaning he lacks the cash to exit the port he's in. Shady lawyer F.R. Duncan (Wallace Ford) can offer one possible solution - transporting illegal immigrants into the United States for money. Something that could land Harry in jail for years. In the meantime, he's also tempted by seductress Leona Charles (Patricia Neal) - during which he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the love he has for his family, his wife and his sense of self-pride and determination. Harry ends up trying to smuggle the Chinese immigrants in from Mexico, but the whole operation turns into a disaster and in the end brings down more heat from the authorities, who impound Harry's boat for a search and investigation. One more criminal enterprise could put Harry well ahead still - but results in tragedy for his partner Wesley Park (Juano Hernández) and might take Harry well beyond the breaking point.

I enjoy the incredible fun cinematographers have playing with shadow and darkness in film noir, but I don't think I've seen darkness used to such a strong effect as it is here. Director of photography Ted D. McCord (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Young Man With a Horn, East of Eden and The Sound of Music) drowns his characters in inky black nothingness, and has them fight blizzards of sharply delineated dark lines, crevasses of space where no light can enter and many phases of muted grey mystery. Often you'll just see a silhouette, and often when a character enters a shady joint the lights are down unbelievably low - as if patrons don't want to see what they're drinking. Harry's costume is dark, meaning at night we often can only see his face clearly. There are plenty of scenes outside during the day to provide much needed contrast and balance throughout the film. I enjoyed the noir cinematography of McCord, and the way he keeps us feeling claustrophobic on those boat trips, ironically out in a great expanse of water.

The other most notable aspect of the film aside from the story and cinematography is the performance of John Garfield, who is especially strong here - doing what he considered some of the best acting of his entire career. Garfield would come under pressure from various fronts not long after featuring in The Breaking Point - family-wise, he'd lost a daughter five years previously and was at the time constantly cheating on his wife Roberta Seidman. It was the investigation by the FBI however, after his testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities, that would provide the most stress. Only two years after hitting a high point here, he found himself blacklisted and unable to get film work. Unable to sleep and constantly exerting himself, with his career in doubt and investigations ongoing, Garfield died of a heart attack on May 21, 1952. He was only 39-years-old. Here he shows what kind of promise the rest of his career showed in his second-last screen performance.

I found The Breaking Point a very heavy, moving experience. I mean, the final scene and the way those final shots play out - with Wesley Park's son on the wharf looking for his father - are so solemn and bleak. The whole struggle-street saga is familiar enough, and it's a scene I don't have the fortitude to fight my way through. Lucy is always begging Harry to start a new career, but his determination and grit will see the man fight to the bitter end. There's a requisite cynicism to film noir that demands the ending we get - but it's tempered and not the worst of all endings possible. In the meantime the constant blows are felt by an audience totally on Harry's side, and pulling for him. Of course criminal enterprises are going to go wrong. When you deal with crooks you can't expect to be dealt with in a fair and square manner. Harry has a great head on his shoulders in a crisis though, and a lesser man would have ended up in a worse position. That's not saying, however, that his decisions were the right ones.

So, overall, even though The Breaking Point didn't win any awards, it's reputation today is stellar, and there are plenty of people who give it the highest praise. Before now, I'd never heard of it and can't say I'm familiar with many of the actors who appear in it (Patricia Neal we'd see in The Day the Earth Stood Still and Hud later in her career.) It reminded me just a little of Thieves Highway, and I can't help wonder if it's bitter tone regarding capitalism had anything to do with the left-leaning Garfield signing on to play the lead. The scenes featuring danger and action were some of the most thrilling, tense and gripping I've ever seen in a noir film - real edge-of-your-seat stuff and actually the greatest thing about the film while I'm in 'watching it' mode. Really, really exciting stuff, and props to editor Alan Crosland Jr. and Curtiz for crafting those moments that make this noir thriller go off with a bang. The breaking point indeed. We're often just a moment away, giving us those treasured movie moments where nothing else in the world exists.

4

[GulfportDoc]

[Martha Ivers] Bad title, good movie....What were they thinking of? Was this the first time you seen it?
No, I've seen it a couple of times long ago. But I did watch it again on Friday afternoon. Very strong noir.

[Citizen Rules]

No, I've seen it a couple of times long ago. But I did watch it again on Friday afternoon. Very strong noir.Glad you liked it. I'm watching your nom tonight.

Congratulations on finishing first! You can send in your ranked voting ballot for this HoF to me whenever you get a chance.

[GulfportDoc]

Glad you liked it. I'm watching your nom tonight.

Congratulations on finishing first! You can send in your ranked voting ballot for this HoF to me whenever you get a chance.
Oh, I forgot about that. Will PM them to you now.

[Citizen Rules]

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Double Indemnity (1944)
Billy Wilder


Each time I watch this I find something new to appreciate. I believe this might be my third or fourth watch and this time I focused on two different aspects. I focused on the close knit relationship between Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson). They're quit close to each other and the older & wiser Keyes is both a mentor and father figure to the younger & brass Neff. I noticed how MacMurray was always lighting Robinson's cigars...a sign of respect. At the end of the film when a weakened MacMurray stumbles and tries to smoke one more cigarette, Robinson lights it for him. All of that gives more depth to the movie and the characters relationships.


My other focus was on Barbara Stanwyck, no surprise there! I watched the scene where she asks for a double indemnity insurance policy on her husband without him knowing about it. Then MacMurray recoils from the situation saying he doesn't want any part of a murder plan. I watched that scene twice and carefully watched Stanwyck's facial expressions, she never hints that she was planning a murder. In another movie she would've half heartily denied planning murder as a wink to the audience, so that we know she's up to no good. Later in the film she says that Neff planted the idea of murder in her head...and I believe her. That's one of the strengths of Double Indemnity it has one of the tightest, well thought out scripts in noir.

[KeyserCorleone]

Sweet Smell of Success

I admit that this got harder to watch at the end because the villain was everything I'm against: a man who uses a supposedly calm face and fancy lawyerifics to hide his boiling need for revenge against anyone who wrongs him slightly. He's basically the male counterpart to Umbridge. That's why I couldn't wait for little Susan to finally say the one thing to really eff him in his smug face. It was a pretty damn detailed story, but I felt like it needed a little more plotting to go with the characterization, as events didn't really seem to altar the plot as they could easily just be erased with the snap of a finger and the pulling of strings. Every plot device was used solely for the character development so that these people would hate each other more, but didn't really have a say or effect on the world they live in. Thankfully, we have some very strong character dynamics and a couple of brilliant actors at the lead. Lemme tell you, this is probably the best Curtis role I've seen so far, and Lancaster was just the most punchable person on Earth in this movie. There was quite a bit of suspense just based on the fact that you didn't fully know what these characters were thinking. One element of the movie which is both a pro and a con is its excessive usage of lingo at the time, which is cool to hear but occasionally went over my head. Overall, I enjoyed this dark and almost eerie movie about humans feeling threatened by the world.

Now I'ma watch Cheers.

rating_4_5

[GulfportDoc]

Sweet Smell of Success

I admit that this got harder to watch at the end because the villain was everything I'm against: a man who uses a supposedly calm face and fancy lawyerifics to hide his boiling need for revenge against anyone who wrongs him slightly. He's basically the male counterpart to Umbridge. That's why I couldn't wait for little Susan to finally say the one thing to really eff him in his smug face. It was a pretty damn detailed story, but I felt like it needed a little more plotting to go with the characterization, as events didn't really seem to altar the plot as they could easily just be erased with the snap of a finger and the pulling of strings. Every plot device was used solely for the character development so that these people would hate each other more, but didn't really have a say or effect on the world they live in. Thankfully, we have some very strong character dynamics and a couple of brilliant actors at the lead. Lemme tell you, this is probably the best Curtis role I've seen so far, and Lancaster was just the most punchable person on Earth in this movie. There was quite a bit of suspense just based on the fact that you didn't fully know what these characters were thinking. One element of the movie which is both a pro and a con is its excessive usage of lingo at the time, which is cool to hear but occasionally went over my head. Overall, I enjoyed this dark and almost eerie movie about humans feeling threatened by the world.

Now I'ma watch Cheers.

rating_4_5
I think it's probably Curtis' best acted role. Even Burt Lancaster said that he Curtis should have gotten the Oscar for it. Believe it or not he wasn't even nominated! I don't think the public nor the Academy knew what to think about that picture. Maybe Walter Winchell threatened the Academy...:cool:

[Citizen Rules]

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The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Charles Laughton


Visually this is awesome, truly a unique looking film for 1950s Hollywood. It's a pity that this was Charles Laughton's first and last movie that he directed. If memory serves me it was panned by the critics and didn't do well at the box office either. I'm sure that was a disappointment for Laughton and may have been the reason he never directed again. I think Laughton achieved great success with the look and style of his film.

