Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Hollywood's classical film noir period, generally regarded as ranging from 1941 to 1958.

Links to members reviews of the nominations.

Citizen Rules:
The Maltese Falcon
Scarlet Street
Kansas City Confidential
I Confess
Spellbound
Face in the Crowd
Night of the Hunter
Touch of Evil
The Killers
Kiss Me Deadly
The Big Sleep

Colejwalker:
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
Scarlet Street
Spellbound
The Killers
Kansas City Confidential
I Confess
Kiss Me Deadly

DonnieDarko: Dropped Out
Kansas City Confidential
Kiss Me Deadly
Scarlet Street
The Big Sleep
Night of the Hunter

Frightened Inmate:
Night of the Hunter
The Killers
I Confess

Gunslinger:
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
The Big Sleep
Kiss Me Deadly
Night of the Hunter
The Killers
Kansas City Confidential
Scarlet Street
I Confess
A Face in the Crowd

Neiba:
The Night of the Hunter
Spellbound
The Maltese Falcon
Scarlet Street
The Killers
Kansas City Confidential
The Big Sleep

Pelicula Pelican: Dropped Out

Raul:
Kansas City Confidential
The Killers
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Scarlet Street
The Big Sleep
I Confess
Kiss Me Deadly
Face in the Crowd
Night of the Hunter

Sean:
Scarlet Street
Kansas City Confidential
A Face in the Crowd
Kiss Me Deadly
The Big Sleep
I Confess
Spellbound
Touch of Evil
The Killers

SilentVamp:
The Killers
Kiss Me Deadly
I Confess
Touch of Evil
Kansas City Confidential
A Face in the Crowd

Gbgoodies (*honorary member)
Scarlet Street
Kansas City Confidential
I Confess

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Glad to see Gunslinger in. This should be fun!

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Alright, Slinger getting back in the game

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Hot damn! we have three fine Film Noirs so far, keep them coming in....

I'll join.

Also Kiss me deadly is on Youtube.

Thanks FM....Also if you can watch Kiss Me Deadly on the Criterion DVD release, it includes both the original and alternative endings.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

It's been a really long time since I've participated in a HOF, but I'm excited to join this one. Definitely want to explore more film noir so this should be fun!

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The Killers is a pretty cool movie, especially the first act. We actually had a movie club for that one

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Donnie too. I'm excited. I have seen Donnie and Rauldc's noms but am pleased to watch them again.

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Only saw Spellbound, good movie, and the remake of The Killers (1964), this is gonna be Epic!!!

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I just watched Touch of Evil, excellent film.

There's the edited by the studio version done without Orson Welles permission much like was done with Magnificent Ambersons and The Lady From Shanghai.

Then there's a 1978 reworked version.

Then there's the fully restored to Orson Welles's original intent version which was done in 1998 which is called the restored version. I highly recommended the 1998 version as it's what Orson had intended the film to be.

If you see title credits role during the opening scene, that's not the restored version. Orson specified that no credits roll during the opening scene and in the 1998 version they don't.

About the different versions:

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

What is your nom CR? I have a feeling this will be one of my favorite HOFs

All of the above! I had consider almost all of these films.. I thought it would be cool as a host, if I let every one else pick a movie first...and you guys have picked all my favorites;)...and I'm glad too:p This will rock!

The only one I haven't seen is I Confess. But I'll put my nom up pretty soon.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Yahoo:D just added another one, Kansas City Confidential.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Kansas city is also on youtube

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Got another nomination in, A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957)...that makes 9 so far.

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Glad to have some Kazan 50's to watch for these HOFs because Waterfront and Streetcar are already way high on my list.

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Kazan is easily in my top 10 directors. Oh and...I just added my nom too:p

I'm not going to join this time because I've been busy and you already have a good group going. I've seen all of them so far except for The Killers, K.C. Confidential, and Scarlet Street. The other 6 are all very good. I don't think A Face in the Crowd is quite my favorite, but I think it's a very interesting movie.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

You'll be missed Cricket, you're always one of the most active members and have interesting things to say. If you change your mind, you are welcomed to join.:)

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Fritz Lang with Edward G Robinson, I guess that might be ok. ;)

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A few of these I can't get through Netflix so I may be hounding you guys for links in a week or so.

