cigarjoe
-
Posts
10,789 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Posts posted by cigarjoe
-
-
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
-
Companeros (1970)
-
1
-
-
Hail, Mafia (1965) directed by Raoul Lévy from a novel by Pierre Lesou, starring Henry Silva, Jack Klugman, Eddie Constantine, Micheline Presle, Elsa Martinelli. A pretty Noir-ish tale with great performances about two hitmen sent from NYC to whack a retired Mafia operator. Won't rate it until I see a decent print. In English. Lousy copy on Youtube for those interested.-
2
-
-
Jewel Robbery is the Powell movie which also have Kay Francis. (Kay was a good match with these gentlemanly thieves).
It also features some marijuana if I remember right.
-
Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr., with cinematography by William C. Thompson. Stars: Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller, Herbert Rawlinson, Steve Reeves, Clancy Malone, and Timothy Farrell.
Ed Wood's Film Noir, the wayward son of a doctor Don Gregor (Malone), runs around with cheap crook Vic Brady (Farrell) pulling stickups, their last job knocking over a theater box office gets the security guard dead by Dons trigger finger. When Don decides to turn himself in Vic has other plans. Fuller as Brady is hilarious growling non stop wisecracks.
Vic Brady: They've had my picture in the files so long it's getting moldy.
Loretta: Honey, that's bad business, cop killing.
Vic Brady: So what? They bleed like anybody else. Now stop gibbering! I gotta think!
There is a scene in a kitchen where surrounded with what looks like the type of kitchen appliances you'd find nowadays in a defunct roadside dump, Loretta tells Vic off ...
Loretta: ...you're a has been with a gun!
Vic Brady: A has been, baby I've only just begun. I didn't set you up in all this luxury just to have you walk out on me. I pulled you out of that main street dive and made something out of you. No you'll never walk out on me.
Don Gregor (Malone), Vic Brady (Farrell)
The film has this wonderfully cheesy spanish guitar and whacky bossa nova score by Hoyt Curtin. It homages the plastic surgery/removal bandages sequences in lots of films but with a nice twist.
Noirsville
The film also includes a two minute insert, and it's right out of left field, of who has been termed the last blackface performer Cotton Watts in a skit called Cotton Watts and Chick, a curious artifact of a past era. I don't know if it was in the original release or not. IMDb lists them in the cast.
Hands down Ed Wood's best film. 6/10 More Screencaps at https://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/09/jail-bait-1954-c-noir.html -
Years later Mike is at his job at the (all men) Piano Factory. He opens his new Playboy in the lunchroom, flipping the pages. He comes to the centerfold girl and THERE SHE IS-his tutor! And in the centerfold, she has THE scarf in the belt loops of her jeans!
Steinway in Astoria?
-
David Bowie's "I'm Deranged"
-
1
-
-
Antônio Carlos Jobim, whose song "A Felicidade" opens the film
-
1
-
-
The film "score," if you want too call it that, was by Hoyt Curtin, who used the same music in Mesa of Lost Women. Herbert Rawlinson, once a leading man of the silents, died shortly after the film was made. He looks very sickly in this. This is a rare chance to hear Steve Reeves using his own voice instead of somebody dubbing him in those Italian flicks he made.
As you can see, no expense was spared in this production:
Yea it sounded like it would fit a Western or West based film, except for those bossa nova sequences. Ed probably got the discount for second hand soundtrack.
-
Jail Bait (1954) Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. with Stars: Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller, Herbert Rawlinson, Steve Reeves, Clancy Malone, and Timothy Farrell.
Ed Woods Film Noir, the wayward son of a doctor Don Gregor (Malone), runs around with cheap crook Vic Brady (Farrell) pulling stickups, their last job knocking over a theater box office gets the security guard dead by Dons trigger finger. When Don decides to turn himself in Vic has other plans. Fuller as Brady is hilarious growling wisecracks.
Vic Brady: They've had my picture in the files so long it's getting moldy.
Loretta: Honey, that's bad business, cop killing.Vic Brady: So what? They bleed like anybody else. Now stop gibbering! I gotta think!There is a scene in a kitchen where surrounded with what looks like the type of kitchen appliances you'd find nowadays in a defunct roadside dump, Loretta tells Vic off ...
Loretta: ...you're a has been with a gun.
Vic Brady: A has been, baby I've only just begun. I didn't set you up in all this luxury just to have you walk out on me. I pulled you out of that main street dive and made something out of you. No you'll never walk out on me.
The film has this wonderfully cheesy spanish guitar and whacky bossa nova score. It homages the plastic surgery/removal bandages sequences in lots of films but with a nice twist.
Hands down Ed Wood's best film. 6/10
-
6
-
-
I think noir is more of a style of filmmaking/storytelling. I don't think it necessarily has to follow a specific noir formula to be considered one.
Noir is typically thought of as black and white films solely. However, I would argue that Leave Her to Heaven and Niagara qualify as a noir.
