Noirvember 2024 - a seedy dive to hang out and drink rot gut gin...

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Trouble with a capitial 'T'
I'm so sad. Kiss of Death wasn't very good either. I need to find better noir. This isn't going well. I will look through what I have available and try to find a noir that I haven't seen that will hopefully be good. Maybe my expectations are too high...

Next up I think I'll give Amazing Mr X a go and see how it goes. Or maybe The Harder They Fall with Humphrey Bogart. I have some options at hand.
Bummer you didn't like Kiss of Death. Was Tommy Udo too much of a caricature? Some people feel that way about Widmark's performance. If I knew what you didn't like about it and what you wish it was more like, I or someone else might be able to suggest a noir that you'd really like.

The Harder They Fall
is like much better IMO than The Amazing Mr X though I did find that film fun and glad I watched it.



I"ve been digging this guy's indie noir channel, tons of noirs plus host segments, mostly lesser-known stuff. And no ads!

https://www.youtube.com/@fullmoonmatinee1698/videos



Trouble with a capitial 'T'
I"ve been digging this guy's indie noir channel, tons of noirs plus host segments, mostly lesser-known stuff. And no ads!

https://www.youtube.com/@fullmoonmatinee1698/videos
I just took a gander lots of solid noirs there. Good resource for noir fans. What noirs have you seen there?



I"ve been digging this guy's indie noir channel, tons of noirs plus host segments, mostly lesser-known stuff. And no ads!

https://www.youtube.com/@fullmoonmatinee1698/videos
Nice find! Big recommendation for Odd Man Out and Lured. The latter features a really good central performance from Lucille Ball!



I don't actually wear pants.
Bummer you didn't like Kiss of Death. Was Tommy Udo too much of a caricature? Some people feel that way about Widmark's performance. If I knew what you didn't like about it and what you wish it was more like, I or someone else might be able to suggest a noir that you'd really like.

The Harder They Fall
is like much better IMO than The Amazing Mr X though I did find that film fun and glad I watched it.
Tommy was definitely over the top. I think Nick was a bit of a dunce too. He had what he needed to do what was necessary, and refused to do it. Like that's exactly what you needed to do and you failed... I don't know. It was weird. Tommy was definitely too much.

I went with Jigsaw for tonight's viewing because I accidentally started it. I clicked on it thinking it was something different. It's actually fairly good. I like the backdrop of using what is obviously a Nazi-esque group to perpetrate the story. It's a little loose and fairly good. Some of the print is rough.

I'll try for Harder They Fall tonight or tomorrow. Right now it's football. Jigsaw I have about 27 minutes left so there's time to watch another after it. Sometimes I don't know why I like some films and not others.
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I destroyed the dastardly dairy dame! I made mad milk maid mulch!

I hate insomnia. Oh yeah. Last year I had four cases of it, and each time it lasted three months.




Vice Squad 1953

A day in the life type police procedural which reminded me somewhat of Detective Story but less on the emotional drama side. Eddie G plays the wise old Captain investigating a cop killing and a variety of other cases throughout his shift. Top notch acting from him as to be expected. Paulette Goddard doesn't have that much of a part but there's a plenty good supporting cast including Lee Van Cleef. Lots of nice cars and a script that keeps it moving.




Oh yeah, Kiss of Death, another winning noir - and Richard Widmark gives one of the great scenery chewing performances - a real scene stealer who delivers so much menace (like when he threatens Mature's family) and in that iconic moment with the woman in the wheelchair -chefs kiss- just love him to death in the role.

And I saw Vice Squad back in 2017, I always go looking for movies with Edward G. Looks like I enjoyed it, gave it the same 3.5 rating.
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Completed Extant Filmographies: Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, Fritz Lang, Andrei Tarkovsky, Buster Keaton, Yasujirō Ozu - (for favorite directors who have passed or retired, 10 minimum)



I don't actually wear pants.
I thought the scene with Tommy and the mom was well done. It showed how disjointed his mind is. Overall though I didn't think his style fit the feel of the film. That's just what I think about it. Mature falling in love with the nanny was a bit ugh too.



I don't actually wear pants.
Overall I wasn't a fan of Tommy as a character but I thought that scene was good. He was too extreme and one-sided, I guess. He was merely a nutty killer.

The ending was weird too. No one made good decisions and it nearly killed two people and then they survived fatal wounds. Wait what... Maybe I'm being too picky, that happens a lot, but it just seemed weird.

