Noir Alley

[Vautrin]

Maybe it's me, but I don't find film noir movies depressing. In fact, I find most of them utterly entertaining, and sometimes even downright fun. 

I too find them more entertaining than depressing, though the subject

matter is often depressing, if in a rather superficial way. I guess depressing

is one of the film noir vibes. Even though the overall atmosphere is one

of everyday grit and grime and the underbelly of life, I find them too unrealistic

to be truly depressing. I've been having trouble with Watch TCM, so I went

to YT and watched Johnny O'Clock with Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes. Good

flick, but Powell uses so much of that wiseguy patter that one feels like saying

Okay, enough already, we get it. 

[CinemaInternational]

Nope; Debbie Gibson will be the co-host.

Don't you mean Belinda Carlisle?

[Dargo]

I too find them more entertaining than depressing, though the subject

matter is often depressing, if in a rather superficial way. I guess depressing

is one of the film noir vibes. Even though the overall atmosphere is one

of everyday grit and grime and the underbelly of life, I find them too unrealistic

to be truly depressing. I've been having trouble with Watch TCM, so I went

to YT and watched Johnny O'Clock with Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes. Good

flick, but Powell uses so much of that wiseguy patter that one feels like saying

Okay, enough already, we get it. 

 

Now ya see in MY case, I can never get enough of that "wiseguy patter".

 

(...but then again this probably doesn't surprise anyone around here, huh)

 

[jamesjazzguitar]

Now ya see in MY case, I can never get enough of that "wiseguy patter".

 

(...but then again this probably doesn't surprise anyone around here, huh)

 

 

I wonder if you can even recognize wiseguy patter from what others would define as normal speech. 

 

(ok,  you left yourself wide open on that one).

 

But have you seen Johnny O'clock.   Good film but the dialog Powell is given does come off as a little forced as it relates to the wiseguy cracks.

[Dargo]

I wonder if you can even recognize wiseguy patter from what others would define as normal speech. 

 

(ok,  you left yourself wide open on that one).

 

But have you seen Johnny O'clock.   Good film but the dialog Powell is given does come off as a little forced as it relates to the wiseguy cracks.

 

Answer to question one: Nope, not anymore. BUT, since November 8th, I got the feelin' that half this freakin' country can't anymore EITHER, dude!!! LOL

 

(...yep, there I go again, huh!)

 

Answer to question two: Yep, I caught that flick a while back, and yeah, I have to admit Powell's dialogue in that baby doesn't come across as "normal everyday talk", and was a glib as glib gets.

 

(...in other words, yeah, I agree with you and Vautrin about this...it was just that I couldn't resist playin' the wise guy there again...OF COURSE!!!)

[Fedya]

Don't you mean Belinda Carlisle?

No; I meant Debbie (well, actually Deborah now) Gibson. It was a reference to Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.

 

Maybe Belinda Carlisle did a movie with Stacey Q or Martika. (Look the last two up on Youtube and prepare to be horrified.)

[Vautrin]

Now ya see in MY case, I can never get enough of that "wiseguy patter".

 

(...but then again this probably doesn't surprise anyone around here, huh)

 

Can't say I've ever noticed that. Hee hee ha ha.

 

O'Clock should have had a drummer following him around to

give rim shots every time he made a wisecrack. Pretty good

movie, nonetheless, though Evelyn Keyes could have eased

up on the constant use of his name. And Thomas Gomez was

rightly suspicious of any dame that would prefer him to Johnny.

[Dargo]

Btw, and speaking of Dick Powell and his overabundance and over reliance on all that glib and cliched talk in JOHNNY O'CLOCK...

 

Ever wonder if because his turn as Phillip Marlowe in MURDER, MY SWEET worked wonders in changing his image and revitalizing his career, he figured he'd there after use that same shtick as much as he could?

 

(...of course you have...that's pretty much a "no-brainer", isn't it...speaking of "cliches")

[LsDoorMat]

Maybe it's one of those against the grain programming decisions.

Running dark depressing flicks on a sunny Sunday morning instead

of one a.m. at night. There are tons of these movies on YT, all

without verbal commentary. 

