cigarjoe
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Too Late (2015) A "Tarantinian" Neo Noir
Neo Noir is alive and doing well.Too Late is a surprisingly brilliant addition to the Private Eye & Neo Noir Pantheon. This film passed well under practically everyone's "noir-dar" when it was debuted on March 18, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, followed on the 25th in New York City. With all the current zeitgeist going towards blockbusters, "celebrities" and oscar bait, and this having an extremely limited release, hardly anyone has seen much less heard of this fantastic modern take on Noir.The film was directed and sharpley written by Dennis Hauck, the cinematography was by Bill Fernandez, and has an eclectic smorgasbord of music by Robert Allaire. Upon first viewing you'll see obvious nods to Sergio Leone's narrative style from Once Upon A Time In America that Tarantino homaged in Pulp Fiction. This is coupled with some intelligent and, if you pay attention, clue filled dialog vis-à-vis again, Tarantino. It also uses split screen in some sequences (Marlowe (1969)) and is loaded with other subtle noir and film references, i.e., an interesting off beat quote from Altman's Short Cuts (1993). There are probably more. The film was shot not only in 35mm Techniscope, but also in five Acts, twenty-two minute individual takes, with no hidden cuts or other editing.Too Late is at the moment available on Netflix streaming. If I have to point out any minuses I would say it could have used a bit more outdoor location footage, but that's me. A thinking man's Noir 9/10.Full review with some screencaps here on Film Noir/Gangster board.
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Too Late (2015) A "Tarantinian" Neo Noir
A nice discovery, right before Christmas, Too Late was actually first brought to my attention by a review in The New York Times. A review that I stumbled upon while doing a search online for something else almost a half year ago. It was well after Too Late left the few theaters it was screened at. I just discovered it's available to watch now on Netflix streaming. Neo Noir is alive and doing well.
Too Late is a surprisingly brilliant addition to the Private Eye & Neo Noir Pantheon. This film passed well under practically everyone's "noir-dar" when it was debuted on March 18, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, followed on the 25th in New York City. With all the current zeitgeist going towards blockbusters, "celebrities" and oscar bait, and this having an extremely limited release, hardly anyone has seen much less heard of this fantastic modern take on Noir.
The film was directed and sharpley written by Dennis Hauck, the cinematography was by Bill Fernandez, and has an eclectic smorgasbord of music by Robert Allaire. Upon first viewing you'll see obvious nods to Sergio Leone's narrative style from Once Upon A Time In America that Tarantino homaged in Pulp Fiction. This is coupled with some intelligent and, if you pay attention, clue filled dialog vis-à-vis again, Tarantino. It also uses split screen in some sequences (Marlowe (1969)) and is loaded with other subtle noir and film references, i.e., an interesting off beat quote from Altman's Short Cuts (1993). There are probably more. The film was shot not only in 35mm Techniscope, but also in five Acts, twenty-two minute individual takes, with no hidden cuts or other editing.
Dorothy (Crystal Reed) and Neo Bunker Hill in the b.g.
Too Late stars John Hawkes (D.O.A. (1988), Winter's Bone (2010), The Pardon (2013)) as a damaged, pushing 60, hawk-nosed, rough, weary, stringbean freelance Private Detective Mel Sampson, he's also a smoker, a toker, and a boozer. Crystal Reed (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV Series 2010)) as Dorothy, Vail Bloom (Angel of Death (2009)) as ex stripper, femme fatale Janet Lyons, Jeff Fahey (Impulse (1990), Planet Terror (2007), Machete (2010)), as "Cowboy" Roger Fontaine, Gordy's muscle, Robert Forster (Jackie Brown (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001), Hotel Noir (2012)) as Gordy Lyons mobbed up strip club owner, Joanna Cassidy (The Outfit (1973), The Laughing Policeman (1973), Blade Runner (1982) ) as Eleanor Mahler, Natalie Zea () Brett Jacobsen as "Skippy" Fontaine, Dichen Lachman as Jilly Bean, Dash Mihok as Jesse, Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Veronica, and Rider Strong as Matthew.