Agree, they are on most noir lists BTW, I'm even toying with the idea that Leave Her to Heaven, Niagara, Slightly Scarlet, A Kiss Before Dying, Rope, and a few other "color" Film Noir were actually the first Neo Noirs
-
2
-
-
Once Hollywood stopped B productions most of the Crime Genre syphoned off to TV, the demise of the MPPC opened up subjects that were previously taboo, for independent and low budget filmmakers, films got more psychological, offbeat, experimental, and exploitive. Noir style continued it just couldn't be pigeonholed as easily as before.
-
1
-
-
Highway Dragnet (1954) Desert Noir Film Soleil
Directed by Austrian-born Nathan Juran who won an Academy Award for art direction on How Green Was My Valley (1941). Juran's most famous film being Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) ( filmed under the name "Nathan Hertz").The cinematography was by John J. Martin, noted mostly for low budget Westerns, and the Music was credited to the Music Department and Edward J. Kay.The film stars Richard Conte (fifteen Classic Noir second only to Bogart), Joan Bennett (six classic Noir and with a later return in the late 1960s and early '70s in the classic soap opera Dark Shadows TV Series (1966–1971)), Reed Hadley (House on 92nd Street (1945) and Boomerang (1947) - as narrator) , Mary Beth Hughes (Loophole (1954)) and Wanda Hendrix (Nora Prentiss (1947), Ride the Pink Horse (1947)).This is more of what has become termed as a Film Soleil, one of those desert or tropic based, sun baked Noirs rather than a dark typical Film Noir and it's entertaining enough for me.This film has some great location shots of Vegas, great desert locations of roadside beaneries, filling stations, desolate highways, etc., etc. The final denouement takes place in a surreal flooded flyspeck pounded by the surf of the Salton Sea. Conte and Hadley are great and Hendrix is cute.Bennett in this flick is closer to her Elizabeth Collins "Dark Shadows" persona than her characters from Scarlet Street and Woman in the Widow. Its the persona that I first became familiar with so she worked for me.This film needs a good restoration it has in the past been streaming on Netflix, currently you can find it on Youtube. 7/10review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2015/08/highway-dragnet-1954-desert-noir-film.html
-
1
-
-
But arent crime films noirs mostly?
Mostly but The Lost Weekend was included in Nino Frank and Jean Pierre Chartier "discovery" of American Film Noir after WWII, so going with the Original French def from the 1930s, it technically covers all dark subjects.
-
I wonder if The Donald had a key?
-
Not really in a dark, rabbit-boiling, "I will NOT just BE IGNORED, DAVID!" noirish or suspenseful way kind of way, no.
and the ending- while tragic and well-acted- is more misguided sentiment on the part of Clifford Odets than anything dark or devious.
What about the cinematography?, Was this the one that has a penthouse apt? or am I thinking of another film.
-
ok, some of those could be subjective, but i stand firmly atop the hill that HUMORESQUE AIN'T NO FILM NOIR!
I haven't seen it in quite a while, but if I do remember right isn't Joan pretty obsessed over Garfield?
-
Not looking to start a fracas, but I gots to question the receipts on the claim that Joan Crawford appeared in 10 films noir...
Legit films noir in which she appeared: MILDRED, POSSESSED, THE DAMNED DONT CRY, SUDDEN FEAR! ...outside of that I'm kind of racking my brain.
THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS is a crime film, JOHNNY GUITAR not really one you can peg, and DAISY KENYON and HARRIET CRAIG are both melodramas with shadowy lighting.
Well Spencer Selby's Dark City does list This Woman Is Dangerous as a Noir, remember it's subjective as misswonderly3 puts it chacun a son gout. Here are those in the book:
The Damned Don't Cry
Female On The Beach
Flamingo Road
Humoresque
Mildred Pierce
Possessed
Queen Bee
Sudden Fear
This Woman is Dangerous
A Woman's Face
-
R.I.P. Hef
-
Since jamesjazzguitar brought it up here is the list for Queens Of Noir, female actresses with the most film noir under their hummmm, garter belts.
Ida Lupino 16
Shelley Winters 11
Joan Crawford 10
Claire Trevor 10
Gloria Grahame 9
Barbara Stanwyck 9
Audrey Totter 9
Jan Sterling 8
Evelyn Keyes 7
Dorothy Malone 7
Lizabeth Scott 7
Nina Foch 6
Joan Fontaine 6
Agnes Moorehead 6
Marie Windsor 5
Linda Darnell 5
Rhonda Fleming 5
Susan Hayward 5
Elsa Lanchester 5
Ingrid Bergman 4
Mercedes McCambridge 4
Ann Sheridan 4
Gene Tierney 4
Joan Bennett 4
Anne Bancroft 4
Rita Hayworth 3
Belita 3
Lauren Bacall 3
Hillary Brooke 3
Peggie Castle 3
Jean Peters 3
Arlene Dahl 2
Barbara Payton 2
Wanda Hendrix 2
-
3
-
-
I understand this POV and I have a similar one. I also think that too many people view noir as having a psycho type or even femme fatale as some type of "requirement" in that films that don't feature these motifs are somehow not 'true' noirs.
