Noirvember 2022

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Act of Violence (1948) -


L.A. resident Frank Enley (Van Heflin) has an outstanding life: big house, beautiful wife (Janet Leigh), a baby, a successful construction business, etc. Suddenly, a man from Frank's past named Joe (Robert Ryan) he never wanted to run into again starts asking around for him. What does he want? I won't say, but I'll at least mention that he makes Frank's life a lot less comfortable. What follows is a tense noir that more than successfully explores one of the genre's main components: America reckoning with its involvement in World War II and its resulting good fortune.

From the foggy nighttime skyline of New York in the opening frames to the shadowy streets and alleys where most of the movie takes place, L.A. (do any other places in Hollywood's America matter?), the movie certainly nails the vibes associated with film noir. The look and feel of the train station in the finale is the highlight, which I partly wanted to last longer so I could take it in. This movie wouldn't work if the one playing Frank didn't convince at expressing the kind of guilt and remorse about something that would force an involved party to travel across America, and thankfully, Heflin is up to the task. Another moment involving a train, for instance, made me forget to breathe and fear for his safety. Ryan, who I also enjoyed in the noir On Dangerous Ground, also deserves praise for how unwavering he is in his mission. Another review I read compared Joe to the Terminator, which I agree with. Again, I don't want to say what drives Joe, but it's a dilemma that will make you wonder who to root for or if there's anyone to root for at all with each revelation. The perspectives of the much more forgiving women in Frank and Joe's lives make the dilemma even more interesting to ponder, especially for how they make you wonder how different the world would be if they had more say at the time.

The specter of World War II lurks in the corners of pretty much every film noir, but it's especially obvious in this one. If that is your least favorite component of the genre, I still think you should seek it out. Regardless of your interest in that subject, the ways the movie successfully exploits the fear of someone not only coming out of the blue to threaten your stable existence, but also who won't listen to reason makes up for it. For this reason, it would pair well with movies like Cape Fear and Caché.



Act of Violence (1948) -


What follows is a tense noir...Another moment involving a train, for instance, made me forget to breathe and fear for his safety...

...If that is your least favorite component of the genre, I still think you should seek it out. Regardless of your interest in that subject, the ways the movie successfully exploits the fear of someone not only coming out of the blue to threaten your stable existence, but also who won't listen to reason makes up for it. For this reason, it would pair well with movies like Cape Fear and Caché.
Very well said! I've seen Act of Violence twice and I think horror/slasher fans might find it exciting as it delivers that tense, edge of your seat thrill were you wonder if Van Heflin will get away or will Robert Ryan kill him. I was just thinking yesterday that so far no one had mentioned one of my favorite actors Van Heflin and I was thinking of this one movie. And Robert Ryan is like the terminator in his determination to get Van Heflin. Nicely written review and I so agree Act of Violence is one noir that people who don't like old films or noir will probably love.



Very well said! I've seen Act of Violence twice and I think horror/slasher fans might find it exciting as it delivers that tense, edge of your seat thrill were you wonder if Van Heflin will get away or will Robert Ryan kill him. I was just thinking yesterday that so far no one had mentioned one of my favorite actors Van Heflin and I was thinking of this one movie. And Robert Ryan is like the terminator in his determination to get Van Heflin. Nicely written review and I so agree Act of Violence is one noir that people who don't like old films or noir will probably love.
Van Heflin is pretty great. I also like him in "business drama" (it's a lot more interesting than it sounds) Patterns. The great Mary Astor also stands out in a small part as a shady barfly.

This and many of the other movies mentioned here are on the Internet Archive, by the way, for those of you who've been unsuccessful looking for them on streaming services.



