Who else is jumping aboard the annual celebration of shutter shadows and cigarette smoke?

i never heard of this :confused:

Most of my Letterboxd friends, evidently. Every time I've logged in this week I was surprised to find a bunch of old films in my feed, then I remembered what month it is.

I haven't watched anything yet that qualifies but I fully support this.

Criterion channel knows what's up. This month, they added an excellent Fox Noir collection along with a Robert Mitchum collection, which has a ton that fit the bill. Combined with the titles they still have from their Neo Noir set a couple months ago, and they're the streamer to get those numbers way up.

I've seen most of the Fox Noirs just added, but there are a few in the other collections I'm excited to check out.

My recent viewing of Pickup on South Street definitely qualifies, though, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who has yet to witness its greatness.

I've seen most of the Fox Noirs just added, but there are a few in the other collections I'm excited to check out.

My recent viewing of Pickup on South Street definitely qualifies, though, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who has yet to witness its greatness.

That's my #1 in my Top 10 profile. Love that film. I have a total of four Film Noirs in my Top 10.

Click on the star to the right of his name in his last post (or any of his posts.)

I only need to see Somewhere in the Night and Black Widow (watched the Rafelson neo noir of the same name a few years back) to finish up the Fox Noirs. Of those, Pickup On South Street is probably my favorite (I think I watched it for the first time either late last year or early this year). It had all those elements that make Samuel Fuller's noir flicks stand out and no one plays a sleazeball as well as Widmark. Scorsese described Fuller's style of direction as every frame being written in capital letters. Have you seen his Underworld USA?

Guess I’ll start up a few noirs, since I’ve been eying a few up for….well, forever.
Tubi has a few Fritz Lang noirs: Scarlet Street, The Blue Gardenia and The Woman in the Window.
I’ve been eying The Hitch Hiker for awhile as well, and since it’s available on prime…..why not?
Besides, if I don’t like it, it’ll fuel Takomas use of disappointed gifs 😆

Two noirs that I'd recommend that I don't think get enough love (and, yes, both are Ida Lupino related!) are:

The Hitch-Hiker--atmospheric and tense, and I really like the way that you see the personalities of the two hostages and the nature of their friendship.

Beware My Lovely--a little B-flick with Robert Ryan as a man with a dark secret who gets a job as Lupino's handyman.

The Hitch-Hiker is on Prime, but Beware My Lovely is a little harder to track down.

There are a bunch that are in public domain which you can easily find. Scarlet Street is one, but I also recommend Detour, from Edgar Ulmer.


EDIT: I just saw that it's on Prime, VUDU, Tubi, and several others.

Hadn't heard of the latter, but it's on YT. Image is a bit spotty, but well.

I just watched Black Widow today (thought it was good not great, but Ginger Rogers was a lot of fun in it).

I have not seen Underworld USA, just added it to my watchlist. I've yet to be let down by anything Fuller.

Guess I’ll start up a few noirs, since I’ve been eying a few up for….well, forever.
Tubi has a few Fritz Lang noirs: Scarlet Street, The Blue Gardenia and The Woman in the Window.
I’ve been eying The Hitch Hiker for awhile as well, and since it’s available on prime…..why not?
Besides, if I don’t like it, it’ll fuel Takomas use of disappointed gifs 😆

Check out Renoir's La Chienne before Scarlet Street. Both are great but Renoir's is the original.

I've been watching SS for 25 years and didn't know there was an earlier version.

Lang remade another Renoir flick but I can't remember which off the top of my head as I haven't seen it.

Human Desire/La Bete Humaine

I've seen 0 Renoir films. :blush: I'm gonna go through his stuff in 2022.

I haven't ventured too far into noir, but I may get to a few films this month.

I hope this thread helps guide you to some awesome picks! Basically anything from Wilder, Huston, Curtiz and Lang are safe bets.