In contrast I'm enjoying the lesser-known Jigsaw. I think the whole neo-Nazi thing is part of it, and also how the characters are. There's no nutty killer in this one.



I don't actually wear pants.
Me again! I finished Jigsaw, a noir from 1949. I found it awesome. It's full of mystery and intrigue, and clever ideas that don't pan out, and then an exciting finish that works quite well. It's on Internet Archive. The Neo-Nazis call themselves Crusaders, and are basically MacGuffins to propel the story forward, which is fine and dandy. They were good plot pieces and worked well. Yes characters made mistakes, which these were human mistakes and not narrative mistakes.



I just took a gander lots of solid noirs there. Good resource for noir fans. What noirs have you seen there?



So far all I've seen was Vice Squad, which was enjoyable due to the lead star Edward G. Robinson and also one Lee Van Cleef playing a hoodlum. The movie kind of plays out like a bunch of Dragent episodes mashed together as Edward G tackles a bank robbery, a scam artist, a couple of minor incidents while also fielding a TV interview.



I think this guy mostly specializes in B-tier and lesser known noir movies that he can pick up the rights too, but that's fine with me, I'll watch a regular noir movie anytime. Plus I love the indie vibe and the retro host segments of this guy's channel; it really feels like this dude is in it purely for the love of these classic movies. He seems to really know his shit too, has info on the specific model of car seen in the movie.



Trouble with a capitial 'T'

Vice Squad 1953

A day in the life type police procedural which reminded me somewhat of Detective Story but less on the emotional drama side. Eddie G plays the wise old Captain investigating a cop killing and a variety of other cases throughout his shift. Top notch acting from him as to be expected. Paulette Goddard doesn't have that much of a part but there's a plenty good supporting cast including Lee Van Cleef. Lots of nice cars and a script that keeps it moving.

Nice 50s cars are a plus for me! I always drool over some of the coolest ones and wished I had one. I haven't seen Vice Squad but reading your review and seeing how it's a police procedural film, makes me want to watch it.



Trouble with a capitial 'T'
So far all I've seen was Vice Squad, which was enjoyable due to the lead star Edward G. Robinson and also one Lee Van Cleef playing a hoodlum. The movie kind of plays out like a bunch of Dragent episodes mashed together as Edward G tackles a bank robbery, a scam artist, a couple of minor incidents while also fielding a TV interview...
I just looked through his channel again, impressive noirs there. I haven't seen them all, but alot are on my to-watch noir list. I have seen these and can recommend them:


The Glass Wall, Kiss of Death, Moonrise,The Big Combo,Holdback Tomorrow,Cry of the City,The File on Thelma Jordan, Whirlpool, I Wake Up Screaming, Detour, D.O.A., Fallen Angel, Road House, Pickup on Southstreet, Too Late For Tears, The Lady From Shanghai, He Walked by Night, Scarlet Street, Kansas City Confidental, Deadline U.S.A., Woman on the Run, City That Never Sleep, Quicksand, The Hitch-Hiker, Blonde Ice and even a Xmas noir: Christmas Holiday



So I watched a noir last night, it was one I'd never seen before. It starred Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming. Cry Danger (1951). It was pretty good too. The best part was the on location shooting in the hills above Los Angeles in a rather divey looking trailer park. William Conrad was the crooked business man who had helped send up an innocent Dick Powell to prison. When Powell get's out he's pissed!


The movie was restored and looked great, sorry that image looks like crap!

The Russian roulette on William Conrad's head was pretty intense.
Great to see you helming another "Noirvember", CR! You are the unofficial president of the Noir Fan Club!

Here's some commentary on Cry Danger:

Cry Danger (1951)

This very nicely put together noir was
Dick Powell’s fifth film as a hard boiled dramatic actor, following his career change from a song & dance man, kicked off by his strong performance as Phillip Marlowe in the brilliant Murder, My Sweet (1944), the title having been changed from Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely in order to identify it as a crime film.

Here Powell plays Rocky Mulloy who has just been released early from prison --stemming from a robbery/murder rap allegedly committed by he and a man named Morgan-- because an eye witness (
Richard Erdman as “Delong”) revealed to police that Mulloy was not involved in the crime. Delong actually suspects that Mulloy was in fact culpable, and hopes to get a share of the money stolen in the robbery.

The two buddy up and move into an old trailer in a trailer park near downtown L.A. (yes, there were trailer parks in 1951) where Morgan’s wife and former girlfriend of Mulloy’s lives --the vivacious
Rhonda Flemming. There they meet a diminutive blonde sun bather, Darlene LaVonne (Jean Porter) who starts a relationship with Delong.