I do admire this film and on my first watch I wrote a glowing review, rating it at rating_4_5. After my third watch I'd still rate that high but this is not the type of film I like. It functions like a horror thriller where first Shelley Winters and then the children are in constant danger from the preacher. I know alot of people love horror films because they deliver tons of tension which equates into excitement for most, but not for me. For me a horror film where helpless innocent people have to flee and fight to survive throughout the movie only serves to make me both anxious and annoyed at the stupid decisions the victims always make. So in a nutshell, great film, amazing cinematography and direction. It deserves lots of praise but it's not the type of film I love to rewatch.

Link to my old review of The Night of the Hunter (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?p=1611804#post1611804).

[PHOENIX74]

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The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - 1946

Directed by Lewis Milestone

Written by Robert Rossen
Based on the novel "Love Lies Bleeding" by John Patrick

Featuring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas & Judith Anderson

Returning to the town you grew up in. Where it all started. Chances are, you won't just accidentally stumble through it like Sam Masterson (Van Heflin) does. I'd be well aware, if I were heading towards the town I grew up in, but in fiction it never hits a protagonist before they see a sign - and for Sam it's Iverstown. Home to a tumultuous childhood for all of the characters in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - a film with a title that is such a great head-scratcher. I take it the source novel's title of "Love Lies Bleeding" was too icky-sounding for studio heads and distributors, because otherwise it sounds like the perfect title for this. The titular Martha Ivers is played by Barbara Stanwyck - who can play poisonous, and as such is perfect for the role of a woman spiritually contorted by guilt, grief, wealth, greed and a loveless marriage. Before Van Heflin and Stanwyck take up their roles however, the action is set up with a prologue set during their characters' childhood days.

Martha (Janis Wilson) and young Sam Masterson (Darryl Hickman) are running - from the law, their relatives and their respective fates it seems. Stealing away like hobos on a train out of Iverstown, it's not long before they're spotted, and Martha caught. Sam manages to get away. When Martha is dragged back home we learn that she lives with her ultra-wealthy aunt and a tutor by the name of Walter O'Neil Sr (Roman Bohnen) - who has a son Martha confides in, snivelly sycophant Walter O'Neil Jnr (Mickey Kuhn). When Sam makes his way back to the place, and organises another escape with Martha, her aunt happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - during a blackout. Martha clocks her one on the head with a cane, whereupon her aunt falls to the foot of the staircase, dead. The crime is to be blamed on an intruder, and as such Martha will inherit her vast wealth. Once O'Neil Snr dies, it's assumed only three people know the truth - Martha, Sam and Walter.

From there we're transported to the present day with adult Sam driving into Iverstown (he has a young Blake Edwards as a passenger - playing a hitchhiking sailor), and meeting sensual flame Antonia "Toni" Marachek (Lizabeth Scott) after stranding himself by wrecking his car in a moment of sheer stupidity. It sets up a love story within a more toxic love story for Sam, for it's not long before he finds out that Martha ended up marrying Walter O'Neil Jnr (Kirk Douglas, in his feature film debut), and that the latter ended up becoming Iverstown's district attorney. O'Neil has become an alcoholic as well, and his suspicions reckon that Sam has come to town to blackmail Martha and himself about the murder years before. In the meantime, when Martha encounters her old friend from all of those years ago, she finds that it's like a fire has been relit inside of her - and she yearns for the life she could have had. With Antonia on probation, Walter paranoid, Martha scheming and Sam in the middle the volatile mixture won't do anything but explode.

Just try explaining this film's plot in quick-time - it's far from unfathomable, but there are many chess pieces all making their specific moves once the game has been carefully set up. You could almost say that Toni's (Antonia's) part in everything is extraneous, but she fits in well when you consider the power O'Neil has over her, and thus the way that translates to power over Sam. O'Neil is one of the more fascinating characters in this because he's the most jittery, uncertain district attorneys I've ever seen. It helps that Kirk Douglas is playing him - and that makes it so interesting, because I've never seen Douglas portraying such a character before. It wouldn't be too long before he found his niche in tougher, capable, headstrong roles - so getting a glimpse of him starting his career in this way is a definite reason to watch The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. You could almost say he lays it on a little too thick - but it's forgivable, and he does play a great drunk in any event.

All four performances are strong - Barbara Stanwyck, not long after her stellar performance in Double Indemnity as femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson (in that wig), just oozes cyanide, strychnine, nicotine and sickly sweet honey. Just looking at her is enough to send O'Neil fleeing for a bottle of scotch. Sam is the "man" in this noir-type drama, his confidence more than enough to meet any challenge at all - no matter how deadly or consequential. Lizabeth Scott is a picture of perfection, and not anything like a real lady on probation and having troubles with the law would look like in a million years. I mean, her fashion sense, make-up, general health, hair - she looks like a wealthy, healthy, steady woman with a good income and much means. Movies from this era weren't all that interested in making their characters look realistic - they had to look fabulous. Douglas is pale and shaky, but still handsome with a good physique. This is a film that lives or dies on it's four major characters, and the story that plays out.

As a story, the movie really pits wealth and corruption up against honor, truthfulness, and most importantly inner strength and conviction. Money really is the root of all evil in many of these films, and as such it's no surprise that the wealthy Martha Ivers of Iverstown is something akin to Medusa. There's a marked difference between the childhood Martha we see in the prologue, and what she has become later in the film - a shock that money has corrupted her so thoroughly, and that the guilt over what happened seems to have slid right off her back and onto the very soul of Walter, who walks around as if a hangman's noose is around his neck the entire time. The whole concoction really feels like a mix of noir and melodrama - the mysterious component protagonist Sam, who Walter identifies as a gambler and ex-soldier. Walter always gets out of every fix he gets into as only a man of extraordinary experience can. Wealth has made Martha and Walter less quick-minded, smart and adaptable than Sam, who is used to using his mind and exercising it in pursuit of his freewheeling existence.

There's a sense in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers that the easy life has stunted the growth of the likes of Walter, and choosing expediency over the life she wanted to live has poisoned Martha's soul. All of this is exposed by the return of Sam to Iverstown, where it's as if Martha and Walter have advanced but lived their lives in stasis while he was away. The old class system which involves the inheritance of wealth is squarely in this film's eyes - Martha and Walter should have been made to earn the positions they have been granted within society, and that's the most interesting aspect of the film. The way it favours Sam's choice of getting out into the world and truly experiencing it - whereas it seems Martha and Walter have been stuck in this one town their whole lives. His accidental return seems to have been foreordained, and his life the path best chosen. Wealth can trap you, and power in the face of truth an illusion uncovered by someone willing to just be themselves without ulterior motive. At the very least for Martha and Walter - for whom it seems love no longer enters the equation.

Overall this is a film that doesn't do much to excite or thrill, but one that nonetheless is interesting enough in it's characters and story that it's compelling to watch. The cast of first-rate actors give it enough power to be worthwhile watching for fans of this genre and films made during this period. Especially significant for being the film that provided Kirk Douglas his big break.

3.5

[Wyldesyde19]

Will pick this up this week

[Citizen Rules]

@Diehl40 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=88140) @ KeyserCorleone @PHOENIX74 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=112080) @Siddon (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=95448) @Wyldesyde19 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=104656)

I'm sure you guys already know this, but the Deadline is February 18th which is 19 more days left.

I need this to wrap up BEFORE I start the Top Film Noir Countdown as it will take all my free time to post the noir movies daily for the countdown.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimages5.fanpop.com%2Fimage%2Fphotos%2F31100000%2FBetty-Bacall-lauren-bacall-31120481-500-375.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=d2acf8337e7590e32a7e5ee1cb6cdd600cce7cfee1d093498953f457a56924d2&ipo=images

[Diehl40]

@Diehl40 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=88140) @ KeyserCorleone @PHOENIX74 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=112080) @Siddon (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=95448) @Wyldesyde19 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=104656)

I'm sure you guys already know this, but the Deadline is February 18th which is 19 more days left.

I need this to wrap up BEFORE I start the Top Film Noir Countdown as it will take all my free time to post the noir movies daily for the countdown.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimages5.fanpop.com%2Fimage%2Fphotos%2F31100000%2FBetty-Bacall-lauren-bacall-31120481-500-375.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=d2acf8337e7590e32a7e5ee1cb6cdd600cce7cfee1d093498953f457a56924d2&ipo=images

I'll speed it up

[Citizen Rules]

I'll speed it up Thanks Diehl.

[Wyldesyde19]

Double Indemnity


Planning the perfect murder is difficult. There’s a lot that could go wrong. You have to plan for witnesses, evidence, investigators, and sometimes a little man inside a insurance claims manager that ties him up in knots.
Walter Neff (Played by Fred McMurray) is a straight arrow insurance salesmen. Until he meets Phyllis. Phyllis is the classic femme fatale, played brilliantly by Barbara Stanwyck.
Stanwyck oozes sexuality throughout this film, the way she crosses her legs, converting her intentions. The icy stare that she gives. I find myself drawn to her face, one that looks so innocent yet hides her darker impulses.
To me though, Edward G Robinson is the best in this film. Can you believe he never so much as garnered a oscar nomination in his entire career? It’s sacrilege!
The director, Billy Wider, does a great jobs of closeups on everyone’s faces at the right time, and his use of shadows. His attention to detail is also spot on. Watch at the beginning when Neff has been shot. It starts off as a small stain, at the entry wound. As time goes by, the stain grows larger. At the end, it’s dripping down his hand.
One of the best noir and a sure fire entry in my ballot.

