‘Out of the Past,’ asks whether a man can escape his future
Out of the Past Directed by Jacques Tourneur Written by Daniel Mainwaring Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas USA, 97 min – 1947. “I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live...
View Article‘The Chase’ will have viewers expect the unexpected
The Chase Written by Philip Yordan Directed by Arthur Ripley U.S.A., 1946 *A fair warning to readers: those sensitive to spoilers had best watch the film under review before reading the article. To...
View ArticleFriday Noir Special: Top 5 films
The Friday Noir column has been tugging along at a steady pace for well over a year at this point. After being privy to so many double-crosses, back stabbings, bleak outlooks and cynical one-liners, it...
View Article‘Laura’ is much ado about love, much of it quite evil in fact
Laura Written by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt Directed by Otto Preminger U.S.A., 1944 A detective’s work is challenging enough already without the complications that arise...
View Article‘Out of the Past’ is exceptionally gripping from start to finish
Out of the Past Written by Daniel Mainwaring Directed by Jacques Tourneur U.S.A., 1947 Sometimes, there is no eluding one’s past, regardless of how hard one tries. The reasons are numerous. Perhaps the...
View Article‘Panic in the Streets’ has director Elia Kazan offer pure thrills and chills
Harmony Korine explores the oft avoided subcultures of the United States, John Carpenter's greater strengths lie in sharing thriller and horror tales and Elia Kazan's most famous and respected projects...
View Article‘The Big Sleep’ is saved from the depths of incomprehension by Bogart and Bacall
Fictional private detective icon Philip Marlowe, a creation from the mind of famed author Raymond Chandler, was one such character who always succeeded in putting millions of puzzle pieces together....
View ArticleTribeca 2013: “Trust Me” cleverly combines satire and film noir
From the first shot of Trust Me, Clark Gregg makes it obvious that his satirical picture owes a huge debt to Sunset Boulevard. Both are film noirs set in Hollywood that concern themselves with female...
View Article‘Strangers in the Night’ mixes style and substance in a very eerie tale
Strangers in the Night Written by Bryant Ford and Paul Gangelin Directed by Anthony Mann U.S.A., 1944 Coping mechanisms vary from person to person, innumerable variable influencing how, why and...
View Article‘Detour’ is a one way ticket to one man’s personal hell
Detour Written by Marin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer U.S.A., 1945 The women of film noir, those seductive, cruel creatures baptized ‘femmes fatales’ (French for ‘deadly...
View Article‘Panic in the Streets’– a taught, suspenseful thriller
Four small time gangsters, Kochak (Lewis Charles), his cousin Poldi (Guy Thomojan), Fitch (Zero Mostel) and their de facto leader Blackie (Jack Palance) are playing cards in a seedy part of New...
View ArticleFriday (neo)Noir: ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ features hilarity, wit and Black’s...
It was only a few weeks ago that the Howard Hawks classic The Big Sleep, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, was reviewed for the purpose of this column. Certainly an amusing film, the...
View Article‘White Heat’ does not delve deep into psychology
‘White Heat’ Directed by Raoul Walsh Written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts Starring James Cagney, Virginia, Edmond O’Brien USA, 114 min – 1949. “Made it, Ma! Top of the world! Raoul Walsh’s...
View ArticleFriday (neo)Noir: ‘A History of Violence’ marks Cronenberg’s stunning venture...
2005, judging by the theatrical releases, was an exceptional year for the neonoir sub-genre. Last summer, for the special Friday (neo)Noir series, reviews for Rian Johnson's breakout independent hit...
View Article‘Chinatown’ is neo-noir at its best
Film noir comes full circle in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). Thirty years before its release, crime dramas saw the birth of a fundamental character – the noir hero. From Dashiell Hammett to...
View Article‘White Heat’ has James Cagney so hot not even the world can stop him
Where would people be without their mothers? Whether by birth, adoption or simply maternal figures, these great dames have, since time immemorial, commanded love, admiration, respect and devotion from...
View Article‘The Long Goodbye’ deconstructs the Philip Marlowe character
The Long Goodbye Directed by Robert Altman Written by Leigh Brackett USA, 1973 My introduction to classic film was through Humphrey Bogart. I would watch Casablanca (1942) and To Have and Have Not...
