Originally Posted by seanc (Post 2420774)
...I started watching a couple weeks ago since we basically knew Noir was going to win. I have watched 8 new to me Noir so far. Gun Crazy, The Woman In The Window, The Glass Key, Fallen Angel, Brute Force, Panic In The Streets, T-Men, and D.O.A.
I loved the first two. The only one I didn't really care for was D.O.A., but it still wasn't a hard watch. That one doesn't have a very good transfer either, which definitely hurts my enjoyment these days. I can't believe there was a time when DVD quality worked for me. 😁 Fallen Angel I watched that for last Noirvember, link to my mini review of Fallen Angel. Panic in the Streets was a good one for me, I thought about that film during the pandemic. I didn't care for T-Men when I seen it last. It's funny you didn't like D.O.A. that was one of the first noirs I seen some 20 years ago. I've never seen it since but I still remember two scenes from it. I hear ya about the video transfer influencing how one feels about a movie. D.O.A. is one I want to watch again. |
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules (Post 2420798)
Sweet choices! I've seen them all except Brute Force which I do have ready to watch. I love Gun Crazy and was planning on rewatching that last Noirvember but ran out of time. The Woman In The Window I didn't care for it the first time I watched it as I was expecting something else and the ending didn't work for me...but after two more watches I've learned to love that film especially the film's atmosphere and Eddie G. of course. The Glass Key has been too long for me to even remember it other than it has the lovely but troubled Veronica Lake. I like Lake and hope to watch all of her noirs in the next four months.
Fallen Angel I watched that for last Noirvember, link to my mini review of Fallen Angel. Panic in the Streets was a good one for me, I thought about that film during the pandemic. I didn't care for T-Men when I seen it last. It's funny you didn't like D.O.A. that was one of the first noirs I seen some 20 years ago. I've never seen it since but I still remember two scenes from it. I hear ya about the video transfer influencing how one feels about a movie. D.O.A. is one I want to watch again. In regards to your comments on Glass Key. Not remembering Noir plots is a given for me pretty quickly after watching. Some of them are very twisty, Glass Key fits that bill. I probably won't remember it next week, but I really enjoyed it. Lake was awesome, although under used. That was my first Veronica Lake movie. My only exposure to hear thus far had been how much she is mentioned in LA Confidential, which should come up plenty in an opposing thread. ;) |
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Panic In The Streets
I didn't love this, but certainly enjoyed it. Widmark was probably the highlight for me. I liked his interaction with the lead detective a lot, but his scenes at home were the highlight for me. I wish there was more of that. Definitely made me think of COVID as Citizen mentioned. Not a one to one correlation obviously, but it would have been interesting to watch this in the middle of isolation. Also, any Noir with a character named Blackey gets bonus points. Decent flick. It will be interesting to see if it gets any love on the list being from a big director. More than likely won't make mine. |
The Fallen Sparrow (1943) This enjoyable 1943 picture has been mis-labeled as a “spy” film, but in fact it’s certainly RKO’s first “A” film in the then nascent film noir movement-- released a full 16 months before the studio’s superb faithful rendition of Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely, renamed Murder My, Sweet for its cinematic treatment. The Fallen Sparrow stars John Garfield as a soldier (“Kit” McKittrick) who had fought in sympathy with the leftists in the Spanish Civil War, and who had been held prisoner and tortured by Franco’s Nationalists before escaping and returning to the U.S., where he learned of his best friend’s “accidental” death after helping to arrange Kit’s escape. Disbelieving that his friend’s death was an accident, and sleuthing out the real reason for his friend’s demise, and just who were the guilty parties, serves as the basis for the film. Along the way we meet the drop dead gorgeous Maureen O’Hara who stars in the only femme fatale role of her career, Toni Donne. Kit and Toni meet on his trip home, and quickly become attracted to each other. Kit has suffered hallucinations from his torture as a prisoner, and he often thinks he hears the foot dragging behind the limp of his former torturer (Walter Slezak), which unnerves Kit and causes him to relive his treatment as a captive. During Kit’s seeking of the truth there are plenty of twists and turns, leading to a true noir ending. The composer Roy Webb (Murder, My Sweet; Notorious) received one of his many Oscar nominations for his thrilling score. And the splendid chiaroscuro cinematography of the great Nicholas Musaraca (Out of the Past; The Blue Gardenia) sets the mood and tone of the film, which never lets up. Although not known for noir, director Richard Wallace’s long experience adds just the right guidance. If ever an actress was made for technicolor it was Maureen O’Hara. But even though this picture is in black and white, she still shimmers in her loveliness. Another beauty in the film was Patricia Morison, who was later to be passed over as Alan Ladd’s steady co-star by Veronica Lake. Walter Slezak was at his sadistic despicable best as Dr. Christian Skaas. But it is Garfield who dominates the movie. His intensity puts me in mind of James Cagney’s many histrionic roles. Take a look at this earliest “A” noir from the studio who made more than any other: RKO. It’s a bit of a mish-mash, but the pluses far outweigh any detraction. Available on the Internet Archive. Doc’s rating: 7/10 |
Originally Posted by seanc (Post 2420806)
..In regards to your comments on Glass Key. Not remembering Noir plots is a given for me pretty quickly after watching. Some of them are very twisty, Glass Key fits that bill. I probably won't remember it next week, but I really enjoyed it. Lake was awesome, although under used. That was my first Veronica Lake movie. My only exposure to hear thus far had been how much she is mentioned in LA Confidential, which should come up plenty in an opposing thread. ;)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Lake_still.jpg |
Originally Posted by GulfportDoc (Post 2420869)
The Fallen Sparrow (1943) If ever an actress was made for technicolor it was Maureen O’Hara. Take a look at this earliest “A” noir from the studio who made more than any other: RKO. It’s a bit of a mish-mash, but the pluses far outweigh any detraction. Available on the Internet Archive. Doc’s rating: 7/10 |
I watched two noirs on Nov 1st. Neither were all that great but still worth a watch. I'd never seen them before which was a plus.