[KeyserCorleone]

The Night of the Hunter

Now THIS one was exciting. Our plot was simple but packed with character and realism. These two kids in the center were all the more adorable thanks to their grim situation, and much of that was because Robert Mitchum played such a hellish villain that now I'm almost scared of his calypso album. I've already heard it twice. Lemme tell you, it was difficult watching this crapbasket get his way so much. And I loved that old woman who takes them in. As a stark contrast to the two irresponsible parents, she's the strict but loving mother that a person should really want, a refuge from the domestic and public horrors of the world. She also operates as a healthier metaphorical foil to the other old woman who's constantly on the preacher's side. This was a real look at humanity and the various ways that religion not only affects the community but even children, the pros and cons shoved in our faces without the direct preachiness of movies like God's Not Dead unless it wants to unsult us for not THINKING about what's being said. In other words, it acts as a metaphor for opinion.

However, I feel it was more of a thriller than a noir movie. It didn't have as much intrigue involving several untrustworthy characters, or even the high number of untrustworthy people involved, cynical would-be heroes questioning morality, etc. etc. The morality was pretty obvious and had less to do with questioning right and wrong rather than telling us how to interpret something wrongfully. It had SOME similarities, like the dark tone and lighting, but that's about it for me. Otherwise, it was no more a noir to me than Fritz Lang's Fury. Once the old woman comes into play, it basically becomes Lassie with Guns. So I'm gonna give this a five-star rating. But I do not consider this "noir."

rating_5

Double Indemnity

Now THIS is a noir movie. Right from the getgo you're drawn into the intrigue of the challenge between right and wrong. Thanks to the flashback nature, there's this stronger grip on wanting to know what's gonna happen next, and this also helps us care more about our well-fleshed out characters. The plot's always going somewhere, which I really appreciate, especially for crime stories. This is a how-to on how to make a crime story constantly interesting, especially since it's acting more as a commentary on how to properly lawyer your way out of a complex crime. On top of that, the twistiness isn't really shoved in your face. It's incredibly consistent and never confusing. This is a very healthy outlook on noir storytelling, one that doesn't quite reach the heights of Sunset Boulevard, but showed Billy Wilder's excellence at working with tropes. This is the third best noir movie of his, and the third best overall for me so far, further proof that Billy Wilder was the master of noir.

rating_5




I'm done! Sending in my ballot now.

[Diehl40]

Kiss me Deadly 1955

From the opening scene the protagonist, and we the audience, are hooked. What is up with the lady in the trench coat, why was she in a mental institution, and why did they kill her, were all questions that are raised from the very beginning of the story. Although the story is disjointed in how it moves from plot point to plot point, it still is an effective noir story. it establishes a stark opening sequence, there are several Femme Falale characters, and a bunch of low-life gangsters, with many expressionistic lit scenes.

I read that this film is considered the last Film Noir. Supposedly everything "noir" after the production of this film is to be considered neo-noir.

[GulfportDoc]

Kiss me Deadly 1955

From the opening scene the protagonist, and we the audience, are hooked. What is up with the lady in the trench coat, why was she in a mental institution, and why did they kill her, were all questions that are raised from the very beginning of the story. Although the story is disjointed in how it moves from plot point to plot point, it still is an effective noir story. it establishes a stark opening sequence, there are several Femme Falale characters, and a bunch of low-life gangsters, with many expressionistic lit scenes.

I read that this film is considered the last Film Noir. Supposedly everything "noir" after the production of this film is to be considered neo-noir.
As I understand it the lady in the trench coast, Christina (Cloris Leachman), was put in the mental institution in order to force information out of her about where the mysterious box is. She had escaped and was running away, but she got caught and tortured to death anyway.

As far as when classic noir ended, it's almost a matter of opinion. Touch of Evil was in 1958, and Odds Against Tomorrow was in 1959. But I think it's trustworthy to say that noir as an acknowledged Hollywood movement ended in the late 1950s.

[Diehl40]

Breaking Point


This was the second attempt to make a movie from a Hemingway story. The first starred Bogey and Bacall, and it was a successful movie but it left out much of what Hemingway included in his story. In Breaking Point we have Curtiz taking a shot and although he did make a few changes (location, added a character, etc.), he did much better with the source material. Heminway said he preferred the Curtiz version best. It dispenses with some of the traditional Film Noir tropes in order to tell a straight forward story, even if it might not be the most noble of all stories.

[Wyldesyde19]

Ace in the Hold

Chuck Tatum is a newspaper reporter who has been fired from several previous jobs and finds himself Albuquerque, NM. He senses this is his last chance. His behavior, notably his temper, has cost him his previous jobs and he seems on the way down in his career as a result.
Bored with his job, and his current assignment (I can’t even remember what his original assignment was) he comes across a local man trapped in a cave of sorts, and comes up with an idea to exploit this for his own benefit. A means to revive his career, as it is. He gets the trapped man’s wife and the local sheriff to play along and as such, proceeds to cause the rescue attempt to be prolonged. Eventually this all becomes one big “circus”.

This film is remarkably prescient for its time, as the media would eventually sensationalize later similar events in real life for the ratings.

It’s well acted and well directed, and like Sweet Smell of Success, is a morality tale, but…..is this really noir? For some reason it didn’t seem like it to me, unless I missed something here. It doesn’t come off as one so much as a drama. A well directed one one at that.

[Citizen Rules]

Ace in the Hold
...is this really noir? For some reason it didn’t seem like it to me, unless I missed something here. It doesn’t come off as one so much as a drama...Spoilers***
We all have to define noir by our own measure. For me, a hallmark of noir is that the lead character often ends up destroyed in some manner, either due to their own character flaws or random outside forces. This often occurs by morally ambiguous means.

Ace in the Hole has the reporter (Kirk Douglas) consumed by his own self serving interest and his lack of concern for his fellow man, resulting in destruction for him and the man in the hole. But yeah I get that it doesn't feel as much noir as say Double Indemnity or other noirs, but it is eligible for the noir countdown.

[Wyldesyde19]

Spoilers***
We all have to define noir by our own measure. For me, a hallmark of noir is that the lead character often ends up destroyed in some manner, either due to their own character flaws or random outside forces. This often occurs by morally ambiguous means.

Ace in the Hole has the reporter (Kirk Douglas) consumed by his own self serving interest and his lack of concern for his fellow man, resulting in destruction for him and the man in the hole. But yeah I get that it doesn't feel as much noir as say Double Indemnity or other noirs, but it is eligible for the noir countdown.
Yeah, I was looking it up and apparently fans are divided over it being a noir or not.
Not really complaining, but rather musing out loud about it, but I have no objections to it regardless. *
Great film anyways.

[Citizen Rules]

Yeah, I was looking it up and apparently fans are divided over it being a noir or not.
Not really complaining, but rather musing out loud about it, but I have no objections to it regardless. *
Great film anyways.Oh yeah, I knew you weren't complaining about it, I just wanted to talk about it:p Anyway I'm a huge fan of Wilder. I've seen a lot of his work and been impressed by most of all of it. I should check out more of his work, will maybe after the noir countdown is over.

[Wyldesyde19]

Oh yeah, I knew you weren't complaining about it, I just wanted to talk about it:p Anyway I'm a huge fan of Wilder. I've seen a lot of his work and been impressed by most of all of it. I should check out more of his work, will maybe after the noir countdown is over.
Wilder is one of my favorite all time directors. Love his films!

[Citizen Rules]

Wilder is one of my favorite all time directors. Love his films!I expect three of them to make the noir countdown!

[Wyldesyde19]

I expect three of them to make the noir countdown!
Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard are locks

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/jSN6Jwbm/the-night-of-the-hunter.jpg

The Night of the Hunter - 1955

Directed by Charles Laughton

Written by James Agee
Based on the novel "The Night of the Hunter" by Davis Grubb

Featuring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason, Evelyn Varden
Peter Graves, Don Beddoe, Gloria Castillo, Billy Chapin & Sally Jane Bruce

The first time I watched The Night of the Hunter I was unaware of it's fairy tale quality, and wasn't expecting the sojourn into expressionism and religious analogy - my mind was primed for a straightforward serial killer thrill ride. As far as Robert Mitchum is concerned, I'd grown up with his Max Cady in Cape Fear and seen him menace Dean Martin with his other preacher-killer Reverend Jonathan Rudd in 5 Card Stud. He outdoes them both here, with Harry Powell one of his crowning achievements performance-wise - but I was thrown by how unusual this movie is. Going into it again, fully forewarned and ready to embrace the enchanting, lyrical quality it has made for a thrilling experience. It has some of the best visual moments in the history of cinema as far as the use of silhouette goes, and one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen in a movie - little Sally Jane Bruce, whose facial expressions are quite simply adorable enough to make me melt.

