Film Noir HoF III

"the first Irish class was graded on 10% participation, 90% final exam"?? Wow, that's some lazy teaching. No, no, doesn't matter what happens in class, I'll just grade you off the final.
YIKES

My parents are from the coastline of New Brunswick and I have a majority of family throughout that area, as well as Quebec, so there's a WHOLE lot of French going on.
I tried learning it in High School, but when you learn French you learn Parisian French and the few words I did know of French-Canadian, I kept telling the teacher, "That's not how you pronounce that. Or that. Nope, that's wrong too." So, I didn't bother since I knew my relatives would just laugh at me and shake their heads, "Why you talk like dat, Eddie. DIs is Canada, eh. Not, you know, Paris."
Through the years I DID try to learn with different Lessons with no avail. That whole learning one word and all the variations of it when using: I, you (familiar/casual), you (formal), he/she, they, and we; didn't stick. It was a couple of years back that my roommate found the app I'm using now that started with basics of just "I and familiar/casual you" and built from there that actually seems to work for me and now it's finding how there are different words for the same thing depending on how you use it. Like "I know" can be Je sais, or Je connais; and so forth.
They do explain things rather nicely and there's a community that talks you through it, but it's tricky getting the grammar down. Which is kinda where I'm at, as the simple sentences are starting to get longer as well as multiple sentences.
It was nice to talk with my mom before she passed last year, en francais since she was on her second minor stroke and she was reverting to her native language, French, which was another reason for diving into it, besides always wanting to learn it.


Annnd, back to the HoF, in a slight segue, Le Corbeau is on my list for next watch, BUT I need to knock out Best Pictures HoF FIRST.
Now I do have two write-ups to do here, Asphalt Jungle, which I rewatched since I watched it when deciding on a nomination and trying to remember it after watching a similar film, Rififi was hard to do; and Angle Heart, which I absolutely love and was initially what I was going to nominate and didn't. But VERY HAPPY@ pahaK joined in with it.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
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~Mr Minio

Well there was no evaluation during class (no tests, no assignments) so it really was just participation and our final to grade us on haha. In the second semester, I think we at least had a midterm, and did more reading.

Haha, indeed! I'm pretty sure we've talked about this before, probably the last time there was something French in one of these HoFs. I remember you saying you found an app you liked a lot better than the old classes. I assume that's the same one you're referring to now, unless you've since stumbled upon an ever better one? It's good you were able to talk to your mom for a bit. I'm sure she appreciated the effort!

I'm still not sure if I've seen this or not. The poster looks incredibly familiar, and I recognized the name when it was nominated. Maybe I'll check that one out next, after I write something for Crossfire.

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Oh my dear mercy, them godawful slave drivers. A midterm, you say. . . surely you all gathered and petitioned the academy for such heinous treatment?
Same one. Very happy with and gone miles past I ever had previously.
And yeah, always was a pleasure and what we shared. It was helpful to decipher when she was stuck on French and couldn't get the English out.
Thank you.
I'd say more but that'll be a serious derailment lol
I'll put this at 85% of really enjoying it. I won't say anything and let you experience it. ENJOY
I'm the same way with Crossfire, I'm pretty sure I haven't but it looks awfully familiar.

Asphalt Jungle
and yeah, still pausing when typing "Asphalt" lol

Gus Minissi: [a policeman bangs on the telephone booth and motions Gus to get out of the booth so that he can use it. Gus chuckles, turns and waves to him] Hello. How are you, yeah?
[Gus turns back to talk to Dix]Looks like I'm in... [Policeman bangs on the booth again] ... for a working over. Look, go down to Eddie's by way of the...[Policeman bangs on booth for the third time] ... old car barn.
[Gus turns and waves to the policeman; turns back to talk to Dix] Yeah, it's deserted at night. Once you get beyond that... [Policeman bangs on booth for the fourth time] ... you're okay. The cops never bother Eddie's neighborhood. So long, Dix. Blow now...
[Policeman bangs booth for the fifth and final time] ... eh?[Gus turns and waves to the policeman; He hangs up and makes his way out of the telephone booth] All right, all right, all right.

Rewatched this last night with a variety of new appreciations. The first was gifted by @Citizen Rules with the Sterling Hayden interview. Made for better enjoyment of his portrayal. Along with what I said previously regarding seeing a more authentic looking "muscle" in what is usually provided by someone better looking like Russell Crowe.

This is an instant favorite of mine.
I truly love the pulp-style cinematography! It's dead-on for the great angles and compositions that bring this professionally done jewelry heist going south fast. First, by bad luck and then by a double-cross. Both end in gunplay and somebody slumping over. From there on, it's a mad dash to escape the Police hot on their @sses.

