cigarjoe

Jackie Brown (1997) Soul Noir A great amalgamation of Blaxploitation, Neo Noir, and Elmore Leonard, by Quentin Tarantino. This film is a lot of fun to watch, Tarantino weaves his magic in his Tarantinian way. Snappy dialog, check, pop references, check, soul music, check, low life losers, check, bringing back blasts from the past in the forms of Pam Grier and Robert Forster, check. The film is probably one of his more restrained efforts, but it fits perfectly for Film Noir. Noirs were almost always about small time losers. Low key stories of life on the cusp. Tales that drift to the wrong side of the tracks. It's about poor schmucks who are trying to get by any way they can. And if in the process they have to step over on the dark side occasionally, and make deals with the boogie man, well, in this case, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a stewardess who makes the Cabo run from L.A. to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It's a bottom of the barrel gig. But Jackie makes do. One of her angles is that Jackie is a conduit for money. Money generated from illegal arm sales by one Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). Ordell has been building a nest egg. Current total is a cool half million that Ordell has tucked away in Mexico. Ordell is a cool operator who keeps on the move. He makes a circuit between his various hangouts. He's got a house in Compton, a surfer chick, Melanie Ralston (Bridget Fonda) in Hermosa Beach and a girlfriend somewheres else. Ordell is breaking into his business, Louis Gara (Robert De Niro), a sort of befuddled excon buddy of his who just did four years in stir for bank robbery. Jackie Brown (Grier) Louis (De Niro) and Ordell (Jackson) Max (Forster) Ordell's world starts going Noirsville when one of his dim bulb employees, Beaumont Livingston (Chris Tucker) gets pulled over for a traffic violation and is busted for carrying an unlicensed gun. When he's booked, he's found to have prior charges and is looking at ten years. Ordell has got to move fast. He heads to Max Cherry (Robert Forster) a bail bondsman to get Beaumonts **** out of the slammer. Max has been in the bonds buiz for twenty years and he deals straight up with Ordell, not putting up with any of his jive-**** talking BS. With Beaumont out on bond, Ordell makes his move. He goes to Beaumont's flop. A converted residence motel. He tells him he needs him to come along right now tonight, on a deal he's got to close. It's a hilarious sequence. Odell and Beaumont (Tucker) Beaumont reluctantly agrees and follows Ordell down to his car. Ordell opens his trunk and hands Beaumont a sawed off pump action scattergun. Ordell tells him all he's got to do is get in the trunk with the gum and when he pops it jump up and point it at the guys he's dealing with. Beaumont wants to know why he can't just ride shotgun. Ordell tells him it's about the surprize factor. This film is full of these amusing vignettes, and it's a fun ride. Everyone is jockeying for position. Odell wants his cash, the ATF and LAPD want Odell, Max wants Jackie, and Jackie wants her freedom and a payback from Odell. How all this plays out is part of the magic of the movie and it's the getting there with wonderful fleshed out characters that's a hoot. Noirsville The film stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, Samuel L. Jackson as Ordell Robbie, Robert Forster as Max Cherry, Bridget Fonda as Melanie Ralston, Michael Keaton as Ray Nicolette, Robert De Niro as Louis Gara, Chris Tucker as Beaumont Livingston, Michael Bowen as Mark Dargus, Lisa Gay Hamilton as Sheronda, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. as Winston, Hattie Winston as Simone and Sid Haig as the Judge. Cinematography was by Guillermo Navarro and the soundtrack has cuts by Bobby Womack, Smokey Robinson, Brothers Johnson, The Supremes, Pam Grier, Bloodstone, Roy Ayers, Johnny Cash, Jermaine Jackson, The Delfonics, Minnie Riperton, Foxy Brown, Isaac Hayes, Bill Withers, The Meters, Elliot Easton's Tiki Gods, Elvin Bishop, The Guess Who, The Grassroots, Randy Crawford, The Vampire Sound Incorporation, Orchestra Harlow, Umberto Smaila, Snakepit Brad Hatfield and Dick Walter. Screencaps are from the Collectors Edition DVD 9/10. Full review with nore screencaps and dialog at Noirsville

Those films I mentioned were the ones we were introduced to as kids in the 50s they are sort of what you could call our personal classics.

Agree, much better than your cockamamie barrages in off topic chit chat.

I just watched Hell Or High Water a few days ago, it was very good.