The film itself features serial killer turned faux-preacher Powell (Mitchum) finding out about a $10,000 cash stash waiting at the home of Ben Harper's (Peter Graves) family, while in prison. A family that consists of mother Willa Harper (Shelley Winters), young John (Billy Chapin) and little Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce). Once out, Powell heads for the small town they live in, ingratiates himself with the locals, and soon persuades Willa (whose husband has since been hanged for murder) to take him on as a supposedly caring husband. Shortly after marrying him, Willa discovers that he's a cruel man - intent on twisting her psyche to match his before dispatching her and working on finding out the money's hiding place from the two kids, who promised their father they'd never tell. The kids flee in a boat, and Powell hunts them down across a great distance before the kids find refuge with Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish) - a finder and protector of lost children. Will she be able to withstand this killer's psychotic rage and determination?

One time director Charles Laughton, cinematographer Stanley Cortez and art director Hilyard M. Brown do wonderful work with this film, creating angular sets surrounded by darkness, using shadow to great effect in providing Powell with a great sense of menace, and especially making fearful images with the use of silhouette. It all combines in a film noir way that also gives us a sense that this is a fairy tale in full motion - everything stripped back to it's bare elements. Cortez described his work with Laughton on the film as him having a tremendous feeling of "sympatico" with the director - and it's clear everyone was on the same page for what was required. Every shot has it's aim which is squarely achieved to the highest degree of impact, and there are images that chill - such as when the shadow of Powell's head appears next to John in the children's bedroom. That's the first moment the two children become aware of the evil presence that will soon be haunting their lives - the "preacher" just "passing by" a lamp, stalking his prey.

The Night of the Hunter also has some chilling moments I would never have expected a mid-50s film to have - for example that amazing under-water shot of the dead Willa Harper, her hair wispily flowing in the river current. Her eyes closed and puffy face impossibly still - still stuck in the car that's been submerged with her. Or the phallic symbolism which just explodes onto the screen as Harry Powell sits watching the exotic dancer onstage, and we see his switchblade jut upwards, the erect blade tearing through the pocket it's in. To Powell, arousal means something to be stifled - not within himself, but via the eternal stillness the subject of arousal will maintain after he's "quietened" her with his knife. We begin the movie itself by seeing the still legs of his latest victim, discovered by children who will no doubt be forever traumatized by their discovery. Powell's switchblade will become a recurring motif throughout the film - a symbol of his presumed power, small but no less deadly.

One aspect of the story I don't fully connect with though - mostly through ignorance of the subject matter - are the Biblical connotations it has, and although direct references are made and explained to us throughout, I've heard that reading certain chapters of the Bible make it all clearer. It's a two-sided street, for Powell himself uses religion to prey apon unsuspecting people who are forever trustful of a man purporting to be one of faith. The famous quotation “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves," comes from Christ himself in Matthew, and Lillian Gish's Rachel Cooper reminds us of not only that, but of the special place children, and their ability to abide, have in the Christian faith. I find it often depends on who's viewing it as to how it's seen - the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne denied the film's release, even though the message I see in the film is a very positive one. It's all a matter of perspective.

Apart from all that, this is a film experience that has to be seen to be appreciated, as it tells it's story very much visually - and it brings forth some utterly unforgettable and enduring imagery. On it's surface it feels like a familiar fairy tale - with two lost children being chased by the big bad wolf in sheep's clothing across the land until they find refuge with a kindly old lady who protects them and tells them tales of scripture. (I can't forget to add the infuriating Icey Spoon (Evelyn Varden), who the wolf tricks so easily.) Under it's surface it's full of allegory, film noir visual brilliance, and a filmmaking technique from Charles Laughton that I wish we'd seen some more of. At times it feels like your ordinary every-day crime drama, until the night falls and the shadows increase in length - and we're once again hedged in by darkness, Robert Mitchum's daunting visage never far away from pouncing on those unaware of who he really is - a monster based on real-life serial killer Harry Powers, who murdered those victims that had the misfortune of answering his "lonely hearts" advertisements. A real monster hidden in the dark shadows of our collective fear.

4.5

[PHOENIX74]

I watched Sweet Smell of Success again last night, still finding it just as fun to watch and full of smart and snappy dialogue - all great film noir classics from this era have that coolness about them. Great music from Elmer Bernstein throughout. I was struck by how unusual it was for both Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster to both be playing such slimy lowlifes as Sidney Falco and J. J. Hunsecker - great performances though. Alexander Mackendrick didn't make many other great films after this - but when you've got one as great as Sweet Smell of Success on your resume, you can pretty much retire with your immortality assured. This may not have been a big hit on release, but it's widely regarded as a great film now - and I definitely concur with that opinion. I've reviewed this in a previous Hall of Fame, so I'll post that previous review below :

https://i.postimg.cc/T2qxLwR5/sweet.jpg

Sweet Smell of Success - 1957

Directed by Alexander Mackendrick

Written by Clifford Odets
Based on a novelette by Ernest Lehman

Starring Tony Curtis & Burt Lancaster

Sweet Smell of Success languished at the box office, and Walter Winchell celebrated. "...Hecht, Hill & Lancaster, the sponsers, will lose a half million dollars on it..." he wrote in his column with obvious relish. He was giddy when he made a correction that : "...it will lose over $2,000,000. Well, leddit be a lesson. Never fool aroun' wid da press." What he didn't know was that this film wouldn't be forgotten, as he was. Not only that, but Sweet Smell of Success would go on to define Walter Winchell, the gossip columnist whose approval was needed to gain entry to the world of fame and fortune many years ago. In 1950 former publicity writer (and great screenwriter) Ernest Lehman wrote a story that was published in Cosmopolitan called "Tell Me About It Tomorrow" about a ruthless, twisted gossip columnist called J.J. Hunsecker which was based on Winchell and the power he wielded. Unflattering, it was adapted for the screen as the aforementioned film and is what Winchell is remembered as. Hunsecker. Somewhat corrupt, incestuous and power-hungry - a contemptable man. The quality of this film kept it alive, despite it not finding an audience in it's day.

We follow Tony Curtis as press agent Sidney Falco, constantly on the move and making moves. His attempts to get a client mentioned in J.J. Hunsecker's gossip column have failed, as he's been unsuccessful in doing a favour for Hunsecker (who is played by Burt Lancaster) that he promised to do, that of breaking up a romance between Hunsecker's sister Susan (Susan Harrison) and jazz guitarist Steve Dallas (Martin Milner). The film explores the murky waters of this kind of journalism, and the lies, dirty tricks and lack of morality at it's heart. Falco is willing to do almost anything to succeed in this business, perhaps even sell his soul, and Hunsecker outdoes even him in his lack of scruples. Susan is a good person, but not strong and forthright - she wants to marry Steve, but finds herself a pawn in a game played between Falco and Hunsecker. Steve is proud and honest, but will prove himself to be just as self-righteous and pig-headed as Hunsecker, and lacks the clout to play the game as he does - for J.J. has the police in his pocket, and the likes of senators who want to stay in his good grace. From Hunsecker's almost incestuous obsession with his sister to Falco's career and Susan's potential marriage and happiness, there's a lot on the line. People's love, livelihoods and their very beings.

This film and it's greatness comes from a confluence of talent in front of and behind the camera. Production company Hecht, Hill and Lancaster seem to have been just independent enough to hire the right people and adapt a script that larger studios might have seen as too risky. In the end, the larger studios would have been right and wrong. They didn't have much to fear from Walter Winchell, but the film didn't find an audience, despite it's quality. People seem to have wanted to see Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster as handsome heroes rather than the slimy people they are in this film. However, Curtis appears to be relishing his role as the underhanded Falco, contrasting his soft good looks with lies, deception and a lack of morals. There's something about him though, that puts us on his side a little bit, and that's probably his contrast with Lancaster's Hudsecker. Lancaster oozes contempt for anyone that isn't his sister, and his love for Susan comes out in an uncomfortable manner in their major scenes alone together. The two leads nearly blot out most of the other actors in the film, such are their magnetic presence on the screen. Lancaster gets the added edge of his character being built up for the first 20 minutes of the film. We see his picture over his column in the newspaper, and hear all manner of things about him, before we finally meet him - Sidney Falco biting his fingernails at the prospect of locking horns with this media titan.