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Robinson is one of my favorite actors, hands down. Dan Duryea is a big reason why I nominated the movie. He's a really interesting, oily-sniveling bad guy, he's a great character actor.

I have only seen Robinson in three or four things but loved him in them all. His role in Double Indemnity is one of my favorite ever.

Kansas City Confidential and Scarlet Street are both on Hulu.

Sweet, I am probably going to watch Scarlet Street tonight.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

He was real good in Double Indemnity, I love that film. I think you'll like him in Scarlett Street, he does a different character than he usually plays, and he plays it well.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Scarlet street is also on youtube.

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Thanks FM for finding those noms on youtube. If anybody has difficulty finding any of the films, PM me.

When is the deadline for nominations? I won't know until either late Tuesday or Wednesday if I will be able to join this HoF.

Happy to have you GBG! Tuesday or Wednesday is fine. I didn't make a firm deadline yet, usually in HoFs there's a week to get movie nominations in...so if someone wants to join in say the next week, that's cool...

I have a couple of these movies but on videotape - WHY did my VCR have to break?!?! :bawling: The library has the DVD's of all of them. I think half of the movies I will be able to pick up and the other half I have to request. I have seen the majority of them, but the majority of that lot I have not seen in a LONG time. So it will be good to refresh my memory.

Yeah VCRs are still a handy thing to have. I had one for years then it broke so I had to buy a used one off ebay as I couldn't find one in a local store. I don't use it much but there's times when it does come in handy.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

I've never really thought of A Face in the Crowd as noir, but I'm happy to see it nominated nonetheless. Maybe this HOF will give it enough of a boost to make the 50's countdown.

I didn't think of it that way either, and I actually looked it up. Wiki and IMDb don't list it as noir, but there's other sites that do associate it as such.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

We got another film noir in! Colejwalker has joined our happy group and nominated The Big Sleep (1946). There's still time to join!

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I have been wanting to rewatch Big Sleep. :up:

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Me too, I have it on one of the Bogart collection DVDs, but I've only seen it once and like 10 years ago. I thought it was an intelligent film. It has lots! of twist and turns....so I think a second watch might help me figure it out more. And of course Bogie and Bacall together is legendary.

Yeah, I just saw it a couple years ago and liked it quite a bit. It is plot heavy though, with a capital P. I couldn't tell you a thing about it. Think I will order the Blu-ray.

Ha, I know what you mean. We shouldn't feel bad, Orson Welles said he like The Big Sleep but didn't understand what it was about. So that's the reason he gave for then making Touch of Evil, it's his plot heavy, twisty, hard to figure movie. I love them both.

Thanks. I'll let you know either Tuesday or Wednesday if I'll be able to join, as soon as I find out what's happening here with the gas and power issues.

Just to let you know, if I'm able to join, my nomination will be The Big Clock (1948).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040160/reference

You'll be able to join, I'm being positive:)...The Big Clock (1948)...I'm not sure but I don't think I've seen that one. I've heard of it, sounds good too. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the gas guys to do the job fast and right! I'm out of here, off to watch a non noir:p

I saw it recently for the first time, and I thought it was great. The movie No Way Out (1987) with Kevin Costner is a remake of this movie, but the original is much better, (and I like the remake.)

They do come in handy! Nobody listens to me, but they do! :) I have been considering looking for a used one. I don't know when, though. The cable company is making everyone who has a VCR plugged straight into the cable box get this digital adapter (which, of course, costs more money a month :mad:). If I can get a brand new one, maybe I will do that only because there is that chance that I won't need that stupid adapter and spend that extra money to watch TV. Ridiculous. :rolleyes:

I looked it up to make sure I can get it, and I can. There is only ONE copy in the ENTIRE city. And guess what? Someone has checked it out. It is due on the 5th. So I am hoping they will return it! When I saw that it was checked out, this was a time where I thought "Why would somebody check that out?!". And then I have to tell myself "I wanted to check it out. So why wouldn't somebody else". :p I always get irritated when someone checks out the "rarities" when I want them. :)

I still have several working VCRs just so I can watch my old video tapes, but my cable company also charges extra every month if I want to actually use them to watch TV through them. I only use them for watching tapes now because I don't want to give the cable company any more money than I have to. Their prices are high enough already.


