the pacing was what made me think that... not the directing style (NO JUMP CUTS), but the pacing of the story telling and the willingness to digress...
Film Noir
- Thread starter IdleRich
- Start date
the pacing was what made me think that... not the directing style (NO JUMP CUTS), but the pacing of the story telling and the willingness to digress...
crackerjack
Well-known member
These aren't recommendations as such, since I haven't see most of them - but been reading Robert Mitchum's biography and these are the ones I now want to see.
When Strangers Marry (dubbed the "greatest b movie ever made" by one critic)
His Kind Of woman - made by Howard Hughes when he bought RKO and cast Jane Russell's cleavage as the star in everything.
Crossfire - saw this years ago, but can't remember it that well. Key McCarthy era film - based on a play about a murdering homophobic soldier, they changed him into an anti-semite (Hays forbade mention of homosexuality). Directed by Dymytrk (one of the Hollywood 10, and the only one to later name names).
Angel Face - end of an era noir.
Build My Gallows High (aka Out Of The Past) - Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer. Near definitive noir with as Greer as one of the ultimate femme fatales - all over Dead men Don't Wear Plaid too!
Also Big Steal - quite jolly by noir standards,
When Strangers Marry (dubbed the "greatest b movie ever made" by one critic)
His Kind Of woman - made by Howard Hughes when he bought RKO and cast Jane Russell's cleavage as the star in everything.
Crossfire - saw this years ago, but can't remember it that well. Key McCarthy era film - based on a play about a murdering homophobic soldier, they changed him into an anti-semite (Hays forbade mention of homosexuality). Directed by Dymytrk (one of the Hollywood 10, and the only one to later name names).
Angel Face - end of an era noir.
Build My Gallows High (aka Out Of The Past) - Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer. Near definitive noir with as Greer as one of the ultimate femme fatales - all over Dead men Don't Wear Plaid too!
Also Big Steal - quite jolly by noir standards,
crackerjack
Well-known member
IdleRich
IdleRich
This is a good film. Robert Mitchum is always good.
This is a truly fantastic film. My understanding is that Bonnie and Clyde is seen as a hugely important film for the development of US seventies cinema; it was nihilistic and avoided the hollywood ending, the main characters were baddies (and Beatties' character was impotent) and at the time it was very controversial.
Thing is though, Gun Crazy came out, what, ten years before and it has all that (ok, except the impotency thing) and yet hardly anyone knows about it, seems completely unfair.
edit: Actually I'm way out, Gun Crazy came out in 1950 so almost twenty years before.
Also, now I come to think of it, the guy who loves guns but who is afraid to kill people is surely some kind of nod to impotence as well so maybe it does anticipate that aspect of B & C as well (although I think originally Clyde was supposed to gay but Beattie changed the screenplay).
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slim jenkins
El Hombre Invisible
Pretty good BBC doc here - worth it for the clips alone, of course:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mbstz/The_Rules_of_Film_Noir
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mbstz/The_Rules_of_Film_Noir
crackerjack
Well-known member
has Night and the City had a mention yet? if not, overdue. Brilliant, brilliant film made by Americans in London - stinking filthy dirty noir with a 5-minute wrestling match as the centrepiece and hordes of horrible, slimy, but believable, people.
i know i must have mentioned this... ahh site search... here first page of thsi thread:
night and the city: not to beat a dead horse, but i love richard widmark and this one is a beauty... filmed in post-war london... another doomed protaganist...
widmark is probably most charming in this than any of his roles... the scene where he cons gregorios outsuide the arena is great... he has so much energy...
in stuff like Kiss of Death or The Street With No Name he's too over the top as a baddie to be truly charming, but i cannot stand watching him in roles when he has no edge... stuff like this and Pick Up on South Street, where he plays flawed heros is when he shines...
crackerjack
Well-known member
faith in Dissensus' collective wisdom restored.
Widmark is a revelation in this. I love those scenes where he's getting really cocky and full of himself, only to crash into despair a minute later. Nice to see the odd British thesp turn up in a noir too (Herbert Lom, Mr Bumble) and London looks great, even if Dassin does do the usual yank abroad thing of squeezing in the main landmarks.
slim jenkins
El Hombre Invisible
NITC - great film. I found a certain moment when he was climbing the curved stairs whilst being chased absolutely gripping and beautifully framed.
i met him (well, stood like 2 feet from him for a few minutes) in 2001 at Lincoln Center... they did Widmark retrospective and he showed up for the showing of NITC and did a Q and A afterwards... someone asked him of his memories of filming NITC and he said he remembered London was still really bombed out with rubble everywhere and besides that he just remembered alot of running (which is funny if you have seen the film)... when i exited i somehow ended up standing right next to Widmark... he seemed very nice and like he had time for people, which sort of made me want to bother him all the less... i count it as a meet, as i very easily could have butted in for a handshake, but it just didn't feel right to me...
hucks
Your Message Here
How did I miss this thread? Anyhow, watched The Killers and Out of the Past in the last couple of weeks. Both brilliant, esp The Killers. Double Indemnity is my fave noir, tho. Probably my favourite film ever, actually.
Also, have to say, excellent stuff from HMLT upthread.
Also, have to say, excellent stuff from HMLT upthread.