Ernest Lehman had introduced the characters of Sidney Falco and J.J. Hudsecker in two short stories for Collier's and Cosmopolitan before getting the inspiration to use them in the much larger "Sweet Smell of Success" (retitled by Cosmipolitan to "Tell Me About it Tomorrow" before the film shifted the title back.) Hecht, Hill and Lancaster wanted Lehman to adapt the screenplay after they optioned the film, and Lehman enthusiastically agreed, enthused after the production company had great success with Marty. The stress of facing Winchell's wrath again, not to mention working for the demanding Burt Lancaster (HHL wanted Lehman to also direct) grew to such proportions though, that Lehman fell ill, and scriptwriting duties were taken over by screenwriter and playwright Clifford Odets. Odets rewrote the script a dozen times, adding interesting lingo, enjoyable phrases (just count how many different animals Falco is compared to - and the self-referential remark Falco/Odets makes about animals and writers) and crafting a fascinating film, full of jazz, New York and Broadway style. The script is dynamic, keeping us moving at a frantic pace but never losing us. It was worked on and improved as the film was shot - and it bites like words of true belief and inspiration coming at moments of epiphany.

Director Alexander Mackendrick meanwhile, U.S. born but raised in Scotland where he'd built a career around directing Ealing Studios films, was brought onto the film replacing Lehman's second role as director. Mackendrick had never before made a film in the United States, but this didn't stop him creating what is probably his greatest film - even surpassing that of The Ladykillers which he directed two years prior to this in the U.K. His thoughtful and intelligent direction was perfectly matched to a very thoughtful and intelligent script and he works well with Curtis, Lancaster, Harrison and scriptwriter Odets. He makes an impact immediately in the film by accurately capturing New York streets in a way nobody had prior to this. Credit also has to go to venerated cinematographer James Wong Howe here. A veteran with work going back to cinema's silent era, Howe had been a trailblazer who had solved vexing problems, such as showing eyes in a more natural darker tone by reflecting large black surfaces off of them. Howe's work on Sweet Smell of Success is often noted, especially with respect to the darker shadowed noir aspects to some scenes, but also various dolly shots in Jazz night-spots, restaurants and theatres. He'd also pioneered deep focus camera techniques, and taking the film as a whole you can appreciate all of the outdoor work he did, not to mention his coordination with Mackendrick's blocking while four or five characters vie for attention in busy, frantic scenes.

The somewhat Jazz-influenced aspects to the film are helped by an excellent score from Elmer Bernstein - his Jazz work a few years previously on The Man With the Golden Arm held him in great stead. It's one of the most impressive and exciting I've heard, and was the origin of one of my favourite end-credits musical numbers - that for Lipstick on Your Collar. Here he ramps it up, which really propels us through what is already a blistering story, making most things sound urgent and portentous. Bernstein is on the verge of some of his most well-known scores here, for example those for The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape - and his work on Sweet Smell of Success paved the way for a film that truly excels in all areas. Help is provided by Chico Hamilton's quartet, giving an on-screen veneer to the Jazz feel of the entire film and providing a little of the music themselves. If you look closely, you can see where a stage-hand is cleverly giving Martin Milner a hand (literally) with fret-work as he plays guitar in his music scenes. Certain Jazz riffs accompany characters in their own way, and correspond with the mood of the character at the time in a most enjoyable manner.

Walter Winchell's possessive relationship with his daughter, and his way of dealing with one of her suitors by ruining him and running him out of the country provides a snapshot of how this film focuses on the way JJ. Hunsecker abuses his power and claims ownership over his sister. One other nice corresponding link involves the amount of talent who were caught up in McCarthy's Red Scare from the late 1940s through the 1950s (Clifford Odets and Elmer Bernstein to name just a few) and the fact that Winchell had a hand in that affair also. Yet despite all of this existing outside of the film as it is, it has to be strongly noted that the film by itself is a brilliant work of art without all of the tangential connections and corresponding meaning in the real world. If there had been no Walter Winchell, this would still be an important, meaningful and great film. The performances, (especially from the two towering leads) direction, camera-work, score and script all combine at a high point for all involved, and mesh perfectly. It was the film that Mackendrick used when teaching at the California Institute of the Arts to future hopefuls (some of whom have gone on to have huge careers in film) and one that gathers more prestige and note as the years go by. Nowadays, this film is the reason people become aware of Walter Winchell, which means it has had the last laugh after all.

5

[Citizen Rules]

Two more weeks left until the Deadline: February 18th.
I'm not extending this and won't post anymore reminders.
97319

[Wyldesyde19]

I own Martha Ivers so I will start that up tonight.

[PHOENIX74]

I watched Double Indemnity again last night - always an enjoyable undertaking. It's almost the ultimate film noir masterpiece, with a perfect screenplay full of crisp and witty dialogue, a pounding and thumping score, a trio of great performances from Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson plus peerless direction from Billy Wilder. I particularly notice how rapid the fire of dialogue is in this film - while at the same time being clear, cool and very clever. I don't think I've ever leveled any criticism at it, but if there was one very small thing it's Barbara Stanwyck's wig - it distracts me a little, and doesn't suit her - but then again, it does help to give her an air of being a phony, so perhaps it's doing exactly what it's meant to be doing. Anyway, below is a review I wrote around 18 months ago. It's an extraordinarily long one - I guess there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Double Indemnity :

https://i.postimg.cc/SKDw3Tpz/indem.jpg

Double Indemnity - 1944

Directed by Billy Wilder

Written by Raymond Chandler & Billy Wilder
Based on a novel by James M. Cain

Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Jean Heather & Byron Barr

It was that time of night. Free and easy time. Time to kick back. Time to watch a picture. But which picture? I needed a picture that had everything. Murder. A gorgeous girl. Betrayal. Money. A Billy Wilder picture. Double Indemnity. And baby, that picture purred like a kitten. It hit like a champ. It had all the bells and whistles and rang a blew them to Sunday and back. That's as good a time as any to segue into some kind of normality here (as opposed to Raymond Chandler-inspired dialogue) and say that Double Indemnity is a classic that still packs a punch today, and is every bit as enjoyable as another Wilder classic I love - Sunset Boulevard. These films did more than inspire countless other film noir classics, they helped to define the genre itself and stand as a testament to the man's filmmaking ability. They're my kind of film noir - never becoming needlessly convoluted or complex. Films that have a perfect balance between the visual, auditory and story aspects of what they have to offer.

Double Indemnity starts with Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) staggering in to his insurance company offices and confessing into a dictaphone - admitting that a recent accident claim involved no accident, but murder, and addressing his close friend and coworker Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson). The confession takes us back to Neff visiting the Dietrichsons to try and renew an automobile policy for a Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powers) but coming into contact with his wife, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) instead. Phyllis is dressed only in a towel, and immediately there's sexual chemistry between them - on subsequent visits Neff learns how disaffected Phyllis is with her marriage, and he finds a real world outlet for something that's often on his mind - a way to cheat his own insurance company on a phony claim for life insurance. He thinks he knows it all, and also knows the mind of his friend Keyes well enough to pull it off. He decides taking out a double indemnity clause on Mrs. Dietrichson's husband would benefit them further, and that he can arrange an "accident" on a train that'll pay off double. Neff and Phyllis pull off the murder, but Nef later learns something from his lover's daughter, Lola (Jean Heather) that leaves him with the uncomfortable feeling that he's been played for a fool.

The twists and turns in Double Indemnity are hard to lay out neatly, but when measured up they do fit ever so neatly together. It's one of those very rare movies that I can only sum up as being perfect - inasmuch as there is not one small criticism I can level at it. Every aspect of the film distinguishes itself in a way that's perfect for the other parts, and defined the newly emerging genre of film noir. From the very start, the film confronts us visually with dark shadows and foreboding blackness seeping from every corner. As soon as we hear MacMurray's Neff talk into the dictaphone we notice that his dialogue is crisp, clever and has an edgy wit about it that became common to the genre and was a trademark of screenwriter Raymond Chandler. From the opening credits we get to hear the powerful main theme from Miklós Rózsa's score. The story, adapted from a James M. Cain novel, is hard-boiled and murderously sordid and dark. Director Billy Wilder, in the meantime, was as perceptive and ingenious as ever. Fred MacMurray (playing against type), Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson give performances that are close to their very best. It all adds up to a film that has become one of the great classics.

To help produce the optic style of this early noir film, Wilder had the best cinematographer at Paramount to help him. John F. Seitz pushed the film's obsession with dark shadows to it's limits, and included interesting touches such as the shadows of venetian blinds often falling across our characters like prison bars, and simulating visible dust particles in beams of light by using small filings of aluminum that would show up clearly on film. They both wanted to push the film towards a kind of German Expressionistic style, with light and shadow playing a prominent part in many shots. Although Wilder was often a director who preferred simplicity in his shots, there is some nice work here - for example, the shot at the beginning of the film where we follow Stanwyck's Phyllis down the stairs, catch sight of her ankle bracelet which had been mentioned earlier, and follow her around the corner to Neff where we see both characters in a mirror. The shots are full of sharp camera angles. The blocking is interesting, and notable (Citizen Kane and The Rules of the Game coming just a few years previously) is the deep focus used at times - for example in a scene at Neff's apartment where both Phyllis and Keyes appear, Neff trying to hide the former. All of this cinematography is wonderful to watch, even nearly 80 years after the production.