Mel Sampson (John Hawkes )
Janet (Vail Bloom)
Gordy Lyons (Robert Forster)
Eleanor Mahler (Joanna Cassidy) 
Jilly Bean (Dichen Lachman)
Mary (Natalie Zea) L.A., 2015. In some perverse joke of the gods, Bunker Hill rises in its skyscraper reincarnation, dwarfing the stubby spike of the Los Angeles City Hall. The view is from Radio Hill, and down across a yellowish, smog shrouded Chinatown. A woman, Dorothy, calls Mel Sampson P.I. for help. He's Too Late. She's dead.
What follows, time jumps between the present, seven years in the past, and five days ago, and is wondrously Noirsville.
A bizarre confrontation on a hilltop patio between Sampson, Gordy, Fontaine, and Fontaine's and Gordy's less than classy ex stripper wives, Veronica, and the half naked Janet.
A stripbar cute meet between Sampson, Dorothy, and Sampson's future gal pal Jilly Bean, followed by a late night nightcap at a C&W bar.
The reveal in an L.A. hotel room between Sampson, and Mary and Eleanor Mahler.
The botched attempted murder of a witness.
Noirsville
The acting in the film by all the principles is impeccable. John Hawkes' Mel Sampson is the anti Hollywood pretty boy hero, it took me a few reflective hours to put my finger on who he reminds me of. If you grew up in the late 60's and were a part of the counterculture and read many of the seminal works of the underground comix movement you'll see the visual resemblance to comix icon R. Crumb. He downplays his part, making him accessible and believable.Neo Noir vet Robert Forster is a nasty piece of work as the hard barked stripclub owner. Jeff Fahey is teddy bear-ish, good ol' boy enforcer with a broken leg. Vail Bloom is touching as the wound a bit too tight, ex stripper beauty, who crumbles disastrously, when her world comes tumbling down. Natalie Zea is heartbreaking in the part of Mary.
Too Late is at the moment available on Netflix streaming. If I have to point out any minuses I would say it could have used a bit more outdoor location footage, but that's me. A thinking man's Noir 9/10.Full review with NSFW screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/too-late-2015-tarantinian-neo-noir.html
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Lona (1964)
Director Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). At 20 he served during World War II as a U.S. Army combat cameraman for the 166th Signal Photo Company. After the war, he started out making industrial films, much like Herk Harvey (Carnival Of Souls (1962). Meyers also freelanced as a still photographer and became a well known glamour photographer doing some of the first spreads for Playboy magazine. Meyer is now well known for writing and directing a series of very successful sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and ridiculously large-breasted women. To quote wikipedia..."His first feature, the nudist comedy The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959), cost $24,000 to produce and eventually grossed more than $1 million on the independent/exploitation circuit, ensconcing Meyer as "King of the Nudies.""Hey these ex GI's went through the hell of WWII, if they got their kicks making sexplotaion films after the war they earned the right to do it.What brings us to Russ Meyer is the film Lorna, his first feature to abandon the "nudie cutie" formulaic style, for more serious fare with a dramatic storyline and some very stylistically Noir sequences. Meyers referred to this film as part of his "rural gothic" period. Meyer described the film as "a brutal examination of the important realities of power, prophecy, freedom and justice in our society against a background of violence and lust, where simplicity is only a facade." Yea all that and a femme fatale with a rack like the front end of a '56 Caddy. ;-)Fuller review here in Film Noir/Gangster board and with some NSFW screencaps from the Something Wild DVD here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/lorna-1964-big-****-noir.html
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Lona (1964) Big K*N*O*C*K*E*R*S NoirDirector Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). At 20 he served during World War II as a U.S. Army combat cameraman for the 166th Signal Photo Company. After the war, he started out making industrial films, much like Herk Harvey (Carnival Of Souls (1962). Meyers also freelanced as a still photographer and became a well known glamour photographer doing some of the first spreads for Playboy magazine. Meyer is now well known for writing and directing a series of very successful sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and ridiculously large-breasted women. To quote wikipedia..."His first feature, the nudist comedy The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959), cost $24,000 to produce and eventually grossed more than $1 million on the independent/exploitation circuit, ensconcing Meyer as "King of the Nudies.""Hey these ex GI's went through the hell of WWII, if they got their kicks making sexplotaion films after the war they earned the right to do it.What brings us to Russ Meyer is the film Lorna, his first feature to abandon the "nudie cutie" formulaic style, for more serious fare with a dramatic storyline and some very stylistically Noir sequences. Meyers referred to this film as part of his "rural gothic" period. Meyer described the film as "a brutal examination of the important realities of power, prophecy, freedom and justice in our society against a background of violence and lust, where simplicity is only a facade." Yea all that and a femme fatale with a rack like the front end of a '56 Caddy. ;-)