My favorite of the thieves was Sam Jaffe's Doc Erwin Riedenschneider; the Fresh Out of Jail, Mastermind ready to commit a heist he had staged before is time in jail. The pairing of him and Hayden's Dix had a great counter-balance and a rather good team. I've seen Jaffe previously and this is an exceptional performance of the calm strategist with nostalgia for life. "One way or another, we all work for our vices.".
The hunchbacked, cat-loving, Driver, Gus (James Whitmore) close on his heels for favorite characters.
They're all great, all the way through. Even the cops were great. Barry Kelly's dirty cop with smarts, Lt. Ditrich had the same authentic looks that Hayden brought to Dix. Some great scenes with him and the weasel-esque Booky, Cobby, (Marc Lawrence). Their inside/deeper meaning conversation of "looks" was done very, very well.
I also love the "grays" of everyone. No one is entirely one thing, but with strengths and weaknesses. Even the Lawyer, Alonzo D. Emmerich, played by Louis Calhern that was supposed to finance everything, only to try to rob them once the job is done, isn't a complete slimeball. Just very broke and in need of a very large amount of cash, right now.
And I musn't forget The Dames. None of which are Femme Fatales but instead, pretty decent ladies. From the bed-ridden May Emmerich (Dorothy Tree) to the scared but devoted Doll (Jean Hagen) to the Young Bit O' Candy, Angela Phinlay, showing serious potential as an actress as well as the Bombshell she would become, the iconic Marilyn Monroe.

Another new appreciation and something I watched a little closely was the dynamics between Jean Hagen's Doll and Dix from my discussion with @CosmicRunaway and her always intriguing and enjoyable perceptions.
There's a lot of layers going on as well as a lot of low self-esteem on both sides. Even Dix thinks he's unworthy/too dangerous a life, for someone to care about him. Add on his past loss of home puts a huge wall up to everyone else. I'm guessing Doll had known him for a bit and knew that, while a violent man by trade, it might not necessarily be what kind of man he may be. And she probably gets that some of that sh#tty treatment comes out of inner pain. A wounded dog that bites the hand trying help, sort of thing. And not because he's just a callous A-hole. And she is in desperate times. Reaching out for any bit of kindness as sh#t continues to happen in her own life. We meet her being booted out of her apartment, in dire need of indoor shelter. Says a lot that she chooses Dix's place as a feasible haven in the storm.
They're two people very difficult/hard-luck times and far too familiar with such times to trust or take a chance with someone else, but not jaded enough to be unnecessarily callous and/or cruel.
While I'm not caught up in their star-crossed romance, it is a great addition to an already excellent noir, in my eyes and heart.

Bringing me to a major key to all of these "interactions", dynamics and overall presentation of this exceptional Heist Noir; the director: John Huston. He f@ckin nails it on every level and on every nuance. But, then, it's John Huston for f@ck's sake. Nuff said.

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Every single time I sit down to write something about Crossfire, I end up getting side tracked and forgetting all about the open word document.

Warning: Potential Spoilers for Le Corbeau below!
I assumed that after the scene where they kiss (and we see Rolande crying on the stairs outside the room), that's when they hooked up.

I'm skipping over the Le Corbeau reviews till I watch it. Though I am dying to know WHAT is being said.

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A detective taking statements from a group of soldiers about a dead civilian. Crossfire is a fairly conventional noir that decides to go for the procedural route rather than the murder mystery road.

The problem with Crossfire is that it's handily of prejudice is fairly simplistic and very heavy handed. The film starts off strong from a narrative point of view, we go into all of these side characters and red herrings that should bring value to the story. Though the entire situation is subverted by revealing the killer the viewer has to wonder what the point is for many of these figures.


For me noir characters have to nihilistic and believable, morals should be compromised based on world weariness not irrational hatred. I also found the cinematography to be much weaker than other films so far. The backgrounds feel darkened and borderline German expressionism, which is highlighted by the films climax.


The film is good but it's not really up to par with the other films I've seen in this group.

So I just watched Angel Heart, or I guess I should say rewatched, since I realized pretty quickly that I had in fact seen it before, and could even recall the ending. As soon as I saw De Niro, I said "egg!" out loud, to the bemusement of my room mates.

When said egg scene rolled around, it was somehow one of the most uncomfortable parts of the film to me, and I watched the unrated version haha.

That's what I get for slacking in writing my reviews. Most of what I was planning to say about Crossfire was already said by cosmic and siddon. I'll try to get mine done this weekend but after those two I'll keep it short.

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Can't eat a boiled egg without thinking about that scene and let out an evil chortle.