I'm glad to hear that you were able to find The Big Clock (1948). I watched it on cable recently, and I saved it to a DV-R, so I'm not sure how hard it will be to find. Hopefully it will be easily accessible for everyone. :) (If it turns out to be a hard to find movie, I guess I'll have to pick a different movie.)

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

A lot of these films are avaliable in Hulu Plus. I'll probably sign up for a trial again with my dad's email or something

So you have those sort of boxes now, too? It is ridiculous, isn't it? Well, if I can still just watch the tapes, then I suppose I should look into a decent used one. I was wondering about recording from TV. I was thinking that I suppose I don't need to do that anymore. But if I can just watch a movie without needing one of those, then I will have to look into another VCR.

You don't need to use the input of the VCR to just watch tapes, but until you press "PLAY" and the video actually starts, you'll only see static on the screen.

Years ago, my cable company changed the signal so that I could still record with the VCR, but the channels were all screwed up. For example, if I wanted to record channel 7 (ABC), I had to set the VCR for channel 24 because that's the channel that they switched it to, and channel 2 (CBS) was on channel 32. etc. (I kept a chart with the channel lineup and where to find them on the VCR.)

But a few years ago, they changed it, and now I can't watch any channels through the VCR unless I pay them an extra fee every month. So instead of paying for that, we upgraded our cable box to a DVR, and I linked the DVD-R to the DVR so I can just record anything that I want to save onto a DVD-R disc.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

This is the longest conversation about VCRs to happen since the VCR was invented. I still have one in my closet and I keep thinking, " I need to get rid of that". Haven't owned a tape to put in it in fifteen years.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

I still have many vcrs. I last used it when I watched Shrek for the first time in late march.

Hmm, you have a VCR in your closet that you "need to get rid of", and SilentVamp needs a VCR to watch her tapes, but she doesn't have one. If you think really hard, you might be able to come up with a solution to both problems. ;)

Your going to make me go to the post office aren't you. It's like I have time traveled to 1995. ;)

I'm not going to make you do anything. It's your VCR, and yours and SilentVamp's problems, so you two can work it out amongst yourselves. I just put the seed of the thought into your head. :)

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Goodwill, that's a good place to find cheap used VCRs. And I believe they have a return policy if it doesn't work. Either that or a second hand thrift shop. I don't think they sill new VCRs do they?

I think there are still some VCR/DVD-R combos available for people who want to convert their old videotapes onto discs. I bought one about two years ago from Best Buy, but they had to special order it for me.

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Did it work for you? What was the quality like? I have a DVD Recorder that can record stuff off TV and onto a DVD, but the quality was so crappy that I didn't think it was worth it. Now it sets in the back room taking up space.

I mostly use it to convert my old video tapes of stuff that I recorded off TV many years ago to DVD-R, so it's hard to say because the original is pretty bad anyway just because they're so old. But I figured it's better to have that stuff in bad quality than to not have it at all. :shrug:

But if you start with a good quality original, you should get a good quality DVD-R copy.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

I just looked online at Wallmart and they have a DVD/VCR combo for $89.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

We have a new member and movie!

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) nominated by Pelicula Pelican

If you want to record on DVDs, make sure that it's a DVD-R, not just a player.

Great movie, and easy to find because I have it on DVD. :)

That makes sense! I didn't read about the combo unit

Me too!

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

A new member that like Noirs? That's some good news!! We need more Noir lovers and less Marvel fanboys! :p (kidding, kidding)

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

I don't really watch many noir's so out of this list which one do you think I should watch first to get a feel for the genre?

Maltese Falcon

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Peculia Pelican. No offense but sounds like someone that won't finish watching these.

No I'm looking forward to watching more from this era. I personally love older film and also Hitchcock so I'm looking forward to most of these.

Saw three of these. The Maltese Falcon is one of my favourite movies, top 20 probably and my second favourite Noir after The Third Man i think. Night of the Hunter was very good, will be considered for my 50's list. Touch of Evil was good but a slight diappointment for me and my least favourite from the five Welles films i've seen.

Yeah, good call. I wasn't thinking about that.