I want to stick with films, I just led into it going down memory lane. I want to see the films that we saw on Saturday afternoons. If we got sit through Maisie films and Ma & Pa Kettle potboilers, I'd rather see a few Laurel & Hardy shorts, Laurel & Hardy Features, some Abbot & Costello films, Jackie Cooper stuff, Charles Dickens stuff even some Hercules & Machiste popcorn shlock. That's what's missing.

I really liked Laurel and Hardy I was just looking at their filmography Hardy in toto had 415 credits, Laurel 186, together as a team they appeared in 107 films total, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. That's quite a lot of content.

yea you're right, on the channels.

TCM is doing a good job covering the Studio Era of Hollywood films (a least what it has in its library), it tries to screen a myriad of Genres, highlight stars, does theme based programing, etc., etc. it's like a time machine to the past. Bravo! For me though it seems lacking a bit in certain areas for TCM to be perfect. Let me explain, as a child I grew up with TV. Living in New York City we had 13 channels. These weren't on 24/7 either. I can remember getting up early on Saturday mornings and if I was up early enough all you'd see were test patterns. The first program to air at 6AM would usually be a few minute shot of the flag and the national anthem. Then you saw either a half hour or hour (it seemed like an hour), of a show called Modern Farmer. I can still remember watching how to pull the head off an engine and watching a step by step valve job. Years later I had a 1949 Chevy Pickup in Montana, where I would pull the valve cover and adjust the valves, with the engine running, using two 1/2 inch wrenches and a feeler gauge, I was actually doing what I watched so long ago. Anyway back to the TV. After Modern Farmer, there was Gumby a claymation program, there was another one also sponsored by a church, but I don't remember it's name. Then came Crusader Rabbit an early animation cartoon, after that you had the main cartoons Looney Tunes, Tex Avery stuff, Tom & Jerry, Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle,Woody Woodpecker, Felix the Cat, etc., etc. Then around 10-11 AM came the 1/2 hour TV adventure programs, Sky King, Roy Rogers, The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin, Andy’s Gang, The Lone Ranger. Then after 11/12 it segued into short films, Our Gang/Little Rascal Comedies, almost all afternoon Laurel & Hardy shorts, or Abbot and Costello or Three Stooges Films, then later in the day and into the evening you'd watch either a lot of peplums (Sword & Sandal Flicks) or Monster/Horror films or SiFi and Thrillers. These were on every week For me to be perfect TCM should approximate a bit more of the films that graced the early TV days, show a bit more Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, more comedy shorts of Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, etc., etc., some of the old peplums, not just Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans, there were a lot of Hercules and Machiste flicks, lol. These films were like slipping into old comfortable pair of shoes. This is what I find missing from TCM, some of these popcorn fillers from Saturday afternoon and evening TV, sort of like comfort films. If TCM had these in a regular rotation it'd be perfect. Similar to say Noir Alley you could call the block of shorts or the films Rainy Saturday

If you are talking about this decade, we're too close to it, we won't know. Classics are found by looking through the lens of time.

My complaint is not about not seeing the great movies. I'm not talking about the Oscar bait, or the major box office films, I talking about getting a look at the bulk of the various genre films, specifically those that were good, including some cable TV films that were just as great as Hollywood productions, that aren't recycled and aired, with no commercials and uncut, like TCM does with films from 1900-1950s. My complaint is about the fact we have no TCM type channel to cover the bases from the 60s onwards. PS another point, the stuff you can find on Youtube, Dailymotion, etc., aren't necessarily complete, uncut and uncensored, and rarely does the OP detail exactly what version is uploaded. So how exactly can you make a judgement on a piece of work if you are not seeing that work as originally presented. That's the real value of TCM they have, as best as they can, a preservationist mentality in regards to film.

Yea that's the way I find them too, and I have to research them out by reading articles, or books. What I'm getting at is for all the great wealth of knowledge that TCM provides it only goes so far pretty much to the end of the studio era. Then we got a big hole like the dark ages. Oh sure we will have Oscar winners and box office hits, but the where are equivalent of the "B" type pictures that aren't seen, whole and uncut without commercials. Look how Film Noir's are highly regarded now, how many of them were Oscar winners, or big box office, see what I mean. TCM is great but if you been watching it for 15 plus years it tends to repeat itself a bit, and we have 40 years plus of films since the end of the studio era out there then add in international films.

Where are you watching them? I don't have any all inclusive source. You need a channel without commercials like TCM with knowledgeable hosts and interesting guests that will talk about them, showcase them. You have something like that, that you watch?