E.g. many view Gloria Grahame as the queen of noir but were surprised when I pointed out that in most of the noir films she was in she was NOT a femme fatale. Same with Mitchum; yea, Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear are well known noirs but in most films, Mitchum plays a character like Jeff in Out of the Past (I.e. the type of character we both prefer over a psycho type).
Of course there are films that combine these motifs like Gun Crazy where the women is a psycho type and a femme fatale but the man is just an average guy driven to his doom because of sexual desires. I'm sympathetic to this type of character and for me that adds depth to the film.
Let's not forget Vera in Detour.
-
1
-
-
This happens often with other films as well. I assume there is some rights issue; that is, TCM gets the rights to air the film for one showing, but not the rights to put in on the website for continued viewing.
Scandal Sheet last weekend's Noir Alley isn't on On Demand.
-
Tchao Pantin (So Long, Stooge) (1983) French Neo Noir Masterpiece
Tchao Pantin, was nominated for twelve, and won five Cesars, France's Academy Award. It's still not available on DVD or Blu Ray in Region 1. A shame because this is an excellent film noir. It's got all the right ingredients for this particular aficionado. The story revolves around small time losers, in a gritty working class neighborhood of Paris. Directed masterfully by Claude Berri, shot with a knowing eye by Bruno Nuytten and starring a popular French comedian who was famous for his irreverent sense of humour. The Music was by Charlélie Couture.In this film beautifully Noir soaked shots are held reverently. Coluche was a popular French standup comedian famous for his irreverent attitude towards politics and the establishment in general, gives along with Anconina excellent performances.You can watch a Youtube streamer without English subtitles, but if you read the story synopsis you can let yourself be transported into the story through the cinematography of Bruno Nuytten and be thoroughly entertained even without knowing any French. 9/10Full review with some screencaps here in Film Noir/Gangster and with even more screencaps here: https://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/09/tchao-pantin-so-long-stooge-1983-french.html
-
Tchao Pantin (So Long, Stooge) (1983) French Neo Noir Masterpiece
A Film Noir that's won the equivalent of five Oscars.
Tchao Pantin, was nominated for twelve, and won five Cesars, France's Academy Award. It's still not available on DVD or Blu Ray in Region 1. A shame because this is an excellent film noir. It's got all the right ingredients for this particular aficionado. The story revolves around small time losers, in a gritty working class neighborhood of Paris. Directed masterfully by Claude Berri, shot with a knowing eye by Bruno Nuytten and starring a popular French comedian who was famous for his irreverent sense of humour. The Music was by Charlélie Couture.
The film stars Coluche (The Wing or The Thigh? (1976)) as Lambert, Richard Anconina (The Little Gangster (1990)) as Bensoussan, Agnès Soral (Window to Paris (1993)) as Lola, Philippe Léotard (French Connection II (1975)) as Bauer and Mahmoud Zemmouri (Munich (2005)) as Rachid.
A seedy, 18th Arrondissement ghetto. Paris. Downpour. Night. Lambert (Coluche). All-Night Gas Jockey. Grease Monkey. Alcoholic. Middle age has been. Runs a Total Service Station. Corner of Place de la Chapelle & Pajol. Bensoussan (Anconina). Reckless. Semitic cycle thief. Drug dealer. Punk **** kid.
Lambert (Coluche)
Bensoussan (Anconina) Bensoussan, drenched, is being tailed by the cops, his stolen moped out of gas. He pushes it under the Total Station's canopy, and heads inside. Lambert is watching all this from inside the station. When the two meet a sort of friendship bond is sparked and it develops over the weeks.
They are both alone in the world with no friends and no families left. Lambert see's in Bensoussan his own son (who <spoilers> we find out later died of a drug overdose).
Bensoussan during his friendship with Lambert, meets a punk rocker chick Lola (Agnès Soral), who is at first attracted to his stolen cycle, then to him. Their brief relationship ends when, after Bensoussan and Lola are stopped by a motorcycle cop, he belts the cop and takes off with a very frightened Lola.
Lola (Soral)When Bensoussan is killed in front of Lambert at the Total Station, by his double crossing drug dealing connections, the film boards the express Metro to Noirsville.Noirsville
Director Berri was noted previously as the director, writer and occasionally a star, in a handful of French Comedies. This work was the beginning of a four year detour into more serious fare. In this film beautifully Noir soaked shots are held reverently. Coluche was a popular French standup comedian famous for his irreverent attitude towards politics and the establishment in general, gives along with Anconina excellent performances.
Screencaps are from a Youtube streamer without English subtitles, but if you read the story synopsis you can let yourself be transported into the story through the cinematography of Bruno Nuytten and be thoroughly entertained even without knowing any French. 9/10Full review with more screencaps here: https://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/09/tchao-pantin-so-long-stooge-1983-french.html
-
2
-
Lizabeth Scott Tribute Today
in General Discussions
Posted
Caught 'em, The Company She Keeps and Too late For Tears, both were great, but I had seen both before, Too late recently the other quite a while ago.