I had a couple of long conversations by PM with Pelican and he says he fully understands the commitment and will watch all of the nominations and participant in the discussion. I'm looking forward to having new members join the Hof:)

I will say this for everyone: if anyone feels like there's too many films to watch, Please tell us as soon as possible that you can't do it and need to drop out....Don't be dropping out at a late date as that means a lot of people would have already wasted time watching the dropouts films.





.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

And get their car blown up?

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Nope, they get stuffed in the trunk;)

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Just wondering are we supposed to wait to post thoughts on a film or is it just kind of discuss whenever you feel like it?

Whenever you feel like it. Most of us post after watching.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

I should have said in the first post that we had not started yet and we will start on Friday 8th or Saturday 9th.

It's OK to watch the movies if you have the time, but let's not post any reviews until the Official Start, thanks.

Already have watched two of these and I ordered two others on Blu-ray this afternoon. So I am looking forward to getting the conversations started. Noir has to be my favorite genre at this point.

For those of you who have started watching these movies already, please leave The Big Clock (1948) for last. I'm still having power problems here, so I'm not officially in this HoF yet.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

Well in that case...

The Maltese Falcon

Really enjoyed Bogart in this film and most of the other performances, honestly it was just a good movie. I thought Wilmer who is played by Elisha Cook was a little much at times and was too heavy handed in his delivery. I thought at first it was going in the way of 39 steps, where a man, in this case a detective is roped into some kind spy/sabotage plot and in a way it kind of went into that field, but not entirely. I think it's interesting when I was watching this is that Bogart commands the room when he is present, it's hard not to focus on him because he is so dialed in to what's happening in the moment, it's incredible. Another thing I found surprising is Huston's ability to wrap the whole film up in the end, they built up a lot of different story moments that weren't explained until the last 20 minutes; it was a lot of exposition and I found it to be kind of cheap way, but till effective. It's a pretty solid script as where everybody has their own intricacies, but they still all have a unique voice. One thing that bothered me was the editing and I know it was different back then, but it kind of bothered me and I found it to be jarring between certain scenes. Overall, it was entertaining and it kept my attention and the last line of the film is a perfect ending.

I would give it a .

Myself, I'm going try to watch the movies in chronological order as listed below. If anyone wants to join me in that, cool and if not that's also cool. It's only a suggestion and you guys can watch them and post about them in any order you want.

But if some of us try to watch at least some movies at the same time it makes for a much better conversation.

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)
Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock, 1945)
Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang, 1945)
The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)
The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
Kansas City Confidential (Phil Karlson,1952)
I Confess (Alfred Hitchcock, 1953)
Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)
The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957)
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)

On the first post I have the names of all the members and I will place links to their reviews as they do them.

https://athenae25.files.wordpress.co...pg?w=500&h=403

The Maltese Falcon

I watched this one last night, a rewatch. I thought it was pretty interesting as it's considered to be the first Film Noir in the classic period. It had some Film Noir elements, like subdued lighting, dark shadows and low camera angles. And of course we have one of the greatest detectives, Sam Spade...not to mention a very devious femme fatale Brigid (Mary Astor). But I couldn't help but notice how the music scored seemed unnoir.

But I still liked the film! It was wordy! I read that the script was almost word for word from the original 1929 Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name. If someone loves lots of dialogue and twist and turns, this movie has it. It's so complex, that I was never sure who was up to what.

The end scene where all the main characters are in the apartment goes on for 20 minutes! That would never be done today and John Huston who was directing his first picture, made that scene captivating.

There wasn't much action or character development, but man the script and the way the actors delivered their lines like a buzz saw was a thing of sheer beauty.

And what a cast! Bogie paired up with Peter Lorrie and Sydney Greenstreet with Mary Astor to boot. That's not even mentioning veteran character actors like Ward Bond, Barton MacLaine and Gladys George.

Did you see how heavy the Maltese Falcon was when Bogie picked it up? He nearly dropped it. I read it was made out of lead and they're three of them, each is worth a million bucks. A million bucks! for a hunk of lead! that shows you how beloved this film is.

Re: Film Noir HoF - Part 2
 

I first time I saw The Maltese Falcon when I joined this forum in 2010. I didn't like it, but we will see what happens next time.