If you start back in 1960-70 decade, since that is where TCM film library starts to thin out, then list films by genre the best in a genre by decade we should get a good handle on things. I don't myself go to the cinema all that much with all the superhero stuff that I don't care about. I did go see the new Blade Runner, but that was it, one film for 2017 so far. But there are so many good films that that have just went off the radar screens between 1970-1999 that compared to what's out there now are well worth looking for. I'm not talking big Box Office stuff just good stylistic genre pictures that need a channel like TCM to keep them in front of the public eye. We don't have that for 50 years of content. It's a crying shame. That's a lot of years and a big hole in the filmography of our times.

Forget about current films we are just too close to them still, we should start is say 1960 and list a bunch of films from each decade and see how many we find a consensus on. It's like you can't see the good trees because of the forest. Hell, I've found some great recent films that went straight to DVD. And there were some great HBO and Showtime films that came out of Cable TV. We should have a good idea of what we'd include in the 1990-2000 decade but after that another thing to consider viable to this discussion past a certain point of time are the quality mini series that have come out, with today's cinema largely about comic characters, films are becoming the equivalent of what Saturday Morning Cartoons were, and now Mini Series are the adult themed fare on the "new" 55 inch or so home cinemas.

Yep I've tried also. I did find Rear Window's Woolrich short story which was interesting, and very similar also. A different version of the same story, with different character dynamics.

Yup, I noticed that too, and Ruth Roman gave him no help.

A great film, I've never read Woolrich's short story, can't ever seem to find it though in the story it's a bit more gruesome in details, the Stewart and Roman characters in the book actually cut up the body and put it in a coulpe of big suitcases and then go hide it in the abandoned building. It's similar in that respect to Lina Wertmuller's Seven Beauties

Then he gets the crushed ice in the towel and when he's through talking with Stewart he drops the bag of ice on Webb's face

Appointment With Danger (1951) Midwest Noir Great opening sequence of a body disposal in the pouring rain I was hooked from the get go. Although, before you get to the story proper, you get a brief sort of rah rah, backslapping narrated infomercial, praising the US Postal Service. I guess you could say, instead of what the french would call a "policier" its a postal. The film can boast highly of some excellent railroad/railyard footage and copious amounts of atmospheric location work around the bleak industrial landscapes and brownfields of the Gary Indiana smelters and steel mills. The director was Lewis Allen who has a string of Noirs to his name, (Desert Fury (1947), So Evil My Love (1948), Chicago Deadline (1949) Suddenly (1954), Illegal (1955)) before segueing into TV in the 1960s. The cinematography was by John F. Seitz (Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Chicago Deadline (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Rogue Cop(1954)). The music was by Victor Young (Gun Crazy (1950)). The film also stars Stacy Harris, David Wolfe, Dan Riss, Geraldine Wall, and George J. Lewis. A Paramount Pictures Production, filmed in Fort Wayne, La Porte, and Gary Indiana, also in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Very enjoyable romp through Noirsville 8/10. Review with screencaps here in Film Noir/Gangster section.