https://external-content.duckduckgo....9ac&ipo=images I've been working my way through all of Bogart's filmography so I thought I'd start my noir watching with Bogie's noirs. Bogart is in love with his wife's younger and prettier sister (Alexis Smith). His wife disappears on a dangerous mountain road...did Bogie do it to get rid of her? Or is he losing his mind as she appears to be still alive? This was decent as a mystery and I guess it falls into the noir range but really doesn't feel much like a noir. Good to see Sydney Greenstreet and stock Warner Bros player Alexis Smith. Conflict (1945) I probably excepted too much from Mr Grahame;) but to be far I'd say the director did a good job here. This movie is rated lower at IMDB than Conflict but I liked it better. Here Bogart is a lawyer trying to help a kid accused of murder. Bogart once botched a case that wrongly sent the kid's father to prison where he died. Now Bogart with his wife's urging tries to save the kid from the electric chair. The kid (actually a young adult) is played by John Derek, Bo Derek's dad. This was his first movie. I thought he did OK, I read the director thought he was wrong for the role. The film is told in flash backs quite a bit and the last third is a decent courtroom scene with Bogart battling it out with a scar faced prosecuting attorney. Good not great. |
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Border Incident
Rauldc and I often share with each other what you are watching so we can talk flicks. When I told him I was watching this, his response was “interesting choice”. Interesting choice indeed, because there is probably a reason you don’t hear about this one. It’s just not very good. When the movie started, and I already knew it was a follow up to T-men, I kind of rolled my eyes. I really wasn’t in the mood for the propaganda like voice over that T-men had. That goes away for most of the movie, but I kind of found myself wanting it ironically enough. At least in T-men that was well written and kind of pulled the story along. Without it, Border Incident was pretty dull. Whether that’s because the story is dated or it just isn’t interesting enough, it’s hard to tell with older movies sometimes. Anyway, really not much good to report. Accept it might be worth watching for the Looney Tunes like quick sand alone. |
Re: Noirvember 2023 - Rate the last noir you watched
The Woman in the Window
https://offscreen.com/images/article...ang,_1945).jpg A fun entertaining movie with an interesting ending. The acting is great, headlined by a fantastic Robinson performance. |
This one was definitely a step-up from the last two Bogart noirs I watched (Conflict, Knock on Any Door). When I seen that the director also had wrote the screenplay I knew it would be a more focused story as often what a writer envisions and the director shoots are two different things. But here the director was shooting what he wrote and it paid off. The story is well fleshed out with added nuances and interesting side characters, all which brought the story alive. Oh and this was based on a novel too which helps as did the bigger film budget with the on-location shooting in San Francisco. What makes this film very different is that for the first third of the film we never see Bogart, instead it's shot in a first person viewpoint from Bogart's perspective. That first person POV was done previously in 1947's Lady in the Lake but there it only kinda worked. In Dark Passage the first person perspective is achieved with a German ARRIFLEX 35 hand held camera, the first time that camera was used in a U.S. film. As a result the first person POV is seamless and very believable. I bought it as actually happening, it never seemed like a camera 'trick'. I didn't intend to write this much, so I'll just say Laureen Bacall is very effective here with real screen chemistry with her hubby Boggie. The standout performance has to go to one of Orson Welle's hand picked Mercury Theater performers...Agnes Moorehead. Moorehead has some juicy scenes and plays them with enough spit and polish to make the most of her onscreen time. |
I got Dark Passage ready to go, so hopefully in the next few days. Your review has me even more excited for it.
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Originally Posted by seanc (Post 2420978)
I got Dark Passage ready to go, so hopefully in the next few days. Your review has me even more excited for it.