Killer's Kiss
(Kubrick, 1955)



Kubrick shows a lot of directorial flair in this gritty low budget fim noir, and it is a very stark contrast to the film I watched yesterday, Double Indemnity. This one discards the quick and elegant dialogue and the iconic cinematography, and instead opts for a realistic and less stylized approach. A washed-up veteran boxer falls in love with the neighbour girl and gets mixed up in her bad situation. The camera is the storyteller and it doesn't hide away from the ugly and mundane. Some things in this film reminded me quite a bit of Scorsese's direction decades later in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Unlike those, the acting in Killer's Kiss isn't all that good, although Frank Silvera's performance was quite memorable. I'm used to strong screenplays in Kubrick's films, but here it is merely fine - the plot is interesting but we don't witness much character development. Many thing are weak here, the editing is unpolished, the soundtrack was overall unmemorable as well as a weak ending. Ultimately I still found it to be a good watch due to the directing, interesting situation between the boxer and the girl, and nice shots of New York.




Impressive that you've seen that many of Siodmak's films. I sure need to get busy watching them! I just looked up Time Out of Mind (1947) and it sounds good to me as it has Ella Raines so I'm going to try and watch that too.

...
Oh, YEAH! Ella Raines was a gorgeous doll with a personality beyond her time. As you know she was in Phantom Lady (1944), which was Siodmak's first noir. AND it was based on a story by Cornell Woolrich, who was a go-to source for noir. The guy was a nut but he wrote oodles of noir books and short stories-- pretty much up there with Hammett, Chandler, Gardner, and Cain.



[b]Killer's Kiss[/b]
(Kubrick, 1955)

Kubrick shows a lot of directorial flair in this gritty low budget fim noir, and it is a very stark contrast to the film I watched yesterday, Double Indemnity. This one discards the quick and elegant dialogue and the iconic cinematography, and instead opts for a realistic and less stylized approach. A washed-up veteran boxer falls in love with the neighbour girl and gets mixed up in her bad situation. The camera is the storyteller and it doesn't hide away from the ugly and mundane. Some things in this film reminded me quite a bit of Scorsese's direction decades later in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Unlike those, the acting in Killer's Kiss isn't all that good, although Frank Silvera's performance was quite memorable. I'm used to strong screenplays in Kubrick's films, but here it is merely fine - the plot is interesting but we don't witness much character development. Many thing are weak here, the editing is unpolished, the soundtrack was overall unmemorable as well as a weak ending. Ultimately I still found it to be a good watch due to the directing, interesting situation between the boxer and the girl, and nice shots of New York.
I can't recall if I've ever seen that film. I'll have to check it out! Be sure and watch Kubrick's third film, The Killing (1956)-- a late, but classic, noir with a dream cast.



Killer's Kiss
(Kubrick, 1955)

Kubrick shows a lot of directorial flair in this gritty low budget fim noir, and it is a very stark contrast to the film I watched yesterday, Double Indemnity. This one discards the quick and elegant dialogue and the iconic cinematography, and instead opts for a realistic and less stylized approach...

...the acting in Killer's Kiss isn't all that good, although Frank Silvera's performance was quite memorable. I'm used to strong screenplays in Kubrick's films, but here it is merely fine - the plot is interesting but we don't witness much character development. Many thing are weak here, the editing is unpolished, the soundtrack was overall unmemorable as well as a weak ending. Ultimately I still found it to be a good watch due to the directing, interesting situation between the boxer and the girl, and nice shots of New York.
I haven't seen Killer's Kiss but I did enjoy reading your review and how you analyzed and compared this early Kubrick film with later more polished films. I'd be interested in watching it just as it's an early Kubrick.




Roadblock (1951)

A pretty good noir that covers a lot of ground in a mere 73 minutes. The movie starts out with a bang when a man shoots another man and then takes a bystander hostage who had witnessed the crime. There's a surprise twist there that I liked. Then Charles McCraw (The Narrow Margin) meets a shady lady on a TWA flight Joan Dixon. He's a straight laced insurance investigator (like Eddie Robinson was in Double Indemnity) and she's a status hungry model who wants to be covered in expensive furs and will ditch her morals to do so.

A fun noir. I could see the plot going several different directions and whenever I think about a movie the next day that's always a plus.