View Article‘High Sierra’ is where wannabe nice guys finish last
Last week's column entry, White Heat, was a film directed by Raoul Walsh which exemplified some of the very best assets of both the gangster and noir genres within the same picture. Given that the...
View Article‘This Gun for Hire’ is as gripping as it is purely entertaining
This Gun for Hire Written by Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett Directed by Frank Tuttle U.S.A, 1942 The great American actor Alan Ladd died at the unfairly young age of 50. With a series of leading roles...
View Article‘Crack-Up’ has key elements in place but requires more brushing up
A reoccurring question in the ongoing study and appreciation of art is whether art reflects life or vice versa. The real answer ostensibly lies somewhere in the middle, each informing and influencing...
View Article‘Cry Danger’ steers itself mostly clear of the dangers of director debuts
Cry Danger Written by William Bowers Directed by Robert Parish USA, 1951 The road that ultimately leads creative people in the filmmaking business to the highly coveted director’s chair is rarely the...
View Article‘Niagara’ is where Marilyn Monroe goes to be a bad, bad girl
Marilyn Monroe’s legacy in popular culture and film varies greatly depending on whom one asks. For some, her photo shoots and the unforgettably attractive looks advertised through them meant she was,...
View Article‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ reveals shades of noir’s bittersweet side
Where the Sidewalk Ends Written by Ben Hecht Directed by Otto Preminger USA, 1950 To those paying attention, film history teaches that groups of like-minded artists enjoy working together. The better...
View Article‘Nightmare Alley’ is a dark, pessimistic descent into compulsion and greed
Who can tell when they are being conned? Or lied to for that matter? Some people are blessed (or cursed) with a potentially dangerous gift, that of being able to fool their way into earning other...
View Article‘Guest in the House’ sees the noir welcome itself into the world of melodrama
Guest in the House Written by Hunt Stromberg Directed by John Brahm USA, 1944 The family unit is, or should be, the strongest in one’s life, the one from which a solid emotional backbone is based from,...
View Article‘The Stranger’ an excellent cat-and-mouse thriller
After all the dust had settled and leaked blood had dried following the nightmare that was World War II, the Allied states co-organized a special commission for the purpose of investigating the details...
View Article‘Time Table’ races towards a frantic conclusion with twists and turns along...
The longevity of television’s Dexter speaks to audience interest in and creative potential of the premise in which an authoritative figure, a Bloodstain Pattern Analyst in the case of the Showtime...
View Article‘Johnny O’Clock,’ despite the talent involved, lacks bite
Balancing plot and character must be a complex feat to pull off. It seems that, on a weekly basis, especially with the plethora of blogs and websites dedicated to film reviews, articles and podcasts...
View Article‘Desert Fury’ is a passionate film about love, rebellion, and how we perceive...
Perception plays a spectacularly large role in how people behave and process information. Everything one does or chooses to do is at least partly a function of one’s perceived reality. Sometimes one...
View Article‘Born to Kill’ has a sexually charged an unstoppable force encounter an...
Robert Wise is up to his usual tricks with his 1947 character study Born to Kill. Wise was an incredibly skilled director whose creative talent could be applied to almost any genre. Some of his best...
View Article‘The Blue Dahlia’ is Raymond Chandler’s only original screenplay but not his...
The Blue Dahlia Written by Raymond Chandler Directed by George Marshall USA, 1946 Three wartime veterans who served in the Navy return home to Los Angeles. They are Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) and his...
View Article‘Shed No Tears’ spares no expense at making its wacky plot as amusing as...
Shed No Tears is bereft of any singular identity when contrasted against other thriller of the period. It is not a comedy but nor does it always dedicate itself to absolute seriousness. The post ‘Shed...
View Article‘Rififi’ lives up to its imaginative, evocative name
Rififi Written by Auguste le Breton, Jules Dassin and René Weeler Directed by Jules Dassin France, 1955 Having recently concluded a prison sentence, Tony ‘le Stéphanois’ (Jean Servais), former thief,...