I'll probably assemble a list of films to get to this month and post them here tomorrow. As an aside, I checked IMDb and here are my top rated classic noirs:

Double Indemnity
In a Lonely Place
The Killing
The Maltese Falcon
The Night of the Hunter
Out of the Past
Scarface
Shadow of a Doubt
Sunset Boulevard
Touch of Evil
White Heat

The Glass Wall (1953) social commentary noir about an emigrant desperate to be an American and those who help him as he flees the authorities. It's essentially several stories about the emigrant (Vittorio Gassman). I recommend watching it for what might be one of Gloria Grahame's best performances.

I noticed a lack of Noir love threads on here this November, so I figured I'd start one up. Who else is jumping aboard the annual celebration of shutter shadows and cigarette smoke?
...
Post all your noir, neonoir, tech noir, Franco noir, nikkatsu noir and any other type of noir you watch here!

If I had to recommend 1 noir to you, it would be Ace in the Hole.

Well that's one way to get this on my radar! Absolutely love Gloria Grahame. The difference of her performances in The Big Heat and In A Lonely Place is astounding (not to mention the other noir and stuff like Its a Wonderful Life). I'll try and get to the other two as well but this one feels like a priority.

You can’t beat the atmosphere of a noir with an icy femme fatale. I watched The Lady from Shanghai a few days ago. I love when movies are narrated throughout by the protagonist.
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...18#post2251018

Ya know, I hadn't thought about it, TCM used to take care of this for me until I got rid of cable.
I like the idea, though I'm a bit worn out on themed months after doing my sci-fi/thriller month and my Horrorthon month, but I do love me some noir and I haven't watched much of it recently - and I have some pretty gaping holes left in this genre - so maybe this is as good a time as any.

Are "Neo-noirs" welcome?

(I do have to see Bond, Dune, and The Eternals this month, though. I won't post about them here, don't worry.)

I've already seen it and I think it's really good. Not sure how to feel about the final 5 or so minutes, but aside from that, I find it to be a well-acted, powerful satire on media manipulation anchored by Doulgas's character. I'm a huge fan of Billy Wilder in general.

Might I humbly suggest Tightrope (1984)? A decent Neo Noir Starring Eastwood.

Ace in the Hole is another film I’ve been meaning to watch for, again, well over a decade, and I love Wilder. And….oh hey, whaddya know? It’s available to stream on prime!
Might as well add that to my list of noir for this month.

Oh cool you're into Gloria Grahame! She's one of my all time favorites:) I made a point of watching all of her movies...and I did, with the exception of a couple obscure ones that I couldn't find (still looking for them).

She was in 13 noirs if my memory serves me and of course it depends on how one defines a noir. Most of them are pretty darn good and even the lesser ones are worth watching for Gloria's performance as she usually gave it her all. In my book Gloria Grahame is the quintessential noir female lead. I'm not sure I'd call her a femme fatale. Though I guess she did play that roll in a couple of her noirs, but mostly she goes beyond that and invibes an aching soul into her character.


Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Not as a Stranger (1955)
Naked Alibi (1954)
Human Desire (1954)
The Good Die Young (1954)
The Big Heat (1953)
The Glass Wall (1953)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Macao (1952)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Roughshod (1949)
A Woman's Secret (1949)
Crossfire (1947)

Curious. I have no problem with any of it. Have you seen many Fritz Lang noir? The Big Heat would probably be my favorite of his noir, though he's got a few proto-noir like M that best it.

I thought the ending to Ace in the Hole felt kinda contrived.

In regards to Fritz Lang, I haven't seen The Big Heat, but as for his noirs, I've seen M and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (these count as noirs, right?). I'll have to watch some more of his films.

If you have either Amazon prime and Tubi, they both have quite a few Lang features available, including some of his noirs.

I do have Tubi, so I'll have to check a couple of his films out this month.

They have Blue Gardenia, Woman in the Window and maybe Scarlet Street? In fact, Tubi has a very early Lang film from 1919 & 1920, The Spiders, which was originally released int two parts but have been combined into 1 film here.
Also, a few of his late German films, The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb.

I went to Tubi and looked at The Woman in the Window and it's a colorized version, ugh!

I haven't really watched anything at Tubi but I wonder if they have unrestored videos?

I thought the ending to Ace in the Hole felt kinda contrived.