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Stranger on the Third Floor (Boris Ingster, 1940)https://i.imgur.com/WK6hu62.jpg Apparently often mentioned as the first film noir but I have no clue if that's true or not. We follow a journalist who by chance becomes a witness to murder, and his subsequent uncertainty and paranoia. It's very engaging throughout its one hour run time, and I can recommend it to everyone. The highlights are the mentioned story, the directing, and Peter Lorre's performance is ace. Possibly best of all is the photography that makes you feel every shadow, and makes the film feel almost horror-lite at some short moments. The only weak spot is a rather dull and predictable dream sequence that went on for too long and causes the tempo to be dropped. After that it gets back on track, and finishes strongly. If I may nitpick, the dialogues could maybe have been better written. Overall a very memorable film that will get stuck in my head for sure. |
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules (Post 2420973)
Dark Passage (1947) This one was definitely a step-up from the last two Bogart noirs I watched (Conflict, Knock on Any Door). When I seen that the director also had wrote the screenplay I knew it would be a more focused story as often what a writer envisions and the director shoots are two different things. But here the director was shooting what he wrote and it paid off. The story is well fleshed out with added nuances and interesting side characters, all which brought the story alive. Oh and this was based on a novel too which helps as did the bigger film budget with the on-location shooting in San Francisco. What makes this film very different is that for the first third of the film we never see Bogart, instead it's shot in a first person viewpoint from Bogart's perspective. That first person POV was done previously in 1947's Lady in the Lake but there it only kinda worked. In Dark Passage the first person perspective is achieved with a German ARRIFLEX 35 hand held camera, the first time that camera was used in a U.S. film. As a result the first person POV is seamless and very believable. I bought it as actually happening, it never seemed like a camera 'trick'. I didn't intend to write this much, so I'll just say Laureen Bacall is very effective here with real screen chemistry with her hubby Boggie. The standout performance has to go to one of Orson Welle's hand picked Mercury Theater performers...Agnes Moorehead. Moorehead has some juicy scenes and plays them with enough spit and polish to make the most of her onscreen time. But I'm a huge Audrey Totter film; and in a way she puts me in mind of some of Agnes Moorehead's roles, this being one of them. Totter was good in so many noirs, but Moorehead really shines here. And the book which "Passage" was based upon was by David Goodis who also wrote Nightfall-- written in the same year as the film "Passage" was released. It was turned into a movie in 1957 of the same name. He also wrote Shoot the Piano Player, which Truffaut based the movie on, and is one of my favorites. |
Originally Posted by culliford (Post 2421044)
Stranger on the Third Floor (Boris Ingster, 1940)Apparently often mentioned as the first film noir but I have no clue if that's true or not. We follow a journalist who by chance becomes a witness to murder, and his subsequent uncertainty and paranoia. It's very engaging throughout its one hour run time, and I can recommend it to everyone. The highlights are the mentioned story, the directing, and Peter Lorre's performance is ace. Possibly best of all is the photography that makes you feel every shadow, and makes the film feel almost horror-lite at some short moments. The only weak spot is a rather dull and predictable dream sequence that went on for too long and causes the tempo to be dropped. After that it gets back on track, and finishes strongly. If I may nitpick, the dialogues could maybe have been better written. Overall a very memorable film that will get stuck in my head for sure. Certainly there were many noirish films going all the way back to the silents. But arguably the noir movement really got set off in 1941. |
Originally Posted by GulfportDoc (Post 2421045)
I agree that the first person viewpoint is much superior to Lady in the Lake. I didn't know about using the newly invented hand held camera. But beyond that, Bacall's acting or part seemed more natural in responding to the first person view, more so than Audrey Totter's did in "Lake".
But I'm a huge Audrey Totter film; and in a way she puts me in mind of some of Agnes Moorehead's roles, this being one of them. Totter was good in so many noirs, but Moorehead really shines here. And the book which "Passage" was based upon was by David Goodis who also wrote Nightfall-- written in the same year as the film "Passage" was released. It was turned into a movie in 1957 of the same name. He also wrote Shoot the Piano Player, which Truffaut based the movie on, and is one of my favorites. https://external-content.duckduckgo....ce0&ipo=imagesIs that a Christmas Tree? I just might consider this a Christmas noir and watch it in December:D |
Originally Posted by culliford (Post 2421044)
Stranger on the Third Floor (Boris Ingster, 1940)Apparently often mentioned as the first film noir but I have no clue if that's true or not. We follow a journalist who by chance becomes a witness to murder, and his subsequent uncertainty and paranoia. It's very engaging throughout its one hour run time, and I can recommend it to everyone. |
Originally Posted by GulfportDoc (Post 2421047)
"Stranger" is a great film, but I personally don't consider it a true noir --despite its having many expressionist elements-- in the sense of being the first noir that really set off the classic noir movement. That film could certainly be The Maltese Falcon (1941).
Certainly there were many noirish films going all the way back to the silents. But arguably the noir movement really got set off in 1941. |
Originally Posted by Citizen Rules (Post 2421049)
Sold! I'm watching it tonight. Tonight my wife got to pick a movie, not a noir:( but a favorite of mine:)...After that I needed a hour long noir to watch and I just seen Stranger on the Third Floor clocks in at a scant 64 minutes. Your post was perfect timing.
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