 

Actually, TCM did this years ago. On one of the weekend mornings they would always run a noir. They called it "Darkness After Dawn".

[LornaHansonForbes]

I wonder if Dick Powell practiced his NOIRspeak with real-life wife at the time June Allyson.

It's kinda fun to imagine them speeding down Sunset Blvd. doing their best respective Cagney and Blondell impressions...

Almost like the "jive talk" scene in AIRPLANE!

[misswonderly3]

Btw, and speaking of Dick Powell and his overabundance and over reliance on all that glib and cliched talk in JOHNNY O'CLOCK...

 

Ever wonder if because his turn as Phillip Marlowe in MURDER, MY SWEET worked wonders in changing his image and revitalizing his career, he figured he'd there after use that same shtick as much as he could?

 

(...of course you have...that's pretty much a "no-brainer", isn't it...speaking of "cliches")

 

But I love the wise -guy patter. It's one of the reasons why it's fun to watch film noir. 

 

Notice it's almost always given in "voice-over" / first-person narrative form. To me, it's as much a part of film noir as the shadowy old warehouses and docks, the flashing neon signs over the seedy hotel rooms, and the rain-swept streets.

 

Let's not forget that what is regarded as cliche now was not so in the late 1940s-50s.  And sometimes, it's those very cliches that I enjoy.

Sometimes for fun I'll try and start up some kind of noir patter myself, usually trying it out on my hapless husband who politely agrees, "yes, you sound very hard-boiled."  I might do this if there's a certain kind of music playing.

 

Something like, "...It was one of those nights when you just can't sleep, and 3 more fingers of straight whisky isn't going to help. So I got up and hit the streets,hoping maybe to find something, I don't even know what. I needed a cigarette bad. As I lit one, I noticed someone following me, someone who backed into an alley everytime I turned around. Funny thing was, the someone kind of looked like a dame. Even my whisky -soaked brain knew something crooked was going on..."

 

Ok, that's not that good. Maybe I need some sleazy saxophone music to help out. But you get what I mean - the noir voice-over dialogue is fun. Do people - did people, ever really talk like that? Baby, I don't care.

[DownGoesFrazier]

But I love the wise -guy patter. It's one of the reasons why it's fun to watch film noir. 

 

Notice it's almost always given in "voice-over" / first-person narrative form. To me, it's as much a part of film noir as the shadowy old warehouses and docks, the flashing neon signs over the seedy hotel rooms, and the rain-swept streets.

 

Let's not forget that what is regarded as cliche now was not so in the late 1940s-50s.  And sometimes, it's those very cliches that I enjoy.

Sometimes for fun I'll try and start up some kind of noir patter myself, usually trying it out on my hapless husband who politely agrees, "yes, you sound very hard-boiled."  I might do this if there's a certain kind of music playing.

 

Something like, "...It was one of those nights when you just can't sleep, and 3 more fingers of straight whisky isn't going to help. So I got up and hit the streets,hoping maybe to find something, I don't even know what. I needed a cigarette bad. As I lit one, I noticed someone following me, someone who backed into an alley everytime I turned around. Funny thing was, the someone kind of looked like a dame. Even my whisky -soaked brain knew something crooked was going on..."

 

Ok, that's not that good. Maybe I need some sleazy saxophone music to help out. But you get what I mean - the noir voice-over dialogue is fun. Do people - did people, ever really talk like that? Baby, I don't care.

Whether you care or not----To talk like that, for starters, you have to live in a black and white world. People who were severely color-blind tended to talk like that.

[speedracer5]

Something like, "...It was one of those nights when you just can't sleep, and 3 more fingers of straight whisky isn't going to help. So I got up and hit the streets,hoping maybe to find something, I don't even know what. I needed a cigarette bad. As I lit one, I noticed someone following me, someone who backed into an alley everytime I turned around. Funny thing was, the someone kind of looked like a dame. Even my whisky -soaked brain knew something crooked was going on..."

 

Ok, that's not that good. Maybe I need some sleazy saxophone music to help out. But you get what I mean - the noir voice-over dialogue is fun. Do people - did people, ever really talk like that? Baby, I don't care.