Lorna gives us a good example of an independant film untethered by major studio checks, and yet there are still some vestiges of the Motion Picture Production Code influence in surprising evidence from the black & white moralistic ending, all this restraint is about to be nuked all to hell and gone. Even mainstream Hollywood was loosening up. Two examples of this are films with Marilyn Monroe showing quite a bit more of her charms, i.e. The Misfits (1961) and the unfinished Something's Got To Give (1962)Who gives a crap about restraints when we as a society could be annihilated at any moment. Pandora's Box was about to be blown wide open. 6/10Fuller review with some NSFW screencaps from the Something Wild DVD here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/lorna-1964-big-****-noir.html
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The Drowning Pool (1975)
9 years after making Harper (1966), Paul Newman reprises his role of private eye Lew Harper in The Drowning Pool. The Harper character is based on Ross Macdonald's private eye Lew Archer who was based in the fictional town Santa Teresa (Santa Barbara) just North of L.A.The film was directed by Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke (1967), Voyage of the Damned (1976)), and written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr. (The Parallax View (1974) and Three Days of the Condor (1975)), and Walter Hill (Hickey & Boggs (1972), The Getaway (1972), Hard Times (1975), Last Man Standing (1996)).The cinematography was by Gordon Willis (Klute (1971), The Godfather (1972), The Parallax View (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Pennies from Heaven (1981), the music was by Michael Small (The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Black Widow (1987) Night Moves (1975)) with an instrumental version of 1971 hit song "Killing Me Softly" composed and conducted by Charles Fox serving as the leitmotif for the character Iris whenever she is on screen.The film chugs along through various intrigues and colorful characters, bayou cajuns, the trusting ditsy prostitute Gretchen, the crooked cop Franks, the **** trophy wife of Kilbourne, Mavis. The film is entertaining enough, with some interesting locations, but it seems a bit old fashioned and restrained comparatively to 1975's Night Moves, I still like it. 8/10Fuller review in Film Noir/Gangster board topic and with more screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-drowning-pool-1975-louisiana-noir.html
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The Drowning Pool (1975) Louisiana Noir9 years after making Harper (1966), Paul Newman reprises his role of private eye Lew Harper in The Drowning Pool. The Harper character is based on Ross Macdonald's private eye Lew Archer who was based in the fictional town Santa Teresa (Santa Barbara) just North of L.A.The film was directed by Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke (1967), Voyage of the Damned (1976)), and written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr. (The Parallax View (1974) and Three Days of the Condor (1975)), and Walter Hill (Hickey & Boggs (1972), The Getaway (1972), Hard Times (1975), Last Man Standing (1996)).The cinematography was by Gordon Willis (Klute (1971), The Godfather (1972), The Parallax View (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Pennies from Heaven (1981), the music was by Michael Small (The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Black Widow (1987) Night Moves (1975)) with an instrumental version of 1971 hit song "Killing Me Softly" composed and conducted by Charles Fox serving as the leitmotif for the character Iris whenever she is on screen.
Lew Harper (Paul Newman)
Too little too late. If Harper (1966) was the success the studio claimed it was, they should have put out another film out a year later, but oh wait, the studio era ended, film production was controlled by the studio heads anymore. We had to wait nine years for the next Harper/Archer film. Every year of delay more stars from the Classic Noir era who could have been used to bring a bit of cinematic memory/magic to a Neo Noir were lost. Nowadays all kinds of repetitive superhero carapola gets greenlighted, buy the suits who want to franchise properties, just like, like, like, the old studio heads, BINGO! Too bad Noir fans, there wasn't this mentality for Film Noir.