Adding to that is a score from Miklós Rózsa which I absolutely loved - and when it comes to films from this era, I'm often a little overwhelmed and distracted by film scores. This is one that stays with us, in perfect rhythm, and feels like a real musical representation of what's happening. There are the usual cues, but all of them feel right (take the one where Neff opens a door to see Keyes standing when he's expecting Phyllis - there's a momentary, split-second instrumental reaction that feels like it originates in our own mind.) In the meantime, we keep returning to that great main theme which keeps at us relentlessly through the whole film, but always sounds different depending on what's happening. Parts have been adapted from Cesar Franck's 'Symphony in D' - composed in 1888 - a piece of music that sounds like a film score for a noir movie in itself. All of this makes for an edgy, moody score that has a great amount of power behind it when it needs to have it. It's one of the best scores I've heard from this period of cinema, and works with the other aspects of this film in perfect unison.

Fred MacMurray was used pretty much exclusively for lighthearted romantic comedies at the time this was made, and had to be persuaded over a period of time to accept the role - which he thought might be a big mistake for all involved. It is without doubt my favourite MacMurray performance, and has to go down as just about his greatest film. He has all the appearances and sound of being the cool, easy going, stylish insurance salesman who, as the film goes on, gets further and further out of his depth. Barbara Stanwyck, in the meantime, comes to us in an outrageously 'fake' wig, appearing every part the superficial and phoney person who just wants to use people for her own benefit. Often mentioned is the transformation she makes during the last few minutes of her life, when she realises she just might love Neff after all. Her role in this film solidified her as an actress of great ability, and she won an 'alternate' Oscar in Danny Peary's Alternate Oscars book. Jean Heather and Byron Barr are both solid as Lola Dietrichson and Nino Zachette respectively.

It's important to note though, that this film is a love story between two men - MacMurray's Neff and Edward G. Robinson's Keyes, who share a deep and abiding bond working together. At several times during the film Neff declares his love for Keyes, and Keyes admits how close they are during the film's closing moments. It's Neff's constant daydreaming about Keye's ability to sniff out insurance fraud that leads him to become obsessed about how he could possibly be fooled. The entire film is Neff's confession to Keyes, which in hindsight is a sad reflection of a betrayal - but that doesn't alter the fact that the bond between them is probably unbreakable. They share many scenes together, Robinson really getting to the heart of matters with his easy manner. Keyes never suspects Neff, simply because he's too close to him to suspect him. When Neff tells Keyes that he probably never would have suspected someone working just a few feet away from him, Keyes tells him that it was someone, "Closer than that."

Other than all of that, this film has a great many memorable moments, such as the one where, after dumping the body of Mr. Dietrichson on the train tracks, their getaway car fails to start. If that car doesn't start, then they'll be surely caught, so the anxiety builds and builds as they try to start it. This wasn't in the initial script, and only came into the film when, after shooting that very scene, Wilder's car failed to start leaving the studio, after which the idea hit him and they reshot it with that added event. Moments of suspense are commonplace as Neff or Phyllis are nearly caught, whether it be by an unfortunate witness to the action on the train, or by Keyes as he makes an unannounced visit to Neff. Even when Phyllis and Neff meet at a grocery store, we're on edge lest they be discovered talking and conspiring together. When Mr. Dietrichson unknowingly signs the life insurance form Neff could be caught. Or else there's watching Stanwyck's face as her husband is being killed in the car seat next to her. We're always engaged and in suspense.

The original novel has been adapted perfectly, and there has been much changed. In the novel Neff and Phyllis commit suicide together by jumping into shark-infested waters, and Phyllis turns out to be something of a homicidal maniac - having needlessly killed many patients when she was a nurse. In the film she only ever killed the original Mrs. Dietrichson so she could marry her husband. The dialogue has also been greatly reworked, which was key, because the dialogue we get in this adaptation is one of the great things about the film. It was a novel that was at first thought to be unfilmable due to the Hays Office objecting to many of the more sordid elements in it - and it took a number of years before Paramount decided to move ahead despite the Hays Office objecting. It was exactly the right move, with nobody objecting once the film was in production. There were initial worries about the infamous 'towel' scene, and the scene were Mr. Dietrichson's body is dumped on the tracks - but in the end we were thankfully allowed the wonderful film we got.

I was pleasantly surprised when I first watched Sunset Boulevard, for in spite of that film's solid reputation, I thought it's age and plot might conspire to make it fall short in my own estimation. Instead it turned out to be one of the best I've ever seen. Exactly the same goes for Double Indemnity, which I thought might have one of those labyrinthine film noir plots - but instead I thought the film was great, and perfect in around about every way. On top of that, I'm a fan of MacMurray, and respond well to Barbara Stanwyck. I find Double Indemnity to be one of those films that feels as fresh today as it would have back when it was made - and such must surely be a timeless piece of work. I was in a great deal of suspense while watching it, and Billy Wilder had me just where he wanted every audience member to be. I've responded so well to this film that it has me eyeing up film noir as a genre that might be more to my liking than I ever imagined. The film's focus on the love between two male friends and workmates also pleasantly surprised me for how unusual, interesting and satisfying it was. I've had a great time getting to know it, and I can feel that it's going to be a film I can watch time after time - especially to hear that dialogue delivered by all involved. "Pretty, isn't it?"


5

[Wyldesyde19]

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers


The films starts with a runaway girl, captured and brought back to her overbearing and demanding aunt. In a final act of defiance, the girl murders her aunt, thinking she’ll be free, but in truth, creates another prison of sorts for herself.

Fast forward to 18 years. This girl has married the only witness, a boy whose father had already suspected the truth and used it to their own advantage.
All seems well, to the casual observer, but the guilt and the stress of being in a unloving marriage has eaten away at the young man, now a DA. He drinks often, and a lot.

One faithful night, an old friend of the woman, a young boy who helped her escape the last time and who himself was also in the house at the time of her aunts death, returns to the town. He meets a girl, who’s later thrown in jail for trumped up charges and he decides to visit his old friend the DA for a favor. Suspicious, the DA and his wife suspect he has arrived to blackmail them.

Without going too far into this story, it does a great job of showing how they bring about their own demise by miscalculation and assumption. The whole mess could have been avoided, but proves to the their undoing when things escalate.

A young Kirk Douglas was lays the DA, struggling with his guilt, and is perhaps the best performance in the movie, second only to Van Helflin as the man who inadvertently gets mixed up in this.
Douglas is able to convey both sadness and a weariness to his character that almost makes one pity him.

Van Helflin is also pretty great in his role. The streetwise gambler wandering from town to town with suspicion following him where ever he goes, only to end up back at his own hometown, where it all began. But even he has morals.

Stanwyck is kind of weak in this film. Far too subdued for my liking, bit like her performance in Double Indemnity.

Great pick, and one I’ve opened for a few years is and has been meaning to watch.

[GulfportDoc]

I watched Double Indemnity again last night - always an enjoyable undertaking. It's almost the ultimate film noir masterpiece, with a perfect screenplay full of crisp and witty dialogue, a pounding and thumping score, a trio of great performances from Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson plus peerless direction from Billy Wilder. I particularly notice how rapid the fire of dialogue is in this film - while at the same time being clear, cool and very clever. I don't think I've ever leveled any criticism at it, but if there was one very small thing it's Barbara Stanwyck's wig - it distracts me a little, and doesn't suit her - but then again, it does help to give her an air of being a phony, so perhaps it's doing exactly what it's meant to be doing. Anyway, below is a review I wrote around 18 months ago. It's an extraordinarily long one - I guess there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Double Indemnity :
It might be my favorite noir. Everything was perfect. Chandler's dialogue was memorable. I liked that he had a small cameo appearance near the beginning of the film when Neff is exiting Keyes' office. Chandler is seated outside the door as Neff passes.

And Stanwyck's wig was pretty bad. Once Wilder realized the bad choice, too much of the film had already been shot. Wilder claimed that it was one of the biggest mistakes of his career, although he later claimed he used the bad wig to make Stanwyck look cheap. I think it was simply bad judgement-- the only instance in the film.

[Diehl40]

Double Indemnity
According to Ebert, "Double Indemnity” has one of the most familiar noir themes: The hero is not a criminal, but a weak man who is tempted and succumbs. His weakness gets him in over his head. As they say in the film the two main characters are stuck on the train, together, until the end of the line (The graveyard). I thought the filming, directing, and the acting was all very good. One of my favorites so far.

[Wyldesyde19]

I’ll need links for The Breaking Point and Kiss Me Deadly, please.

[Citizen Rules]

I’ll need links for The Breaking Point and Kiss Me Deadly, please.
Looking right now for them.