Good recommendation from @GulfportDoc




Kiss Me Deadly
(Robert Aldrich, 1955)



Just finished watching it and I'm kind of speechless. It's incredible. Relentless, uncompromising, macho hard-boiled film noir crime thriller about a PI trying to uncover the truth about some unusual murders. Everything here is dialed up to 11 for the entire run time, and the directing and pacing is fantastic. Can't imagine what it must have been like to watch this in the cinema in '55. And the ending... oh my god. Well, I never saw that coming. Gonna need time to calm down and process this. And a bottle of whisky... Just leave me on alone this couch, I'll be fine.




I can't recall if I've ever seen that film. I'll have to check it out! Be sure and watch Kubrick's third film, The Killing (1956)-- a late, but classic, noir with a dream cast.
I've seen The Killing once, but that was so long ago and I don't remember much. So I'll rewatch it real soon, maybe this week.
I haven't seen Killer's Kiss but I did enjoy reading your review and how you analyzed and compared this early Kubrick film with later more polished films. I'd be interested in watching it just as it's an early Kubrick.
Yes, I think you will enjoy it, just don't go in expecting a great film. Some time I'm gonna check out his Fear And Desire as well.



Killer's Kiss
(Kubrick, 1955)



Kubrick shows a lot of directorial flair in this gritty low budget fim noir, and it is a very stark contrast to the film I watched yesterday, Double Indemnity. This one discards the quick and elegant dialogue and the iconic cinematography, and instead opts for a realistic and less stylized approach. A washed-up veteran boxer falls in love with the neighbour girl and gets mixed up in her bad situation. The camera is the storyteller and it doesn't hide away from the ugly and mundane. Some things in this film reminded me quite a bit of Scorsese's direction decades later in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Unlike those, the acting in Killer's Kiss isn't all that good, although Frank Silvera's performance was quite memorable. I'm used to strong screenplays in Kubrick's films, but here it is merely fine - the plot is interesting but we don't witness much character development. Many thing are weak here, the editing is unpolished, the soundtrack was overall unmemorable as well as a weak ending. Ultimately I still found it to be a good watch due to the directing, interesting situation between the boxer and the girl, and nice shots of New York.

I really enjoyed this one. For what it's worth, the ending was forced on Kubrick. The film was supposed to end...

WARNING: spoilers below

...with Davey at the train station waiting for Gloria, but she never comes.


However, UA wanted the happy ending and kinda bribed Kubrick with money for his next film. Regardless of that, I really liked its raw grit.
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I really enjoyed this one. For what it's worth, the ending was forced on Kubrick. The film was supposed to end...

WARNING: spoilers below

...with Davey at the train station waiting for Gloria, but she never comes.


However, UA wanted the happy ending and kinda bribed Kubrick with money for his next film. Regardless of that, I really liked its raw grit.

Yes, the ending is so opposite of what you would expected him to prefer, that makes sense.



Kiss Me Deadly
(Robert Aldrich, 1955)

Just finished watching it and I'm kind of speechless. It's incredible. Relentless, uncompromising, macho hard-boiled film noir crime thriller about a PI trying to uncover the truth about some unusual murders. Everything here is dialed up to 11 for the entire run time, and the directing and pacing is fantastic. Can't imagine what it must have been like to watch this in the cinema in '55. And the ending... oh my god. Well, I never saw that coming. Gonna need time to calm down and process this. And a bottle of whisky... Just leave me on alone this couch, I'll be fine.

I love that review! I just read my old review and I wish I had wrote what you did, it's so catchy and so true. I love Kiss Me Deadly it's an awesome kick ass noir. Glad you liked it too.




Borderline (William A. Seiter 1950)

This starts off with a bang in a L.A. police department with the grilling of a man and woman who posed as husband & wife to smuggle dope over the border. Later two U.S. law agents (Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor) are sent to Mexico to infiltrate a drug smuggling ring, only neither knows the others' true identities and believe each is a hardened drug smuggler.