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I will write about the two I have already seen tomorrow. Sorry I won't be going anywhere near order CR. I watched the two on Hulu and got another through DVD Netflix at the house today. I was trying to get a jump.

Sean that's totally, totally fine. I won't be going in perfect order either as some of the movies are on back order. But I figure if only a few people....on occasion...watch the same movie around the same time, the it adds.

But if you got em', watch em':p whenever you can or what to, it's all good. It's just an experiment, that actually Kaplan mentioned to me in the 1st Film Noir.

I'd be just as happy with a cheap copy of the Maltese Falcon for $5 at a garage sale. It would look just as nice on the mantle, and if it ever got damaged or stolen, I wouldn't be out a million bucks. :)

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Really, you've seen cheap copies of the Maltese Falcon at garage sales? That's kinda neat, you should pick one up and put it in your movie room.

There are cheap copies of all kinds of stuff at garage sales and flea markets, I've seen some expensive ones at collectible shows, but I'm too cheap to buy them.

One of my favorite items that's a copy of a movie prop that I bought at a garage sale is a copy of the music box from the animated movie Anastasia.

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-...sia-banner.jpg

Yeah I think that would be a good idea because it can help us always be on the same discussion, also it can help show how noirs evolved over the years and the stylistic changes. I vote we do this.

This scene kind of bothered me in that they explain everything in the last 20 minutes so you can't argue with any of the plot. It was way too much exposition and while witty dialogue made up for it, it was still poor script writing. I mentioned it in my mini review. Did anyone find their love to be weird? It seems like a pattern so far in these movies.

Cole, I read your review and...enjoyed it, it's an excellent review. I like how you talked about different elements and what worked and what didn't. A couple things you said caught my eye:
I thought so too, he was the weakest character in the film. Especially when they made him the fall guy, he just set there holding his head for like 10 minutes. That was the one thing in the film that bugged me.

You're so right, Bogie has big time screen presences. What else have you seen him in?

I see you noticed that 20 minute long seen too. I guess I'd call it an economical way to wrap the story elements without shooting a hours more worth of film.

I'm interested to know what you mean by that? In what way didn't you like the editing?...how would you liked it to be different?

Hey thanks for reading my review, I read yours and enjoyed it as well, it seems like we share some of the negatives about the film. As for the editing, I know back then it was somewhat of a different style, a lot more fade aways during scenes, but I just thought when they would make a fade they wouldn't rap up the moment to where it feels like they should be going into the next scene. I remember one of the fade aways happening while Bogart was walking and it just looked unnatural. A minor gripe, but still one to say the least.

I think I might know what you're talking about, but I can't remember what the scene looked like. Maybe somebody else will comment on the edits.

Where's everybody else at? Have you guys, or dame, seen any of the movies? We can talk talk about them in any order, no worries.

Oh and sorry for writing such a long review on The Maltese Falcon, I just get carried away:p If somebody has even a short paragraph on their thoughts on any of the movies, post 'em please:)

I love the feature with links to reviews, CR! I got the chance to watch the two that were on Youtube.

Kansas City Confidential (Phil Karlson, 1952)
nominated by SilentVamp
http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/aWoq7bAtj70/hqdefault.jpg
This film kind of won me over in the last 20 minutes or so. Before that it was feeling a bit repetitive and too based on coincide. The latter I suppose is fairly common in film noir. An overall fun movie though, with an intense finale.
-

Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)
nominated by GunSlinger45
https://nonamemovieblog.files.wordpr...ly-torture.jpg
This is a really fun film noir with a Cold War overtone. Aldrich's style is very unique, with a Godard French-wave kind of feel, with the hoppiness between scenes. While this was charming it did at times make it hard to follow exactly what is going on and what's the purpose of Hammer. Scene by scene this is great, but intertwined as one picture it does feel like something is lacking as far as narrative. Because of this, the mystery aspect of the film did near nothing for me. I was more intrigued as to what would happen in the moment. I loved the suspense, the action, and the comedy- but the mystery intrigue felt random. However as far as a non parallel story the film is gripping from the opening hitch hiking scene to the terrifying finale. Aldrich shows a very artistic, almost free floating side of film noir. This can really be seen in the opening credits and final scene.