The Director's Uncut IS the way to go with this - did you stick around to the end of (short) credits to hear the two words spoken as the credits end? I wanted to write up my review to include a suggestion for all to catch that. Not extraordinary, but befitting for the film.

It happens sometimes. Unless we have dramatically different takes on a film, there's almost always going to be some repetition because there's only so many things to be said. I think it would be incredibly difficult to write these reviews if we all had to say something completely new and unique from what others have already brought up, so I try not to worry about it too much.

I hadn't, but I just turned the film on again and skipped to the end to watch the credits. I thought the ending had intentionally been abruptly cut, in a "we don't need to show you more, you get the point" sort of way, but having it continue into the credits makes more sense haha.

It does and I THINK it's only on the uncut version for some odd reason.

L.A. Confidential (1997)

This is an unusual film noir because it was not a film from the vintage 1940s-1950s, nor a modern noir representing the classic style, but a film set in the traditional noir era filmed in a modern fashion. Although the L.A. of the early 1950s was perfectly captured, something was missing from the feel of the story in terms of typical noir. And that was the photography. Evidently director Curtis Hanson had tasked the cinematographer Dante Spinotti to film it in a contemporary manner, sans the classic noir shadowy lighting and sets. The lack of shadows and murkiness did not harm the production however. In fact this is a fine film in almost every aspect.

A new police sergeant Exley is trying to live up to his father who had been a legendary L.A. police detective. At first he's determined to be a clean cop, eschewing tawdry or not-by-the-book behavior. But when he's sent to investigate a multiple murder at a Hollywood diner, The Night Owl, he does not believe the official story in which a disgraced detective is killed with the other patrons-- all of it blamed on 3 black thugs. As he investigates the true story Exley interacts with narcotics officer Jack Vincennes, officer Bud White, Captain Dudley Smith, "Hush-Hush" tabloid (fashioned after the magazine "Confidential" owner Sid Hudgens , prostitute Lynne Bracken, and escort service owner Pierce Patchett.

What follows is a twisted plot involving all characters, which slowly unwinds exposing the involvement and culpability of several high police and city officials. In the end Exley and White work together to bring down the officials, solve the complex crime, and move into a gratifying Hollywood ending.

The acting in this picture was superb. Hanson took a chance on U.S. newcomers Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe. He perfectly cast Kevin Spacey as the suave publicity seeking narcotics agent, and James Cromwell as the Irish corrupt police Captain. Kim Bassinger sizzles as a Veronica Lake type character, along with Amber Smith as an escort whose luck runs out. Danny DeVito is well cast as a sleezeball tabloid owner, and David Strathairn is convincing as the wealthy prostitute ring owner.

The picture requires its full 138 minutes to unravel the complicated plot. Reportedly the James Ellroy novel of the same name is even more complex, but Ellroy gave his blessing to the screenwriters Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson to reduce the story layers in order to contain it in a more standard movie length. The result is a memorable and solidly produced neo-noir which garnered Oscars that year dominated by Titanic.

Raymond Chandler provided a palpable dramatic representation of the 1940s Hollywood in his novels, as was the 1930s vibrancy in John Huston's Chinatown. L.A. Confidential stands tall among them in its portrayal of a 1950s Los Angeles that may very likely have existed, and which certainly comes alive in this picture.

NICELY done, @GulfportDoc!!

I meant to write my review for Angel Heart earlier, but my room mate started having issues with his computer, and we were trouble shooting that all afternoon and well into the evening (unfortunately it looks like a CPU issue if anyone was curious). That took about all my mental energy, so I guess I won't be writing anything now.

I wanted to get it done because it feels like it's been a week since I posted about Crossfire, but it's only been a couple of days. I think the ongoing pandemic is just really screwing with my concept of time haha.

Good! You’re making the rest of us look bad with the rate you’re churning them out! Haha 😜

Finally...

Crossfire (1947)


It's annoying when, even after watching the film, you don't know if you've seen it before. There are lots of familiar elements in Crossfire (especially the final trap for the murderer), but I don't remember all that finger waving and moralizing. Anyways, I don't think that's too important.

Crossfire looks like a noir, and I like that. Other than that, it doesn't have many noir elements. There's no moral ambiguity, no sexual tension (perhaps the book's homophobic theme would have allowed some of that, but that wasn't going to happen in 1940s Hollywood), and it softens its cynicism with a preachy tone.

The story itself is simple. The antisemitic motive feels unfitting and forced, though. Revealing the murderer halfway into the film is always risky, but without complete rewriting, it was unavoidable. The simplicity of it all sort of works, and the stupidity of the crime is refreshing after all the plans and schemes in previous movies.

Like most films in this HoF, Crossfire is an OK watch. Without the Hays Code, it could have been better as the homophobia seems much more fitting motive than the antisemitism.