If they don't talk like that, they should. Everything would be so much more fun! And even though I wouldn't want to be called "Baby," it's funny in the noir films. Like in "Double Indemnity," how many times does Fred MacMurray call Barbara Stanwyck "baby" ?

[LornaHansonForbes]

I think it's worth mentioning that Dick Powell starred on a pretty long running radio series RICHARD DIAMOND PI- where he engaged in a lot of fast NOIRspeak.

 

you can find a lot of episodes online, but if you're looking for really glib and quippy dialogue loaded with some pretty funny metaphors I highly recommend the brief series JEFF REGAN: THE LYONS EYE. Jack Webb stars in that one.

[Vautrin]

Actually, TCM did this years ago. On one of the weekend mornings they would always run a noir. They called it "Darkness After Dawn".

I seem to vaguely recall that, though I wouldn't have gotten

up that early to watch them, no matter what the general title.

 

Is Johnny O'Clock hurt? Where is Johnny O'Clock going?

Will Johnny O'Clock take me with him. Give it up lady.

[DownGoesFrazier]

If they don't talk like that, they should. Everything would be so much more fun! And even though I wouldn't want to be called "Baby," it's funny in the noir films. Like in "Double Indemnity," how many times does Fred MacMurray call Barbara Stanwyck "baby" ?

Ralph Kramden always said to Alice. "Baby, you're the greatest". I guess their Chauncey Street environs were vaguely noirish.

[Dargo]

Ralph Kramden always said to Alice. "Baby, you're the greatest". I guess their Chauncey Street environs were vaguely nourish.

 

Yeah, but I don't think Powell in any movie ever says, "Bang, zoom...you're goin' to the moon!"

 

[jamesjazzguitar]

Yeah, but I don't think Powell in any movie ever says, "Bang, zoom...you're goin' to the moon!"

 

No,  that was Cagney's line!  

[Dargo]

No,  that was Cagney's line!  

 

 

But of course followed by, "You dirty rat" instead of "Alice".

[DownGoesFrazier]

 

But of course followed by, "You dirty rat" instead of "Alice".

Of course, Lennon and McCartney showed their noirish streak in, "Baby, You're a Rich Man".

[Dargo]

Of course, Lennon and McCartney showed their noirish streak in, "Baby, You're a Rich Man".

 

And which reminds me...

 

Ever wonder if Film Noir was Barry White's favorite film genre?

 

(...baby?)

[Winslow_Leach]

And which reminds me...

 

Ever wonder if Film Noir was Barry White's favorite film genre?

 

(...baby?)

 

 

Yeah...but...Barry's "Baby" was more of a "Can't get enough of your love" baby, while Film Noir is more like an "I'm gonna help you kill your husband and get away with it" baby.

[Dargo]

Yeah...but...Barry's "Baby" was more of a "Can't get enough of your love" baby, while Film Noir is more like an "I'm gonna help you kill your husband and get away with it" baby.

 

Yeah, maybe WL.

 

Except of course, in most cases the reason for that second action was precipitated by that first thought, right?!

 

(...and why fall guys like MacMurray in DOUBLE INDEMNITY and Garfield in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE did what they did, right?!)

[misswonderly3]

The Sunday Noir series opens March 5th with The Maltese Falcon. ( The "Maltese Falcon", the one with Humphrey Bogart, the Fat Man, and company...)

I love this movie ( hey, I named myself after one of its characters), but I've seen it more times than I can count. Still, I'm thinking maybe they wanted to start with something both famous and extremely accessible.

[speedracer5]

The Sunday Noir series opens March 5th with The Maltese Falcon. ( The "Maltese Falcon", the one with Humphrey Bogart, the Fat Man, and company...)

I love this movie ( hey, I named myself after one of its characters), but I've seen it more times than I can count. Still, I'm thinking maybe they wanted to start with something both famous and extremely accessible.

 

I love The Maltese Falcon too.  I never tire of it.  There's always something new to discover about it or new angles to consider.  Brigid O'Shaughnessy/Miss Wonderly, what is her deal anyway? Lol. I think that what makes it such a great film is it's complexity.  Even though you know what is going to happen when they finally get the Maltese Falcon, the journey getting there is always entertaining.