Iris Devereaux (Joanne Woodward)
Private detective Lew Harper of southern California, flies out to New Orleans on a case at the bequest of a Mrs. James Devereaux. When he meets Mrs. Devereux he is surprised to discover that she is actually a girlfriend named Iris with whom he had a voluptuous fling with in L.A. six years earlier. She reveals to Lew that she has been married for 17 years to James Devereaux, a closet homosexual "playwright" of unproduced plays, and they both live with their 17 year old daughter Schuyler, and his overbearing mother Olivia Devereux on the huge family plantation Rivage.
Louisiana
She has called Harper to investigate the appearance in the mail of a blackmail letter to James suggesting her infidelity with other men. Iris believes that the letter came from Pat Reavis the family chauffeur that Iris just recently fired. Complicating the family intrigue is wayward daughter Schuyler who tries to proposition Harper in his Rivage Townhouse Motel room. As soon as Harper arrives his presence starts to shake things up in the best noir/hardboiled tradition setting up a chain reaction right to Noirsville. He gets rousted by Chief Broussard and Lieutenant Franks of the Louisiana local cops. Buttonholed by local mobbed up oil tycoon Jay Hue "Crab" Kilbourne who wants to "slant drill" him for information. And most importantly gets both touched and worried over his former lover Iris' quiet desperation in her crumbling antebellum alcoholic world.
The films real highlights are the scenes between Harper and Iris, there's a nice believable chemistry going on between Newman and Woodward, accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful arrangement of "Killing Me Softly" as Iris' leitmotif. Woodward's performance evokes in a good way just about every Tennessee Williams film adaptations "femme se désintégrer". There is some humor also, when Lew suggest that she leave, Iris "born into the lace" (good blood no money) is accustomed to style, surveying about her opulent surroundings replies "and do what?" Newman's reaction is chuckle worthy.
The big set piece is the denouement at the old Evangeline Sanitarium's Hydrotherapy Room.
The film chugs along through various intrigues and colorful characters, bayou cajuns, the trusting ditsy prostitute Gretchen, the crooked cop Franks, the **** trophy wife of Kilbourne, Mavis. The film is entertaining enough, with some interesting locations, but it seems a bit old fashioned and restrained comparatively to 1975's Night Moves, I still like it. Screencaps are from the Warner Archives DVD. 8/10
Fuller review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-drowning-pool-1975-louisiana-noir.html
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From The New Yorker:
The CBS Playhouse production of The Glass Menagerie will air at 8:00PM on TCM on December 8, fifty years to the day of the original broadcast.
You know, I actually watched this as a kid 50 years ago.
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I agree. They shot it in England and decided to set it there, too. They also updated it to the '70s. Why?
A major disappointment, especially after Farewell My Lovely. I should seek it out again some time to see if I have a reappraisal.
I've just been breezing through the IMDb page and it's reviews and comments, some say it follows the details and dialog of the book quite closely but then that would make it quite out of place in the 70s. I'll break down and get it, has James Stewart, Sarah Miles, Richard Boone, Oliver Reed, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and John Mills in the cast, should be interesting mess. ;-)
As to your why? apparently the bottom line of not having to recreate LA of the 1940s, big mistake.
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I'm a big fan of this adaption of the Chandler novel, as well (as I am 1944's Murder My Sweet). Many have commented upon Mitchum being too old for the part. To be Chandler's Marlowe of the books, that's true. But his beat up slow moving appearance is still perfect for the role. He's just an older Marlowe. He's tired and seen it all and doesn't have a lot of hope for the future, but there's still a reliable knight of the streets quality about him, even amidst all the seedy ruin he inhabits.
One of my real loves of the '75 film is the great atmosphere brought to the production by David Shire's musical score, its graceful sound tinged with a sadness seeming to embody lonely nights in a big city.
Take a listen here to a wonderful orchestral arrangement:
Too bad when they remade The Big Sleep with Mitchum they went and blew a winning combonation by switching the setting to the UK, I don't remember being too impressed I'll have to track it down and see if it was as bad as I remember, I see it's on DVD.