Mulloy seeks out the bookie Louie Castro (
William Conrad) who was the actual mastermind of the robbery, and who also framed Mulloy for the crime. Mulloy demands $50,000 from him-- $10K for each of the 5 years he wrongly spent in prison. Castro sets him up for another frame as he gives Mulloy money to bet on a fixed horse race, the winnings from which are paid in some of the recorded money from the robbery. This gets the involvement of Detective Cobb (Regis Toomey) who has been shadowing Mulloy since his release.

What follows are several twists, which result in the revelation of who has the money, the assurance of Mulloy’s innocence, and new arrests, leading to a tidy ending.

The picture was the debut of director
Robert Parrish, although Jean Porter revealed that it was actually Dick Powell who directed most of the film. The cinematographer was veteran Joseph F. Biroc (It’s A Wonderful Life) who provided delightful set filming of Los Angeles in 1951. Each time the action was centered at the Clover Trailer Park (actually in Chinatown) we see prominently the iconic L.A. City Building in the distance. Much of the settings were in the famous Bunker Hill section of downtown L.A., featuring the Nugent Hotel, the Los Amigos Bar, and other recognizable vintage buildings. Surprisingly they didn’t include the famous incline, Angel’s Flight.

The adorable Jean Porter and famed director Edward Dmytryk had just married a few years prior, and as a gift Dmytryk gave Porter a brand new 1951 Nash.
Cry Danger’s producers liked the automobile so much that they convinced Porter to let them use it in the movie. But no one told her that the car was to be wrecked!

Cry Danger is a beauty of a film noir, with good acting and lovely photography.

Doc’s rating: 7/10



Trouble with a capitial 'T'
Hey Doc, good to see ya. Nice write up of Cry Danger, glad you liked it. Did you think Rhonda Fleming looked different than she usually did during her heyday? My wife thought Fleming looked different, I though she looked a lot younger and even thinner than I had ever seen her before. She looked great of course and added a lot to the film. I also really liked the pick pocket cutie played by Jean Porter. One of my noir goals is to watch all of the Dick Powell noirs, Rhonda Fleming too.



Hey Doc, good to see ya. Nice write up of Cry Danger, glad you liked it. Did you think Rhonda Fleming looked different than she usually did during her heyday? My wife thought Fleming looked different, I though she looked a lot younger and even thinner than I had ever seen her before. She looked great of course and added a lot to the film. I also really liked the pick pocket cutie played by Jean Porter. One of my noir goals is to watch all of the Dick Powell noirs, Rhonda Fleming too.
Heh, heh. Flemming of course was drop dead gorgeous. But her looks varied with the type of roles she played. By the 1950s she'd become a blonde bombshell type. But she'd played many roles as a brunette, and even a red head. Also her makeup and costuming gave her wildly different looks.

But that's been the circumstance with a plethora of actresses since the beginning. By varying their hair styles, color, makeup, costuming, glasses, etc., they can look completely different from one film to the next. Off the top of my head, look at the complete change in Rita Hayworth's look in Lady From Shanghai (1947)!

The irony of that is that you're taking your life in your hands if you ever suggest a change of her hairstyle to a woman!...



Trouble with a capitial 'T'
Heh, heh. Flemming of course was drop dead gorgeous. But her looks varied with the type of roles she played. By the 1950s she'd become a blonde bombshell type. But she'd played many roles as a brunette, and even a red head. Also her makeup and costuming gave her wildly different looks.
Can't say I've seen Rhonda Fleming as a blonde. But I know sometimes she has very light reddish hair which I think is called strawberry blonde?

The irony of that is that you're taking your life in your hands if you ever suggest a change of her hairstyle to a woman!...
Sounds like words from experience!



I just looked through his channel again, impressive noirs there. I haven't seen them all, but alot are on my to-watch noir list. I have seen these and can recommend them:


The Glass Wall, Kiss of Death, Moonrise,The Big Combo,Holdback Tomorrow,Cry of the City,The File on Thelma Jordan, Whirlpool, I Wake Up Screaming, Detour, D.O.A., Fallen Angel, Road House, Pickup on Southstreet, Too Late For Tears, The Lady From Shanghai, He Walked by Night, Scarlet Street, Kansas City Confidental, Deadline U.S.A., Woman on the Run, City That Never Sleep, Quicksand, The Hitch-Hiker, Blonde Ice and even a Xmas noir: Christmas Holiday

Oh man, I got so many movies to watch now.