Noirvember 2021

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The trick is not minding
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



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 choices there, I haven't seen Hangmen Also Hang! and maybe I've seen T-Men but the rest I've seen and all real good. I might rewatch some of those myself.

I completed the challenge. I watched Crossfire. Didn't care for it much though.
Then you need to watch another I wasn't the biggest fan of Crossfire, outside of Gloria Grahame's character.



The trick is not minding
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.



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I think I remember Grahame’s part not being particularly well written, and completely underutilized in this film, especially compared to The Big Heat.
She should have been good, but I think I agree with you here.






It seemed like a real spiffy thread. Maybe too spiffy. Maybe I'm too old for this spiff. Maybe a stiff snort of dry spiff is exactly what I need to get through these pock-infested streets on this long journey straight into the hot swill of palookaville.



The trick is not minding
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…..



The Big Heat: This film was really dark and, while the police procedural elements were entertaining (albeit slightly familiar), the disturbing parts of the film stuck out to me the most. The story starts out as an intriguing, simple enough mystery as detective Dave Bannion is assigned to investigate the suicide of another officer. As he investigates further though, more people are revealed to be involved in the crime, the bodies slowly and unexpectedly pile up, and he encounters Vince Stone (Lee Marvin plays his character to perfection), a sadistic woman beater who has several run-ins with various characters. This film deals with some disturbing concepts as it moves towards its inevitable conclusion, and the ending itself ranks amongst the most powerful film endings I've seen in a while. Now I'm eager to check out more of Lang's noirs.
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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…..
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.




*crosses fingers and hopes everyone will think I'm the Robert Mitchum of the thread but secretly knows I'm the Peter Lorre*


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.



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.
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.



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.
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?



Crossfire (1947)

Directed by the inestimable Edward Dmytryk, and starring the 3 Roberts (Young, Mitchum, Ryan) along with the always fascinating Gloria Grahame, the film is a complex whodunit with noir treatment by cinematographer J. Roy Hunt.

John Paxton wrote the screenplay based upon the novel
The Brick Foxhole written by Richard Brooks. In the book the object of murder was a homosexual. But since homosexuality could not be mentioned in 1947, the unfortunate character was switched to Jewish. In that way the premise was somewhat weakened, since Jews were not as heavily ostracized to the degree that homosexuals were. The comparatively gentler prejudice that Jews received at the time was showcased in Gentleman’s Agreement, released later that year.

Nonetheless, starting with a somewhat shaky premise did not hurt the film’s power, which was predominantly provide
d by its actors, direction and photography. Robert Young was especially effective somewhat against type, playing a semi-hardboiled police investigator. His continual pipe smoking actually served to soften his character, giving him more of a fatherly or professorial image.

Robert Ryan on the other hand registered a powerful performance of a near sadistic, dominant bully type-- a role which would more or less pigeonhole him for the rest of his career. Mitchum was his silky self in a portrayal of an honest concerned everyman soldier who simply wants to get to the truth. And Gloria Grahame played a tramp who is finally convinced to tell what she knows.

Crossfire is not in the highest ranking on my list of personal favorite noir pictures, nor in general are films which prominently feature aggressive bully types (e.g. Kiss of Death, also in '47). Still this is a well done memorable picture with notable themes and performances, and is an essential example of top film making from Hollywood’s golden noir era.



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've only seen the bolded ones, but they're all good/great. I haven't seen the others, but have heard good things about Martha Ivers and Woman in the Window.
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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?
Myself, I readily bought into Ginger's performance & character. I liked her most of all...After the movie was over, I asked my wife what she thought of the film and she liked the movie OK. I then said something to the effect that
WARNING: "Spoiler" spoilers below
It was too bad Ginger Rogers had turn out to be the killer. My wife then said, 'well she was nasty to everyone through out the movie.' And I said quite sincerely, 'really I didn't realize that' and I didn't! I just thought she was snooty.

It must have been my perception of Ginger herself that made me not see her character as being negative, (except when the murderer is revealed of course.)
I liked the movie and for it's over all tone Ginger fit the bill. I don't think it would've highlighted Gloria's talent very well, not her type of movie it was too light and play like (not that I minded).

Bette Davis, yeah she could do it, eyes closed. I'm not real familiar with Tallulah Bankhead. Funny thing is that the last person I heard mention Tallulah was Dorothy. True story!



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.
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.



The trick is not minding
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.

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.



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.
I have seen No Way Out, but it's been over a decade. At one point I asked someone to rent it for me from a video store and ended up with the 80s version. Son, I was disappoint.

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.



The trick is not minding
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*



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



But honestly, what more would you expect from the role I'm now playing in this thread, ie William Tallman's one eye that never closes, even when he sleeps.