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Farewell My Lovely (1975)
This post Hays (Motion Picture Production) Code and pre PC "code" version of Raymond Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely" is probably the closest version to the novel we are going to see, it's firing on all cylinders. It pulls no punches, it's serious, dialog wise, doing justice to the novel.Farewell My Lovely was ably directed by Dick Richards just like an old studio "B" production picture without any noticeable in your face style. The screenplay was written by David Zelag Goodman (Straw Dogs (1971)), and based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel of the same name. The gorgeous Cinematography was by John A. Alonzo (Chinatown (1974), Scarface (1983)). All the above combined with an excellent Production Design by Dean Tavoularis, Art Direction by Angelo P. Graham (uncredited) and Set Decoration by Robert Nelson, is what makes this film a true gem. Music was by David Shire (The Conversation (1974), Zodiac (2007)).The real revelation in Farewell My Lovely is Jack O'Halloran's Moose Malloy, in this film version Moose actually becomes more than a cartoon bad guy. You really feel sorry for the big lug and the torch he carries for his lost hooker girlfriend. Moose doesn't care that Velma fingered him for the job and took off with the loot. He just wants to be back in that sweet spot. O'Halloran gives off a Laird Cregar vibe, if we had been in a full blown Noir revival both Jack and Sylvia Miles would have been two of the major new stars, out of this cast only Harry Dean Stanton went on to really make a name in Neo Noir. The film also features Sylvester Stallone in one of his first roles. It's the definitive Marlowe in the correct time period 9/10.Fuller review with more Screencaps from the ITV Studios DVD here in Film Noir Gangster board and with full review here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/farewell-my-lovely-1975-good-detective.html.
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Farewell My Lovely (1975) The Good DetectiveThis post Hays (Motion Picture Production) Code and pre PC "code" version of Raymond Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely" is probably the closest version to the novel we are going to see, it's firing on all cylinders. It pulls no punches, it's serious, dialog wise, doing justice to the novel.In the previously adapted for film 1944 version Murder, My Sweet, Dick Powell was great as wisecracking Marlowe, he's pretty much as I pictured him in my mind's eye as I read the book. Mitchum at 58 years, in this film, is just a tad too old to fit the Marlowe of the novel. He's also a tad too iconic, Mitchum is playing Mitchum playing Marlowe, but the script reflects at least this age difference, he's written as an older wiser Marlowe, a weary character who realizes he's over the hump and sort of coasting. This small change becomes very believable as Mitchum settles into the part. He's still the knight of streets but now he creaks and is just a bit more tarnished.Farewell My Lovely was ably directed by Dick Richards just like an old studio "B" production picture without any noticeable in your face style.
The features Robert Mitchum (Film Noir Icon in no less than eight classics) as the definitive private detective Philip Marlowe. The film also has Noir star John Ireland (a vet of at least six classic noirs where he either played the bad guy, the good guy, or the not so bad guy) as Detective Lt. Nulty.Charlotte Rampling (Angel Heart (1987)) as Femme Fatale Helen Grayle, Sylvia Miles (Murder, Inc. (1960), Naked City (TV Series), Terror in the City (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969)), as Jesse Halstead Florian, Anthony Zerbe (Naked City (TV Series), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Laughing Policeman (1973)), as Laird Brunette gangster/gambling ship operator. Harry Dean Stanton (The Wrong Man (1956), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Dillinger (1973), Paris, Texas (1984), Wild at Heart (1990)), as Detective Billy Rolfe LAPD, Jack O'Halloran as Moose Malloy.The rest of the cast has, Sylvester Stallone (Cop Land (1997)), as Jonnie, Joe Spinell (The Godfather (1972), The Seven-Ups (1973), Taxi Driver (1976)) as Nick, Burton Gilliam as Cowboy. Kate Murtagh (87th Precinct (TV Series)) in a part channeling Hope Emerson, as Frances Amthor, L.A.'s whorehouse madam/drug dealer (Believed they say to be based on Brenda Allen whose arrest in 1948 triggered a scandal that led to the reform of the L.A.P.D.). John O'Leary as Lindsay Marriott, Walter McGinn as Tommy Ray washed up jazz man. Jim Thompson (hardboiled novelist) as Judge Baxter Wilson Grayle, Logan Ramsey (Something Wild (1961), Naked City (TV Series)) as the Police Commissioner, and what was left of Greater Los Angeles of the 1940s.The hardboiled tale starts with Marlowe's smoky voice over as he's looking out the warped glass window of a downtown LA dive hotel. He's holed up there waiting for his case to break.When Detective Lt. Nulty, LAPD arrives at his flop Marlowe begins to lay out the case from the beginning, which we see in an extended flashback.