http://annyas.com/screenshots/update...itle-small.jpg

I would say that a core element of noir is that random circumstances occur, that then throws a monkey wrench into the works. Like you said, a lot of noirs do that and I think that comes out of the psyche of the time...after WWII it must have felt to many like fate and hope were non existent, and that life was determined by a random roll of the dice. I haven't seen this film yet, so I'm looking forward to it.
I've seen it several times and like it more with each viewing, especially the end, which is just plain fun. I wonder if Tarantino seen this film? It would seem to be his inspiration for the glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

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Scarlet Street (1945)

Found this to be an interesting cinema experience, I found it to have very large highs and while not too many lows, some were apparent. Watching it today it's kind of generic story, which is why in order to make it stand the test of time it all falls on the characters and they were good, but not great. Edward G. Robinson who plays the main character "Chris Cross" is a troubled man longing for drive in life until he finds Joan Bennett's character "Kitty" who fulfills this missing whole in his life, but little does he know she has cruel intentions. Robinson's character is by far the most developed and so is Bennett's for the most part, but unfortunately Dan Dureya's character, which I will not reveal for people who haven't watched is very one dimensional. It's a shame because he's the driving force to the whole film and is used to tie the story together. There is still a lot going for it though, the way they portray art in the film really represents the mentality of Robinson's character. I also loved the two leads performances together and I thought it was interesting how the film ended, I wasn't really expecting it until it happened. There are a couple twists and turns throughout that I found to be a little questionable and just bizarre, but that can't drag down the clever dialogue between characters.

Overall, is the film gonna be one of the top one's on this list of films by the end, probably not, but that's not to say it's not worth watching. I would give it a

++.

I've been prioritizing the 50s films so I can get too them before the countdown

Scarlet Street: I have to say this didn't do a whole lot for me. I like Robinson much more as a strong type A. He doesn't pull off the whipped boy very well. It's still Robinson though and he became more enjoyable for me as the movie progressed. Bennett was much better, I enjoyed her character quite a bit. I didn't like the boyfriend though and I think it is mostly due to his character that this played more like screwball comedy for me than noir until the last third of the film. His character, and the whole premise of the con which simply didn't work for me at all. I never wondered where the story was going, I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop on the hair brained scheme to see what the result would be. The story just didn't work for me.

Kansas City Confidential: Here is one where the story dis work despite the characters not being all that great. I was perfectly content to follow the story as it unveiled. It ends up being a pretty average movie but it is the type that I could just sit on a Saturday afternoon and be perfectly content spending time with. It is the type of noir that makes me realize this is my favorite genre because despite it not being anything extraordinary, I enjoyed watching it.

A Face In The Crowd: I liked this one quite a bit. Social commentary of this type works on me very well. I always enjoy these films that treat the machine as if it is a new thing that is taking over our society. These films make me think that we are not in such a new state as we think, we have always been the same, the faces just change. Griffith was really good in this, I wish they would have taught him to pluck a guitar though. Those shots were noticeably bad. It was cool to see Remick show up, wish she would have played a bit more of a part. This is the type of film that makes me question what the definition of noir even is, ultimately the genre doesn't matter of course, but it is interesting. I wouldn't call this a noir but that will have nothing to do with its placement on my final list. This should place high.

Cole and Sean, it's been like 10 years since I've seen Scarlet Street and I haven't been able to get it from my library yet, so my memory of it is somewhat vague.
I like Robinson as a Strong type A too, he rocks that role. But one of the main reasons I nominated this was, I thought his put-upon, hen-picked character was memorable and different than his other roles. I've seen documentations on the real Eddie Robinson and in real life he was a quiet, shy and nice guy and he did paint too but he wasn't hen-pecked! but he was loyal to his wife, he's a great guy...I thought he did this role well, but like I said it's been years, so I'll watch the movie as soon as I get it and comment on it.

For me Dan Duryea made the movie. His performance was so memorable I can still remember it. I liked his sleazy, sniveling, shifty character, very colorful! and I think it added a lot. This is my favorite performance of his, next to the one he did in Winchester '73.

Yeah, there was some question if this was a noir or not. It's a great film and it has some noir elements, but some may or may not feel it's a noir. If someone wants to take it's noir status into account when scoring it, that's fine. You guys and dame, decide.