View Article‘The Big Heat’ is a bitter tale of corruption and the fight for true justice
The Big Heat features one of the more mature stories to be found in noir. It deals with some extremely heavy material, some of which would understandably encourage its characters to give in to...
View Article‘The Lady from Shanghai’ is the noir version of an Orson Welles fun house
Is the film this bizarre because of what Columbia did after the original shoot or did they in fact make an utter mess somewhat comprehensible? A fascinating debate to be sure, sadly one for which the...
View Article‘The Amazing Mr. X’ has a great story and some unexpectedly terrific special...
The Amazing Mr. X is a potluck of genres and styles that come together under Bernard Vorhaus’ direction to produce a surprisingly entertaining experience. The film is more of a lark than a deadly...
View Article‘A Perfect Murder’ is well directed, but suffers from an uneven script
A Perfect Murder is anything but. Far from a complete misfire, Andrew Davis starts things off very nicely and definitely manages to cover some of the cracks in the armor with some slick direction and...
View Article‘Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye’ has a cunning, scheming Cagney rip institutions and...
Small warts aside, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is a well put together drama that invites viewers to observe how one very intelligent and confident man works his way around the law to get ahead in life....
View Article‘Pursued’ sees another dark past give chase to Robert Mitchum
Pursued Written by Niven Busch Directed Raoul Walsh USA, 1947 In a small, dilapidated home in the middle of the New Mexico desert, the beautiful but worried Thor Callum (Theresa Wright) arrives to...
View Article‘Phantom Lady’ sells itself on incredible craftsmanship and an impressive...
There is a visible craftsmanship to Phantom Lady that helps it reach the upper echelon of movie magic. It is a slick, well produced bit of entertainment that takes bold chances with its plotting....
View Article‘D.O.A.’ shows that one’s perception of everything changes in the face of...
D.O.A. Written by Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene Directed by Rudolph Maté U.S.A., 1950 In a terrifically dramatic opening, D.O.A. begins with a series of smooth tracking from behind one man as he walks...
View ArticleGotham, Ep. 1.01, “Pilot” gives Gordon the spotlight
Batman is one of the most iconic comic book superheroes of all time and has been amongst the pop culture zeitgeist for, at most, three quarters of a century, being adapted into all kinds of media from...
View Article‘Ride the Pink Horse’ rides hard and strong with its unique interpretation of...
Seasoned film noir viewers who take a chance on Robert Montgomery’s Ride the Pink Horse for the very first time are in for a unique experience. The director and fellow screenwriters Ben Hecht and...
View Article‘Behind Locked Doors’ is serviceable, but fails to unlock its full potential
Behind Locked Doors, directed by Budd Boetticher, is, for all intents and purposes, a precursor to a much more widely known film from 1963, Sam Fuller’s Shock Corridor. Working on the same principle of...
View Article‘Lady in the Death House’ isn’t terrible, but doesn’t earn a ‘get out of...
Stories told via framing devices are a tricky proposition, highly dependent on the nature of the framing device employed. One that strongly suggests or outright reveals the plot's outcome runs the risk...
View Article‘The Set-Up’ stands tall in both Robert Ryan’s and Robert Wise’s oeuvres
Director Wise was, in many ways, the Steven Soderbergh of his day. He could navigate virtually any film genre and produce a terrific final movie, one that understands the nooks and crannies of said...
View ArticleFriday Noir #145: ‘Behind Green Lights’ goes the route of comedy with mixed...
The funny thing about watching older films is how the credits fade slowly in and out during the opening minutes when swelling music plays. The final credit, as is always the case, is awarded to the...
View Article‘Friday Noir #147: ‘Lady Gangster’ is mostly slight, but has an excellent...
Lady Gangster is now practically long forgotten in the annals of film history, kept afloat by its existence in the public domain, hence readily available for any and all that wish to take a chance on...
View ArticleFriday Noir #150: The posters of the classic noir period
For Friday Noir #150, in addition to a well deserved pat on the back, the column will take a look at some of the posters of the classic noir period. Loving movie posters is a curious passion. Today,...
View ArticleFriday Noir #152: ‘King Creole’
It’s interesting that King Creole is rarely brought up when discussing either the films of director Michael Curtiz or those of its inimitable star. It is fair to argue that the picture does not break...
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