After successfully tracking down a wayward teen at a dime a dance hall, he is almost roughed up by The Moose, a giant ex con who did a six year stretch for armed bank robbery. He watched Marlowe deliver the girl to her folks and gets obsessed with having Marlowe find his missing Velma. Moose slips Marlowe a fifty as a retainer. Velma, Moose tells Marlowe was "Cute, cute as lace pants".It turns out Velma used to be a stripper/B-girl/hooker who worked out of a dump on Central called Florian's. In the time that Moose was in the joint, Mike Florian died and the neighborhood turned black. When Moose and Marlowe get to Florian's, it's in the hood and the clientele is all black. During a tense confrontation, Moose kills Mr. Montgomery, the current owner, and they find out nothing about Velma. Moose scoots, leaving Marlowe to call the cops and deal with Nulty.After telling the cops the details of what went down at Florian's, Marlowe slips out and spies a fleabag hotel, The Crescent, across the avenue. He crosses the pavement to the sidewalk and up into the hotel lobby. Marlowe finds out that Tommy Ray a bandleader, (Tommy Ray and The Sun Rays) who used to work at Florian's has rooms upstairs.
From Tommy, Marlowe finds out Jesse Florian's address, and the tip that a fifth of booze will be his best friend. Jesse is a bit of an alkie, and Sylvia Miles does an extraordinary portrayal of Jesse that is subtle, touching, and heart wrenchingly sad. After Marlowe plays a little footsie with Jesse, she decides that he's alright and calls Tommy Ray who slips him a picture of Velma from the old days. Only it's a bum steer, flashing the picture at Burly Q's, and agents gets a name, but it isn't Velma, it's a dead end to a catatonic at Camarillo, the State Mental Hospital.
Before the end of the film Marlowe gets his mellon thunked while Lindsay Marriott gets dead on a bungled jewel theft payoff. He gets his noodle wet with a horney Mrs. Grayle, and gets geezed up with junk at Amthor's Hollywood whorehouse.The film is also a visual treat to Noir Lovers.Mitchum and Ireland are Noir pros, just the cinematic Film Noir memory that they exude, gives the film natural gravitas. For instance, they didn't have to practice learning how to light, smoke, and hold a cigarette. They've done it most of their lives. Their dangling cigarettes are the real deal, not part of the performance. Ireland is the tired, cynical, conflicted LAPD detective, who is told by the corrupt police commissioner to lay off the case. Mitchum is strong, steady, human, sarcastic, romantic. He displays self depreciating humor, humility, and is doggedly loyal to his friends and clients.
Charlotte Rampling the films Femme Fatale, plays Mrs Grayle as sultry and conniving, she gives off a bit of a Lauren Bacall vibe. She is however the films one false note, she's not quite convincing as an American chippy, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, hell she was born on the wrong side of "the pond", Sturmer, England, and it's just off. Lesley Ann Warren would have been a better choice for the role. We also don't quite get enough of Rampling to get comfortably acquainted with the duality of her character. I would have liked to see some of Moose's flashbacks to his time with Velma Valento, it would have been a nice juxtaposition to Rampling's performance as Mrs. Grayle, and just another plus for the film.
The real revelation in Farewell My Lovely is Jack O'Halloran's Moose Malloy, in this film version Moose actually becomes more than a cartoon bad guy. You really feel sorry for the big lug and the torch he carries for his lost hooker girlfriend. Moose doesn't care that Velma fingered him for the job and took off with the loot. He just wants to be back in that sweet spot. O'Halloran gives off a Laird Cregar vibe, if we had been in a full blown Noir revival both Jack and Sylvia Miles would have been two of the major new stars, out of this cast only Harry Dean Stanton went on to really make a name in Neo Noir. The film also features Sylvester Stallone in one of his first roles.It's the definitive Marlowe in the correct time period 9/10.Full review with more Screencaps from the ITV Studios DVD here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/farewell-my-lovely-1975-good-detective.html.