In regards to Fritz Lang, I haven't seen The Big Heat, but as for his noirs, I've seen M and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (these count as noirs, right?). I'll have to watch some more of his films.

I don't think of it as contrived as much as tragically ironic...

I wouldn't consider them film noir, as the term is classically defined a period of American cinema from the 40s-60s, usually beginning with Maltese Falcon and ending with Touch of Evil. However, Lang represents the messiness of this as his cynical works as a Jewish man in the Weimar Republic largely fortell the cynicism that would overtake American cinema, largely due to the influx of filmmakers like himself.

So, I'd still watch em this month as the tangentially related "proto-noir," which is a large umbrella of German Expressionism and gangster flicks

I thought the ending to Ace in the Hole felt kinda contrived.

What I gathered from Ace in the Hole is that the reporter was reckless and self destructive, so for me the ending worked.

Okay, here's my schedule for this month. Tried to go for a bit of a variety.

November 7: A Face in the Crowd (1957)
November 9: The Big Heat (1953)
November 11: Blow Out (1981)
November 15: Eastern Promises (2007)
November 17: High Sierra (1941)
November 19: In Cold Blood (1967)
November 21: The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
November 23: Le Circle Rouge (1970)

I'm a huge fan of all of these. While I was watching Nightmare Alley, I couldn't help but feel like it would pair nicely with A Face in the Crowd. They lack the typical tropes of the genre but that cynicism and greed shine through.

A couple of these, like Blow Out, have been on my watchlist for a while. A few more of them are blind picks. Overall, I'm looking forward to them.

Gun Crazy: In spite of its low budget, it looks and feels about 20 years ahead of its time. The standout sequences for me were the car chases and the final scene.

I thought the ending to Ace in the Hole felt kinda contrived.

Black Widow: A cinema scope noir that precedes the film with an explanation of the spider's mating habits, then sidelines stars Gene Tierney and Ginger Rogers in favor of the much too old for this role and lack star charisma to make us forget it, Van Heflin. It’s got a solid narrative but it just feels like the film would’ve been more engaging if it focused on Gene Tierney or Ginger Rogers instead. It would cast doubt on everyone rather than hearing Van Heflin’s righteous indignation for an hour or so.

Good but not great.

I've been thinking I'll get into the noir spirit and watch one. I've not heard of Black Widow and I'm curious about it so I'm going to try and watch that. But I'm having trouble finding a real good copy of it...can I ask where you watched it at?

Criterion Channel. It’s the last entry in their Fox Noir collection.

Ah, thanks. Well one day I might get the Criterion Channel. But I'm still going to watch it and I think I have a half decent copy. Will post back when I do.

Just managed to fit in another noir this evening. Blue Dahlia (1946).

Just watched The Killers (1946) with Burt Lancaster.

A Face In The Crowd is a masterpiece and one of its defining elements is that it’s only become slightly less prescient because things have gotten so much worse that any “solution” offered in the film seems quaint to downright naive.

Andy Griffith is amazing in it. Not quite my favorite from Kazan but close.

The similitudes between Rhodes in Face in the Crowd and a certain political type person is clear to me too. Though when I first watched it I didn't have that comparison in mind and I still loved it.

Rhodes is a quintessential political figure. He lurks in the American consciousness and takes on many forms. No matter when you watch it, there’s always a Rhodes on the TV, slinging folksy platitudes to capture the hearts and minds, while caring nothing for them and even less for the truth.

We could watch this in 30 years and he’ll still be relevant because nothing will have fixed the part of society that wants to prop people like him up. He and the film are timeless.

Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake give Bogie and Bacall a run for their money. Check out its sister film The Glass Key if you get the chance.

So this is what I have set up for Noirvember, and I hope to get though it, but it may be a bit of a challenge with the 2021 challenge, 26th HOF and a few films from the aughts count down that I need to finish off before sending in my ballot. Thankfully, Turkey day is two weeks away and I’ll be able to marathon a bunch that weekend….I hope.
Anyways, the lineup:
Hangmen also hang!
The Woman in the Window
Scarlet Street
D.O.A
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
T-Men
And The Hitch-Hiker
Ace in the Hole

I completed the challenge. I watched Crossfire. Didn't care for it much though.