[GulfportDoc]

Double Indemnity
According to Ebert, "Double Indemnity” has one of the most familiar noir themes: The hero is not a criminal, but a weak man who is tempted and succumbs. His weakness gets him in over his head. As they say in the film the two main characters are stuck on the train, together, until the end of the line (The graveyard). I thought the filming, directing, and the acting was all very good. One of my favorites so far.
I agree. That is one of the major defining themes of classic noir: someone makes a decision to do something (usually illegal) that he knows that he ought not, and then ends up paying a price for it (often jail or death).

[Siddon]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Sweet_Smell_of_Success_Title.jpg


The Sweet Small of Success (1958)

This is the third time I've watched this film. Some people obviously like it and frankly it's a film that you can watch on repeat. The film is the story of a grubby two bit publicity man and a high level New York columnist. Funny how in todays world the people who provide the content are the grubby ones and the people in charge of publicity are the gatekeepers. This is a parallel world one of it's time.

This film has a lot of things going for it. To start off with the shot compositions and blocking in this film is first rate. This new york world feels real and lived in. The camera feels like it's own character which is what the best films have. The film also does a great job setting up Lancaster's character...we don't really see him until the end of the first act. Curtis is a hustler and one of the things that this film does that a number of modern films don't is we see him lose. He comes up with a clever plan and it blows up in his face and then he's on to the next one.

Curtis and Lancaster are both bad men, one puts on airs while the other hustles and does some pretty low things. Lancaster's character isn't really that consistent his emotional turns are a choice and it somewhat took me out of the film at times. You wonder if the man ever tied a woman to the train tracks. The worst thing is the central plot is his "sister" has gotten involved with a guitar player. He doesn't want his sister to end up with this guy so the hope is to break them up. His relationship with his sister is creepy it feels weirdly sexual which is even worse when by the third act we find out she's a teenager(he's decades older than her).

But while I like the film, it's really what I expect from a noir. Way to much of the dialogue feels ridiculous. The characters all talk in this coded style which works when you have restraint but when it's almost every line it feels like you need a Rosetta stone to get what everyone is saying. We could have seen the valid reasons for Lancaster to not want his teenage sister to run off with a night club musician but the film plays it for melodrama. Most of the important more salacious stuff occurs off screen when we do get the violent scenes it feels cheesy and dated. I don't really consider this film to be noir but it's still good.


B+

[Diehl40]

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Like many film noir's, Martha Ivers main characters are prisoners of a past they can't escape. In this film the event is that Martha killed her wealthy mean-spirited aunt and was helped to cover it up with the help of her tutor and his son. Everything in the movie revolves around this event.

Years later Martha's childhood friend finds himself in Iverstown and finds that Martha has married the tutors son and he is now the towns prosecutor. Martha and her husband suspect him of returning to blackmail them, but he is ignorant of the fact that she had murdered her aunt. He leaves town with a woman he met in town, and Martha and her husband commit murder, suicide.

It was Lizabeth scots first major role and the first role for Kirk Douglass. The acting was very good, the story was good, the directing was OK, and filming was good. overall I liked this movie very much and would suggest it to others.

[Siddon]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/d3UoW_rbF8mkFZi3YJCZcwfIJty6RB3wPtwScpypW088XhF6EOvSsbBtDTOdjGvf9_lWXGMWMSSJ3tWmvugZ5ARqfstXtDf_-hh-yo6aRVhGHzDmGw6Llf2Cmre2ujIriukzEA

Night of the Hunter (1955)

I'm not sure I would classify this as a noir film, this seemed more like a gothic horror film. Night of the Hunter tells the story of a fake preacher running around the midwest finding single women and murdering them. When he gets caught for stealing a car he goes to jail where he runs into a desperate father who murdered two people in an armed robery who is sentenced to die. When Mitchem leaves the prison he tracks down the family and weds the mother and then the film goes bonkers.

Visually this movie is a delight, so many scenes have such composition to them. The best movies are the ones where you walk through them and feel like they could be paintings in a museum. Laughton's eye and flair for the visuals is impressive, it's quite sad this was his only film. The other thing that is really good about this film is the pacing, in a normal film the second act would be the climax of the film but then the story goes on and takes a left turn. Lillian Gish plays a woman who takes in stray children and she ends up with the kids. Her performance is fantastic and part of why I wouldn't consider this film tobe noir. I don't think any of the characters in the story really fall in line with what a noir protagonist/antagonist is. Mitchem's character is simply evil he's not conflicted if anything he becomes cartoonish at times.

B+ as a film

[Diehl40]

Sweet Smell of Success


While Sweet Smell of Success features many film noir tropes and actors, it is not always categorised as film noir. In fact it is not even listed in the bible of film noir, FILM NOIR THE ENCYLOPEDIA by Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward, James Ursini and Robert Porfirio. The lack of murder and the lack of psychology, as well as the lack of shadows, horror, melodrama and paranoia, make of Sweet Smell of Success as realistic to life film noir as you might find. It can be difficult to face such an unrepentant cast of villains as these, and somewhat uncomfortable to consider that the message about personal relations and the media industry is this real. Burt Lancaster's character, Hunsecker, is based on the late Walter Winchell who was a celebrated, syndicated, American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. He was not above using the same dirty tricks and gossip to get what he wanted. Tony Curtis' character could have been one in a hundred talent agents who benefited or suffered from their relationship with a man like Winchell.

[GulfportDoc]

Sweet Smell of Success

While Sweet Smell of Success features many film noir tropes and actors, it is not always categorised as film noir. In fact it is not even listed in the bible of film noir, FILM NOIR THE ENCYLOPEDIA by Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward, James Ursini and Robert Porfirio. The lack of murder and the lack of psychology, as well as the lack of shadows, horror, melodrama and paranoia, make of Sweet Smell of Success as realistic to life film noir as you might find. It can be difficult to face such an unrepentant cast of villains as these, and somewhat uncomfortable to consider that the message about personal relations and the media industry is this real. Burt Lancaster's character, Hunsecker, is based on the late Walter Winchell who was a celebrated, syndicated, American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. He was not above using the same dirty tricks and gossip to get what he wanted. Tony Curtis' character could have been one in a hundred talent agents who benefited or suffered from their relationship with a man like Winchell.
It's interesting that you mention that re its noir status. When mulling over that distinction when first considering a review, my first thought was the picture was not really noir. But the more I thought of it, the film really deeply encapsulates the noir feel.

There was not only impressive noir photography by the great James Wong Howe, but the very nature of the characters in the movie portray a thoroughly jaundiced view of society, which is at the heart of noir. And it took place in the smack dab in the middle of an unforgiving city.

Both J.J. Hunsecker and Sidney Falco make selfish decisions, and in the end each are punished for them. That's another chief noir theme.

So I've re-assessed my opinion on the subject, and now believe it's a solid noir picture. It's also likely Tony Curtis' greatest performance. Unfortunately, as you know, the public did not want to see Curtis or even Lancaster in these types of roles. The picture was a box office bomb, but has gained much stature in the years since.

[Citizen Rules]

It's interesting that you mention that re its noir status. When mulling over that distinction when first considering a review, my first thought was the picture was not really noir. But the more I thought of it, the film really deeply encapsulates the noir feel.

There was not only impressive noir photography by the great James Wong Howe, but the very nature of the characters in the movie portray a thoroughly jaundiced view of society, which is at the heart of noir. And it took place in the smack dab in the middle of an unforgiving city.

Both J.J. Hunsecker and Sidney Falco make selfish decisions, and in the end each are punished for them. That's another chief noir theme.

So I've re-assessed my opinion on the subject, and now believe it's a solid noir picture. It's also likely Tony Curtis' greatest performance. Unfortunately, as you know, the public did not want to see Curtis or even Lancaster in these types of roles. The picture was a box office bomb, but has gained much stature in the years since.Well said Doc, I'd agree on all those points about the noir-ness of Sweet Smell of Success. I haven't seen all of Tony Curtis' movies but I'd say hands down this was his best role, though I've enjoyed his performances in most all of his movies which were mostly comedies.

[John W Constantine]

Are we there yet...?

[Siddon]

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dvE82gFdtow/XNDeTTMVpeI/AAAAAAAARw8/06Wa31ngoZcaZwNQ_yx5rAPDtF1UzcBPwCLcBGAs/s1600/Strange%2BLove%2Bof%2BMartha%2BIvers.png

The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946)

I wanted to nominate The Spiral Staircase which shows up on noir lists but didn't quality because of the rules. I bring this up because the film starts as a gothic horror film, a dark and stormy night where a series of children have to deal with a murder. It's an fantastic opening that sets the scene and plot along for these three chracters (Stanwick, Heflin, and Douglas).

Unfortunately aside from the opening the story takes a nose dive for me. The story actually ends up boring me...which is the last thing you want from a noir. The soliloquies in this film just gets out of hand, their is just so little to this story it felt more like actors fishing for awards rather than a fully realized film. I don't blame the actors this was the height of the prestige performance in noir for Oscar time. But at the end of the day I wasn't invested in the romance and I wasn't interested in the plot.

