Film Noir HoF IV

Just found out about this Hall and see that it's already started. You guys aren't wasting any time! haha

I've seen half the nominations, some of which thanks to previous HoFs, and might check out the remainder since apparently there's a Noir Countdown coming up that I also didn't know about.

I've definitely been living under a rock for far too long, but hope to change that!

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Be sure to use this as a good marker for your homework pertaining to the countdown as well. Some o the featured directors have several noir movies. Example, Siodmak is attached to a few other eligible noir classics: The Phantom Lady, The Killers, Cry of the City, The Suspect and The Dark Mirror.

My second watch of Detour. Of course, I remembered absolutely nothing about it, so a rewatch was most certainly in order. I spent the first fifteen minutes wondering why I gave it such a low score. Then Ann Savage shows up. Yikes, now I remember why I did not like this film. The character and performance just don't work for me on any level. the last forty five minutes of Detour just grate on my nerves. It's not like over the top performances are rare for Noir, so I really don't know why this one kills the movie for me, but it sure does. I know this one is pretty well liked, so I won't lose any sleep over not being a champion for it.

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The one I own is the 1998 cut....it's excellent and got it thanks to Siskel and Ebert

IMO this is a great noir, and very unusual for its time. One of my favorite scenes is the long take bank heist scene, shot from the back of Cummins and Dahl. That's a pretty unique long take:


Here's a fascinating interview of Peggy Cummins by Eddie Muller, the "Czar of Noir":

Criss Cross

OK, it needs to be said that the first half is a bit slow, because thanks to the heavy romantic plotting, one can easily forget it's supposed to be a crime story. So the second half bears a little of a genre switch. But this doesn't mean the progression from one to the other isn't very good. Aside from our typical noir villain, our leading romantic couple has some excellent development, whether alone or together, and thanks to this we feel their pain very easily. And thanks to the development throughout the movie, the ending is a pretty serious bang despite being pretty traditional. So while some of the tropes weren't fully fleshed out, the great storytelling largely compensates for this.



This also marks a third Siodmak movie to put in my chart, which means Siodmak's getting a score on my directors list.

Nice! I unknowingly started yesterday, cause I watched Criss Cross last night With that, I've seen 6 of the 12 films. I will probably rewatch some, including my nom, but will post reviews for the others soon.

Steve Thompson has returned to his home town after being away for a while. He returns home looking to settle back in and hopefully move past some things that happened in the past and maybe forget some others. It doesn't take long after returning that he begins to get involved in things he would rather forget, like his ex woman Anna, who after a bad breakup starts to gravitate towards against his better judgment. His mother and his old friend Pete (a detective) don't see any positives of Steve being involved with Anna as it caused friction in the past. It also doesn't help that Anna has married local town crook Slim Dundee, but soon plans are put into motion that Steve sees a way he can be with Anna once more.

I think I first watched this in 2021 when I was navigating TSPDT noir pictures list. It didn't make a huge impression on me compared to some of the others I watched during that time. I'm not the biggest Burt Lancaster fan but I felt he was almost at home in this one. His love interest was prickly and on point for the ladies that occupy this genre. Dan Duryea I can't quite put my finger on why but he just enhances any of the pictures from this genre and time, almost the only self aware actor in these types of movies. This one was greatly enhanced by this revisit.

I've seen 9/12 of the nominations. At least 3 ‐ 4 of them are locks for my ballot.

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Mildred Pierce has trouble making ends meet. When her husband leaves (or she gives him the boot) she chooses to enter the job market. Working as a waitress, she eventually works her way up and successfully amasses a chain of successful restaurants. While becoming financially stable it seems Mildred has gained a pretty good life for herself, if only her daughter weren't such a spoiled brat who didn't hate the smell of grease and dirty kitchens.

Seen this many a long time ago and remember thinking in my movie watching "not quite adult level" that this was pretty good but I never went back to watch it again. This is a very well told classic movie in a not your typical film noir style, but Joan is not your typical noir leading lady. Its like they swapped her with the usual male lead and she did all the dirty work except for the shooting, and for the way her daughter acted in this I'm surprised Joan didn't pull the trigger. This was much better than I remember and I already thought highly of it. If the daughter didn't make you want to slap her after seeing this then I believe you have reached a level of non violence zen that I haven't achieved yet. Excellent choice for this countdown.

And OH SO wonderful to see you come out!

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~Mr Minio

This is such a juicy list of nominations! How f@ckin awesome!

Act of Violence (1948) This was my original nom, so serious kudos to John for feeling the same way about this film.

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) This one's mine. I love the cinematography in this; it grips my attention from the opening exterior shots to that final country scene. Just amazing. And oh, yeah, the heist is pretty f@ckin cool, too.

Criss Cross (1949) This one is unknown, but seeing that Yvonne De Carlo is in this caught my complete attention.

Detour (1945) On my list of Need-To-Sees and now I get to, THANKS @Thief

Gilda (1946) Been far too long since I've watched this one. Sweet!

Gun Crazy (1950) Only caught this one about two-thirds of the way and, for whatever reason, got the opportunity to finish, and now I can. So thank you, Sean.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) This one is imprinted on my brain with utter love and appreciation since my teenage years. I could write a review, but f@ck that, I'm gonna happily revisit this one.

Mildred Pierce (1945) Very cool call. I've seen this one several times and am looking forward to it once more.

Murder, My Sweet (1944) And what's a noir HoF without a lil bit of Chandler? Power does an excellent Phillip Marlowe, one of my favorite renditions of the literary character.

Out of the Past (1947) A very solid noir I always enjoy watching.

Thieves Highway (1949) Another complete unknown and quite f@ckin curious about.