I completed the challenge. I watched Crossfire. Didn't care for it much though.

I think I remember Grahame’s part not being particularly well written, and completely underutilized in this film, especially compared to The Big Heat.

It was a regular thread at night in MoFo. And then she posted. A dame by the name of Takoma. I could tell right away from her post that she was trouble. The kind of trouble you find yourself posting away at midnight trying to forget…..

CROSSFIRE: I dug it quite a bit. Like No Way Out, I wasn't expecting it to tackle racial issues in such a straight forward way. Combined with Dmytryck's skilled eye (also seen in Murder, My Sweet), the talents of the 3 Roberts (Young, Mitchum and Ryan) and an introduction of Grahame to the noir genre, I'd consider this among the standout watches thus far.

Black Widow (1954)...Yahoo, my first noir for Noirvember! I enjoyed it too. The funny thing is I'd seen it before and didn't even realize it until the police investigation part. I couldn't remember the ending either, so I still guessed the wrong murderer. BTW I suck at solving movie murder mysteries.

I had fun watching this as I love old movies and like all of the actors in the film. Was that little Peggy Ann Garner from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Jane Eyre...Wow I didn't even recognize her at first AND I did of course know she was in the movie. I'd have to say she gave the most natural performance of the cast...she kinda creeped me out, which was the idea of how her character was wrote.

Ginger Rogers had the plumb role and really got to sink her acting teeth into her juicy character. Gene Tierney is a fav of mine, it's too bad she didn't get more character build up and air time. I like George Raft even though he's not the greatest actor. And I liked Van Heflin though he's played better roles and been in better noirs.

I don't consider this a noir, even though both IMDB and Wiki tag it as such. It felt more like a stageplay of a murder mystery (which I also like). Nunnally Johnson sure filmed it play-like, especially in the final act scene. It was good to watch this again just to see one of the few films that Nunnally Johnson directed he only did eight...his claim to fame is in his wonderful scripts.

So this is what I have set up for Noirvember, and I hope to get though it, but it may be a bit of a challenge with the 2021 challenge, 26th HOF and a few films from the aughts count down that I need to finish off before sending in my ballot. Thankfully, Turkey day is two weeks away and I’ll be able to marathon a bunch that weekend….I hope.

Anyways, the lineup:
Hangmen also hang!
The Woman in the Window
Scarlet Street
D.O.A
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
T-Men
And The Hitch-Hiker
Ace in the Hole

Nice commentary. I don't consider it a noir either. It was a CinemaScope color mystery film. I think Ginger Rogers was miscast, although she gave it a good shot. Wouldn't you like to have seen B. Davis, Tallulah B., or Gloria Grahame in that role?

I really enjoyed Crossfire when I watched it just a few months ago. As you say, the way that it explicitly layers bigotry into the mystery is a (pleasant) surprise.

In a weird way, this would almost make an interesting double bill with The Best Years of Our Lives, which is distinctly not noir.

It's sweet that you think I'm the femme fatale of this thread, when clearly it's SpelingError. Look at him, with those sultry write ups and thoughts wrapped in tight spoiler tags that just won't quit.

I'm just here to make sure you say nice things about The Hitch-Hiker.

https://external-content.duckduckgo....465&f=1&nofb=1

Have you seen No Way Out yet? It's in the Fox Noir collection on Criterion.

*Eyes unwatched copy of BYOOL* I'll get to it. I swear! I am interested in rewatching A Gentleman's Agreement, which came out the same year and stole all the awards. I remember really liking that film but many of the details have faded as to why. That would likely make a pretty interesting pairing as well.

She had made her intentions clear. Either I write a good review for The Hitch-Hiker….or I’d get another gif expressing her disappointment. A difficult choice, for sure. One I would have to tread carefully with, like walking on the razors edge, all under her watchful eye, fingers ready at the keyboard to unleash her own brand of discontent.

You do know how to post a disappointment gif, don't you? You just put your IMG tags together and . . . post.

Congratulations, you just made this weird….
*backs out the doorway*