and Singing In The Rain ?
I watched Crime of Passion last evening with Barbara Stanwyck and while a little-known film and more on a B-level with stilted dialogue and bizarre plot, it was definitely great fun to see manipulative, conniving Stanwyck. Can’t believe she never got an Oscar for her body of work (other than an honorary one in 1982).
One tough lady. Have you noticed the resemblance between her and Virginia Madsen? One almost noir from recent years that’s fun on several levels is The Hot Spot (1990) where one of those levels is some topless pre-reduction Jennifer Connelly!
I could see a Wicked-style alternate presentation of the Oz events from the point of view of this hapless chump Dorothy dupes into protecting her. Think of all the life-threatening crap the Scarecrow has to deal with only to have Dorothy disappear when she’s through with him.
Assaulted by trees, set on fire, torn to shreds, compelled to attempt a prison break… that could easily fit as a Noir.
(The singing and dancing would have to go, and the over-saturated colors, and the happy ending.)
So, basically Tin Man, yeah, I’ll buy that.
As mentioned, Double Indemnity and Detour, for sure.
Not yet mentioned: Cape Fear.
And, if you want to stretch the noir definition: Night of the Hunter.
mmm
The cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river.
I just like saying that.
As a self-employed artist, I just keep the television on for companionship (but much like what is broadcast). Here is what I’ve watched recently…
1940 - The House Across the Bay - Mediocre
1944 - Double Indemnity - does it get any better?
1944 - Ministry of Fear - Ray Milland was a really great actor when he was young! Very Hitchcockian film.
1944 - When Strangers Marry - Not bad to see a young Robert Mitchum in an interesting role
1945 - Bewitched - Oddly named early film on multiple personalities.
1945 -* Danger Signal* - Pretty good. Not the best, but well-acted with Zachary Scott as the smarmy lothario.
1946 - The Killers - Burt Lancaster’s first and damn, he is one fine man. Ava Gardner is no slouch either.
1947 -* Born to Kill* - Claire Trevor has probably one of my most favorite femme fatale speeches EVER in a noir film in this flick.
1947 - Crossfire - This is a bridge film; I like noir with a femme fatale and this has more to do with antisemitism although Gloria Grahame shines a little as the small role as the dark girl.
1947 - The Arnelo Affiar - Interesting in that the narrator is a woman. Usually it is the male gumshoe or the man in trouble providing the dialogue tract and here it is a stunning Frances Gifford. Song-and-dance man George Murphy is the oblivious husband, John Hodiak is the swarthy lothario, and a young Dean Stockwell is the son.
1947 - Nightmare Alley - noir in a carnival. Fascinating display of the downfall of a man.
1952 - Wings of Danger - Interesting Brit noir. Somehow hearing the intrigue with the accent makes it all that much more elegant.
1945 - Detour - Bordering on the “so bad it is brilliant.” Such a classic in improbability but so great to watch. One of my favorites.
1945 - The Strange Mr. Gregory - Fairly lame magician seduces a wife and frames a husband to get her. Meh.
1946 -* The Glass Alibi - Really bad and very predictable.
1946 - The Crooked Mile - Almost hard to follow and really hard to finish. Very forgettable.
1947 - Bury Me Dead* - Should have been better but too many laughable characters who couldn’t take themselves seriously as actors. Not a bad ending, considering.
1947 - Calcutta - Due for a restoration. A young Alan Ladd brings it all together.
1947 - Dancing with Crime - A British Noir with a young Richard Attenborough who looked as though he was barely ready to shave. Quite fun to hear the gangsters ordering tea.
It is a bad movie. It’s overwrought – a textbook case of over-doing technique. Literally, I have a textbook that discusses just this issue. The acting isn’t great. And there’s that whole sequence where the driver is sitting on the right side of the car because they had to flip the film when they realized that they filmed the car driving in the wrong direction and they could afford to film it again. Yet, I like the film without too much ironic detachment.
Why is The Hot Spot an “almost noir”? It’s neo-noir, certainly, but I’d say it has all the elements of classic noir.
It’s not a bad movie. Don Johnson is surprisingly well cast, and does a decent job. And, well, Jennifer Connelly.
Does Sunset Boulevard count as film noir?
Oh, definitely. We have the ubiquitous voice-over. We know there was a crime from the get-go but are not sure who the guilty party is. The protagonist’s downfall is a complicated woman. And there are lovely, dark shots and shadows.
Sunset is easily one of my favorite films, along with A Touch of Evil and Anatomy of a Murder (which I was surprised at the frankness of in describing a rape scene). I’ve wondered what films I should add as “essential Noir”.
My favourites, *Out Of The Past *(also known as Build My Gallows High) and Double Indemnity already got mentioned so I’d like to add Gilda. Man, Rita Hayworth was really something.
Because of this thread, I bought copies of High and Low, Mirage and Kiss Me Deadly
All held up wonderfully. I last saw them 20-25 years ago. Really good stuff at the time, it has only gotten better with age, especially High and Low.
Would Mulholland Falls be considered noir? There’s no voiceover, but it’s got many noir features: a murder, a femme fatale, the protagonists’ past as his flaw, and tough amoral men in hats. Despite the California sun, the mood is dark.
ETA: Did they use a body double for Connelly in the voyeur footage?