Appointment with Danger (1951) Midwest Noir Great opening sequence of a body disposal in the pouring rain I was hooked from the get go. Although, before you get to the story proper, you get a brief sort of rah rah, backslapping narrated infomercial, praising the US Postal Service. I guess you could say, instead of what the french would call a "policier" its a postal. The film can boast highly of some excellent railroad/railyard footage and copious amounts of atmospheric location work around the bleak industrial landscapes and brownfields of the Gary Indiana smelters and steel mills. The director was Lewis Allen who has a string of Noirs to his name, (Desert Fury (1947), So Evil My Love (1948), Chicago Deadline (1949) Suddenly (1954), Illegal (1955)) before segueing into TV in the 1960s. The cinematography was by John F. Seitz (Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Chicago Deadline (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Rogue Cop(1954)). The music was by Victor Young (Gun Crazy (1950)). George Soderquist (Morgan) and Joe Regas (Webb) Here is a film, that's off most film noir favorite lists that for noir junkies, really delivers. Again, it's got an opening hook that instantly grabs, a cast of characters that all ooze cinematic memory, a Director and DP who make the most out of Iconic decaying Midwest landscapes, and a great story. Before Jack Webb, and Harry Morgan, were respectively Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner Officer Bill Gannon, They played a couple of **** heels named, Joe Regas a weasley eye-ed, loose cannon creep, and his pal in crime George Soderquist, a diabetic, slow witted, melancholic goon. The Hotel Compton "Gary's Finest," Regas has just murdered, by strangulation in his own bed, a snooping postal inspector in Gary, Indiana, who was getting to nosey about a million dollar mail heist. With George's help the two go out in the pouring rain to dispose the body. With George and Joe you get the types of characters always played by Elisha Cook Jr., doubled. Webb is a vicious skinny scarecrow of a guy, who wears clothes that look one size too big and who talks tough to offset his runt of the litter appearance. Morgan is a bit more fragile, sentimental and given to regrets about the past. A lifetime loser who just wants to score big one time. Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert) and George They drive to La Porte, to the deserted downtown. They find an alley and are getting ready to dump the body when the spot a young nun. Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert) heading their way. A gust of wind has jammed her umbrella. George goes to help and to also kind of steer her away. He wants to make sure she doesn't see the body that Joe is propping up against the car. She does notice though, and asks George what's wrong. He tells he that their friend is just a little drunk and needs some air. As soon as she gets out of sight they drop the body in on the pavement and split. Al Goddard (Alan Ladd) Alan Ladd is Al Goddard, a USPS special investigator sent to Gary, Ind., to solve a postal detective's murder. He's a tough postal cop with a reputation amongst his fellow inspectors for being stubborn and a loner . His quick retorts are of the 10 minute egg variety, i.e., very hard boiled: Al Goddard: You can rob Fort Knox and live, but steal a dime and kill a post office man, and they'll spend a million and a lifetime lookin' for you. Maury Ahearn: You don't know what a love affair is. Al Goddard: It's what goes on between a man and a .45 pistol that won't jam. Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert) is the sole witness. She agrees to look through police mug books. With her aid Ladd learns the identity of the men and uncovers the gang's plot to pull off a million-dollar mail heist. Goddard later poses as a corrupt inspector, and gains the confidence of the killers' honcho Boettiger (Paul Stewart). Boettiger is the slimy flea bag Hotel Compton's owner/manager. Boettiger has worked out a plan to steal one million dollar transfer that is being transported between two trains by a U.S. Postal Service truck which is protected by just one man and his .45 during a seven minute drive between the two stations. Paul Stewart excels in these types of roles, he played a couple of tenement dwelling lowlifes memorably, murdering Joe Kellerson in The Window (1949), and sleazeball track bettor, Mr. Craig in Edge Of Doom (1950), he played creepy mob boss Carl Evello in Kiss Me Deadly(1955). Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart) Once the gang discover the deception, the villains take Goddard and Sister Augustine prisoner. Jan Sterling plays gang leaders flakey, floozy, jazz loving girlfriend Dodie La Verne. Dodie is into Bop Jazz, and it provides the opportunity for Goddard to make some quips. Al Goddard: Bop? Is that where everybody plays a different tune at the same time? Dodie: You just haven't heard enough of it. Dodie La Verne (Jan Sterling) This film was Jan Sterling's first noir from this meager start she went on to play in Caged, Mystery Street, Union Station, her memorable turn as Lorraine Minosa in Ace In The Hole, Split Second, The Harder They Fall, Slaughter On 10th Avenue, and in one ot the last B&W noirs 1967's The Incident. Noirsville The film also stars Stacy Harris, David Wolfe, Dan Riss, Geraldine Wall, and George J. Lewis. A Paramount Pictures Production, filmed in Fort Wayne, La Porte, and Gary Indiana, also in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Very enjoyable romp through Noirsville 8/10. Review with more screencaps here: Noirsville

The on location work in Chicago, the night streets, the various dive bars he checks out looking for Wanda Skutnik, the tenements, it's sort of in Naked City style noir.

Did you read his book Dark City Dames? It's pretty good.

You do know that Eddie met, got to know, and interviewed, Coleen Gray, Jane Greer, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Savage, Audrey Totter, and Marie Windsor. Anyway I haven't seen the promo, so I can't really comment on it specifically.

It's got the crime angle, it's got the obsessed individual, noir as originally defined is about dark subject matters, any dark subject matter, including the wrongfully accused, the drug or alcohol addict, the deviant maniac, etc., etc., and it's got the gritty and stylistic cinematography. Noir isn't just about detectives, femme fatales and mysteries. Though in a way Jimmy Stewart is functioning as a sort of detective. For me, and this is also what got the noirs noticed by the French critics in the first place is the visual component, the dark cinematography. For me it's a noir.

She was pretty close to that description in They Drive by Night (1940)