Touch of Evil (1958) Another multiple rewatch that will be a pleasure to revisit.

Al Roberts plays the piano in the night clubs to make ends meet. He shares the stage with his singing partner (future wife?) who shares with him that she wants to make a move to Los Angeles and put their marriage plans on hold until she and him get established. Al stays behind for a bit but decides to also make his way west to be with Sue (singing partner). Little by little Roberts makes his way west eventually being helped along by a driver who is also heading his way, but things take a turn for the worse when his travel partner ends up dead on the side of the road.

I'm pretty sure this may have been the first strictly low budget film noir I watched many years ago. It has a very simplistic story structure (even more less complicated than the typical noir story) but it works with a simple hook. Nothing is overbooked (probably due to the low budget) and it sort of just moves along. Tom Neal's sad disillusioned facial expression seems like it was made as a prototype for noir cinema. Ann Savage is also classical in a almost black widow type of female predator in this journey. Nothing too outrageous to speak of in this just a lot of familiar beats played to great effect.

It's feckin. Get it right. Fecken!

The concept of "love at first sight" is a common idea among romantics and lovers. The belief that upon seeing someone you just can't imagine your life without that person, disregarding anything else. This classic film noir puts a bit of a spin to it by presenting what can be referred to as "love at first shot". But will it last?

Gun Crazy follows Bart Tare (John Dall), a young man that has been obsessed with guns since he was a kid. This obsession took him from reform school to the Army, and eventually back to his hometown. When he meets circus sharpshooter Annie Starr (Peggy Cummins) during one of her performances, the two become infatuated with each other. Is it love, or is it that gun obsession again?

Eventually, Bart and Annie embark on a crime spree across the nation. With Annie's ambitions and Bart's obsession, the idea of losing each other is so unbearable that they disregard law and morals in favor of a life on the run. Both Dall and Cummins are fantastic transmitting this attraction in a way that's believable, and both charming and toxic at the same time.

But aside from that, the camerawork from Lewis, especially during the car chases is nothing short of impressive. Moreover when you consider this was a low budget film, with little resources when compared to the big studio productions of the time. All of this adds a certain energy to the film that's maintained until the last scene.

Until a couple of weeks or months ago, I don't think I had heard about this film. But after Dr. Richard Edwards brought it up on one of my latest podcast episodes, and after reading some of you mention it, and praise it here, I decided to give it a shot. It is no surprise why it is so well regarded, cause Gun Crazy is a wonderful and thrilling ride. I guess it's love at first sight.

Grade:

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Set in the US-Mexican border, Touch of Evil follows the investigation of a car bombing that kills a wealthy businessman and his girlfriend. Even though he's on his honeymoon, "Mexican" agent Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston) tries to assist in the investigation, which is led by Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a veteran but shady officer that might have other motivations in mind.

Objectively speaking, this is a pretty good film. Welles does a great job both behind and in front of the camera. His Quinlan is certainly despicable, but still layered. There's so much thing that he does with his expressions and his stance that communicate so much. As for his direction, what can be said? From the impressive opening shot, you know you're in for a technical treat. He uses some techniques similar to the ones he used in Citizen Kane, low angle shots, pans and zooms, but he also manages to create a good deal of tension, especially regarding the fate of Vargas' wife, Susie (Janet Leigh).

However, one can't deny the context of some of the other decisions made for this. As good as Heston's performance is, his casting as a "dark-skinned Mexican" is... problematic, to say the least. Moreover when he ends up being the *only* "honorable" Latino character in the film, while the others are all thugs, criminals, or prostitutes. There are some things I can give a pass, chalk it up to just a sign of the times. But there are others, like the implications of a single throwaway line in the ending, which kinda neuters any goodwill the film could have.

So the movie feels much like the duality in Quinlan, being a seemingly competent and renowned police officer, haunted by a past that he just can't shake. The film has undeniable technical merits and an inherently thrilling nature, in addition to great performances... but unfortunately, it's haunted by decisions of the past that I just can't shake that easily.

Grade: ?

Out of the Past follows Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum), a former private investigator trying to escape the past. Unfortunately, it all comes back to haunt him when Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), a greedy former client and his alluring and mysterious girlfriend Kathie (Jane Greer) reappear in his life.

My first time watching this film was back in 2015, when I was taking an online course on film noir, and I think it was the most perfect choice to capture what a film noir is. Mitchum is perfectly smooth in the lead role as the man who seems to have all the cards stacked against him but still pushes through, while Douglas is cool as ice as the antagonist who just won't leave him alone. Finally, Greer does a great job reeling you in, while you're still wondering her real motives.

But aside from the performances, Tourneur delivers a smooth direction that always gives prominence to the lead characters. Pair that with a flawless script that keeps you going back and forth, trying to guess what will happen next, and an inevitably dark ending, and you have the perfect recipe for a film noir.

I remember that back when I first saw it, I couldn't stop grinning at how much I was enjoying this and how great it was. Rewatching it now, already knowing what will happen, made me pay more attention to the nuances in the performances, and I think I liked it even more. Considering that I had given it a 5/5 already, not sure how much higher I could go. This is an undeniable masterpiece.

Grade:

Those are three of the six I've seen. I thought I had something written on The Maltese Falcon, which I've seen several times, but I didn't. I also didn't have anything on my nom, Detour, but that's one I'm planning on rewatching anyway. The other one is Criss Cross, which I just saw this week, so my review is pending.

I love Out Of The Past. Looking forward to my third watch.

Yeah, I love it. It's great and, what the heck, an almost sure lock for my #1 spot. I think I've seen it twice as well, with the last time being back in 2021 before I recorded that noir episode with Dr. Edwards, but I think I'm gonna make it a #Noirvember tradition and rewatch it again this year.