But then the film takes an odd turn and becomes a bit of a dry comedy with romance and crime action too. As the two agents take to the road to come back to the U.S. they lose their car and have to improvise their way home, while falling in love. This really felt like a crime version of It Happened One Night. Now that's not a bad thing, but if you want a hard boiled noir this ain't it.




Kiss Me Deadly
(Robert Aldrich, 1955)

Just finished watching it and I'm kind of speechless. It's incredible. Relentless, uncompromising, macho hard-boiled film noir crime thriller about a PI trying to uncover the truth about some unusual murders. Everything here is dialed up to 11 for the entire run time, and the directing and pacing is fantastic. Can't imagine what it must have been like to watch this in the cinema in '55. And the ending... oh my god. Well, I never saw that coming. Gonna need time to calm down and process this. And a bottle of whisky... Just leave me on alone this couch, I'll be fine.

You're watching some great ones, my man! KMD is a great noir, and a wonderful debut for Cloris Leachman. You can see right away in her small part how talented she was. Maxine Cooper as Velda, Hammer's secretary, ain't too shabby either...




The Blue Gardenia (Fritz Lang 1953)

I would've swore I'd seen this before, but nope I had it mixed up with The Blue Dahlia. Different movies, different directors, similar titles. The Blue Gardenia is directed by Fritz Lang and stars Anne Baxter.

Good noir, it starts off kind of light and airy with three young single women sharing an apartment. Ann Sothern is a brassy blonde who's always walking around the apartment with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She's a card with the quips and I can see why she went on to have her own TV show in the late 50s. Jeff Donnell yes that's a girl, is the goofy stay at home type who likes to read pulpy detective novels heavy on murder. But the movie isn't about them and yet they add dimension to their roommate's plight, Anne Baxter. She gets a Dear Jane letter from her boyfriend in Korea (during the war). She makes the mistake of going out with a masher and lady killer, figuratively speaking...Raymond Burr. Well Burr ends up dead and guess which blonde is looking pretty guilty.

This moved at a good pace, everyone was pretty good and there was some neat noir lighting shots which I wish I had a screenshot of. The last scene was a Scooby Doo but that's OK because I liked this anyway.

Oh, got mention Nat King Cole sings Blue Gardenia in a nightclub scene. Very cool.

Thanks @ThatDarnMKS for recommending this.




Welcome! I dug it too. Apparently, Lang was just a hired hand on this one so it lacks his specific voice in the narrative, but I still thought it was a cool, woman centric noir that felt particularly modern in how it treated sexual assault.

I only wish it hadn't resolved in such a contrived and convenient manner. Even if the explanation works thematically, the execution felt rushed and a bit undercooked.



I've been watching but haven't felt much like doing write ups, so here's some noir/neo-noir joints I've watched and some arbitrary numbers:

Kansas City Confidential: 4.5/5

The Bigamist: 5/5

Devil In A Blue Dress: 5/5

Shallow Grave: 4/5

Pale Flower: 5/5

The Boston Strangler: 4.5/5

Cocaine Cowboys: 2.5/5

Spun: 4/5

They Call Me Mr. Tibbs: 3.5/5

Charlie Varrick: 5/5

Hollow Triumph: 4.5/5



I've been watching but haven't felt much like doing write ups, so here's some noir/neo-noir joints I've watched and some arbitrary numbers:

Kansas City Confidential: 4.5/5

The Bigamist: 5/5

Devil In A Blue Dress: 5/5

Shallow Grave: 4/5

Pale Flower: 5/5

The Boston Strangler: 4.5/5

Cocaine Cowboys: 2.5/5

Spun: 4/5

They Call Me Mr. Tibbs: 3.5/5

Charlie Varrick: 5/5

Hollow Triumph: 4.5/5

Cocaine Cowboys is such a piece of shit.



Cocaine Cowboys is such a piece of shit.
Yes BUT I listened to the Video Archive podcast where Tarantino and Avery gab about its creation and the history behind it (learning that Sullivan was pretty much exactly his character and this was how he smuggled drugs/burned his hand/became friends with Warhol) made it more interesting than it had any right.