C-

[Siddon]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/e93xC5P3cV1IXH1qqiDUtrodsGjg5zkJ7Xlst3nKWlag2O4Wm5gg39djvV14VGMf0itEwOW6AxcTziHfW3B4QAd78hoWvTOSmwMx dG4cW7J0DFIhhIdx7_xlygIKdLg44ll4uG66tOY4zx85uxqC2cEdS4JBXIdbePGIzOqigKWwdjUU0gI
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

And this would be the inverse of Ivers. Kiss Me Deadly starts with a man picking up a hitchhiker and ends with one of the best climaxes in noir history. This film has a bunch of characters which I must confess I had a bit of difficulty keeping track of everyone. However unlike Ivers I was never bored by this one...mostly because of the murders. This film had a decent body count and they spread it out throughout the film which I appreciate.

Visually it's a great film, great use of shadow and movements. This is actually part of a series of Mike Hammer films/TV series. Now I know Hammer from the Stacey Keatch and he's fantastic as the PI. Ralph Meeker plays the lead and he's...well he's okay but he's also the worst part of the film. Really almost everyone in this film outshows him. It's likely not that important because the journey is the point less the performances.

B+

[ScarletLion]

I have a few more I need to watch (The Big Heat, The Prowler, Night and the City etc) then I'll get a list in towards the end of the week.

[Siddon]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Double-Indemnity-LIFE-1944-3.jpg



Double Indemnity (1944)


You've got to give Billy Wilder credit the man knew how to build suspense and tell a winding creative story with compelling characters. This is the story of Walter Neff who is drawn into a familial drama of the Dietrichsons. You have eight characters in this film each one is very well flushed out and adds something to the greater plot and complicates Neff's morals. I think the first time you watch the film you get drawn into Keyes story, Edward G Robinson who is the both the head supporting character but also the detective. We don't really need a detective because we see the crime before us, but Robinson is charismatic and has a threatening aspect to himself that plays over the other characters. But Keyes has his own inverse that you don't really notice the first time you watch it but Lola's story is almost the most compelling one and it's the plot we see the least. Her mother and father are murdered her stepmother seduces her boyfriend and she's kicked out of the home. It could be it's own noir but instead Wilder chooses to tell a different story. It's a creativity that the noir genre always a writer and director to tell.

[Siddon]

https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ace-in-the-hole-1951-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1
Ace in the Hole (1951)


Ace in the hole is the story of a journalist played by Kirk Douglas. Douglas is a transient failing downwards until he ends up in New Mexico to work as a reporter in a dead end town. While in the deadend town a shop keeper ends up in a collapsed mine, Douglas uses this opportunity to make himself into a big star and regain his glory and get out of the dead end town.



The one thing you really notice about Douglas is the guy does a lot of these noirs so his chracters always feel fairly interchangeable. The good news is as the only name in the film his performance gets to breathe a bit more than in his other work. In other words he's not stifled by his typical typecasting. By having mostly character actors the ideas of the script really pop. In other films. At first I was a little annoyed by the mixing of accents but as we found out the story of Jan Sterling's character it made a bit more sense...still that's a quibble I have with these old films.


The moral elements of the plot don't really come fogether through today's eyes. Human life has very little value to politicians and media members so having a film that the central focus is a human interest story doesn't work...today. With that said I'm not going to hold that against the film...the best parts of the movie are the little scenes. When the accident causes a huge circus like environment you have a great scene where a silver mine guy talks about the right way of getting the shopkeeper out, he's then followed by a woman who shares her time stuck in an elevator. It's the little things that make this film great.


The last act of the film aren't really heartbreaking more melancholic al. I don't know if we should actually care about what Douglass didif he was the symptom of the problem or the true cause.



A-

[Citizen Rules]

Posting the results of the HoF in a matter of minutes. It'll be quick so hang around!

@Diehl40 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=88140) @GulfportDoc (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=96919) @PHOENIX74 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=112080) @Siddon (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=95448) @Wyldesyde19 (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=104656)
@ KeyserCorleone

[Citizen Rules]

https://www.kviff.com/en/image/fancybox/227418/da6d/the-breaking-point.jpg
7th Place

The Breaking Point (1950)
16 points
Nominated by Siddon

[Citizen Rules]

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6th Place

Night of the Hunter (1955)
20 points
Nominated by Diehl40

[Citizen Rules]

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5th Place

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
25 points
Nominated by Citizen

[Citizen Rules]

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4th Place


Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
27 points
Nominated by Phoenix74

[Citizen Rules]

https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ace-in-the-hole-1951-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C700&ssl=1
3rd Place

Ace in the Hold (1951)
32 points
Nominated by KeyserCorleone

[Citizen Rules]

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=81774
2nd Place

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
33 points
Nominated by Wyldesyde

[Citizen Rules]

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=96796
1st Place

Double Indemnity (1944)
43 points
Nominated by GulfportDoc

[Citizen Rules]

Congrats to GulfportDoc on Double Indemnity...It's about time it was inducted into MoFo's Hall of Fame.

And nice choices everyone, I enjoyed every single noir in this HoF! Hope you guys had fun.

[Wyldesyde19]

2nd place and it wasn’t even close haha.
DI deserves it finally.
I’ll have my final reviews up today

[GulfportDoc]

Very nice of you to run this thing, CR! I'm a big classic noir fan, and I think most of the others are too. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Film Noir V HOF.


Cheers!
~Doc

[PHOENIX74]

Double Indemnity is one of the best films of all time - top of my ballot

Thanks a heap CR, for running another smooth, fun HoF - the best host!

[Citizen Rules]

2nd place and it wasn’t even close haha.
DI deserves it finally.
I’ll have my final reviews up todayI still love The Sweet Smell of Success, #1 in my profile,but of course Double Indemnity is awesome.

Very nice of you to run this thing, CR! I'm a big classic noir fan, and I think most of the others are too. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Film Noir V HOF.
Cheers!
~DocThanks Doc, as always good to have you join in. And you picked a doozy too. well deserved win for Double Indemnity.

Double Indemnity is one of the best films of all time - top of my ballot

Thanks a heap CR, for running another smooth, fun HoF - the best host! Thanks Phoenix!

[Wyldesyde19]

Kiss Me Deadly

He meets her on a road. Almost hits her in fact. She seems scared and as if running from someone. He senses she isn’t being honest with him, although she seems to be honest about where she came from and why. She’s recently escaped a mental institution, put there against her will. He penises to take her to the bus station, despite his gruffness and his growing uncertainty. She tells him “Remember Me.” Before he knows it, they’re ambushed and left for dead. He survives. She doesn’t. *

And so begins Kiss Me Deadly. A pretty good, although slightly complicated film that gets confusing about why she was killed in the first place. What did she know? What are they after? And why are the police intent on making Mike Hammer’s life, the man who was left for dead and a PI, a living hell? They take away his PI license as well as his license to carry a gun. They make things harder on him. But he won’t let it go.

The film takes an interesting turn towards the end. Watching this made me think of the briefcase reveal in Pulp Fiction. It gets even weirder when the box (When a woman asks “What’sin the box?” I was also reminded of Seven) is revealed to have its origins tied to The Manhattan Project.

The acting is ok. No one really stands out much here. Except maybe Meeker as Mike Hammer. Still, it’s a decent film.

[Wyldesyde19]

The Breaking Point

Harry Morgan is a desperate man who captains a fishing boat. when his latest tourist skips out on the bill, he’s forced to take a job smuggling several Chinese immigrants to the US. When it goes awry, things start to heat up.

The second adaptation of To Have and Have Not, the film can’t decide if it’s a drama or a film noir. It spends too much time on Morgan’s family and his home life, as well as his financial difficulties that drive him to making further deals.

About the only thing good about this movie are the last 20 minutes, and of course Patricia Neal, whose character is barely given the attention she deserves in this film.

[KeyserCorleone]

Now we just gotta get this HoF finished...

[Siddon]

Now we just gotta get this HoF finished...




It's done page before....Double Indemnity won, your film came in third.

[KeyserCorleone]

It's done page before....Double Indemnity won, your film came in third.


Good. It ended up being a Billy Wilder movie anyway, and as I consider him the king of noir I'm actually very happy with this.

[Citizen Rules]

Noir HoF V stats in condensed form:

7th The Breaking Point (1950) 16 points - Nominated by Siddon
6th Night of the Hunter (1955) 20 points - Nominated by Diehl40
5th The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) 25 points - Nominated by Citizen
4th Kiss Me Deadly (1955) 27 points - Nominated by Phoenix74
3rd Ace in the Hold (1951) 32 points - Nominated by KeyserCorleone
2nd Sweet Smell of Success (1957) 33 points - Nominated by Wyldesyde
1st Double Indemnity (1944) 43 points - Nominated by GulfportDoc