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I love Blood Simple, Joe. I like it more each time that I see it. I recently purchased the Criterion Blu-Ray edition, and I'm looking forward to seeing the movie again.
I didn't realize there was a new edition, I may have to double dip.
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Big fan of Van Heflin but I hadn't heard of this film or the one he did similar to it Kid Glove Killer.
I wish TCM would show these type of lesser known crime \ light comedy films.
They did have Grand Central Murder on a few years back
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"Aguirre, Wrath of God" (1972)--Starring Klaus Kinski; written, produced, and directed by Werner Herzog.
Set in South America after the fall of the Inca Empire, film is about an 1560-1561 ill-fated expedition led by Francisco Pizarro to find El Dorado, the City of Gold. The expedition splits up, and unstable Spanish nobleman Aguirre (Kinski) is chosen to be second-in-command on the part of the group that rafts up the Amazon.
The movie was filmed on location in South America. The dreamlike photography is by Thomas Mauch. The score by Popol Vuh sets the dreamy, mournful mood.
Film veers from social comedy to tragedy to nightmare, and back as the expedition inevitably dwindles in numbers. I got the distinct impression that director Herzog thought the expedition got what was coming to them.
Unforgettable portrait of madmen and the consequences of supreme stupidity. 4/4.
Source--YouTube. I watched the print on "Mountain Springs" channel; it has English subtitles.
Like it a lot myself, check out "Burden Of Dreams" too, you'll get a kick out of it.
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Blood Simple (1984) The Bad Detective
All I can say is Wow! What a debut film of the Coen Brother's. This film has got STYLE. Directed by Joel Coen, (& Ethan Coen (uncredited)).P.I.'s are arguably, along with the femme fatale, probably the two top icons of Noir, but in the totality of the Noir/Neo Noir canon there are surprisingly, contrary to popular perception, not very many films that actually do feature your classic hardboiled private detective. Oh don't get me wrong there is sleuthing going on in quite a bit of Film Noir, but it's done by a plethora of characters, newspaper reporters, the falsely accused, the amnesiacs, the framed, cabbies, tabloid photographers, secretaries, taxi dancers, average joe's, even kids. Out of those films that do actually have P.I.'s, I can only think of four with private detectives that have gone bad, Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) in, Out Of the Past, J.B. MacDonald (Raymond Burr) in Pitfall, Kerric (Raymond Burr) in Abandoned, and hayseed sheetkicker Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) in this film Blood Simple, which takes "The Bad Detective" to a whole new level.Dan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh are both in top form as the films unforgettable two sleazeballs around which this picaresque universe revolves. The soundtrack and score compliment the action. Review is of 2000 re-release. 9/10Full review in Film Noir/Gangster thread and with more screencaps here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/blood-simple-1984-bad-detective.html
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Blood Simple (1984) The Bad DetectiveThe world is full o' complainers. An' the fact is, nothin' comes with a guarantee. Now I don't care if you're the Pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin' can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y'know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help, 'n watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else... that's the theory, anyway. But what I know about is Texas, an' down here... you're on your own.All I can say is Wow! What a debut film of the Coen Brother's. This film has got STYLE. Directed by Joel Coen, (& Ethan Coen (uncredited)) (Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), No Country for Old Men (2007)), and written by both Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. The films cinematography was by Barry Sonnenfeld (Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990)) and the music was by Carter Burwell (Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), No Country for Old Men (2007), Mildred Pierce (TV Mini-Series)).The film stars John Getz (The Fly (1986)) as Ray, Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996), Lone Star (1996), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)) as femme fatale Abby Marty, Dan Hedaya (True Confessions (1981), Tightrope (1984), Mulholland Dr. (1999)) as Julian Marty, M. Emmet Walsh (Midnight Cowboy (1969), Serpico (1973), Straight Time (1978), Blade Runner (1982), Narrow Margin (1990)) as private investigator Loren Visser, Samm-Art Williams (Dressed to Kill (1980), A Rage in Harlem (1991)) as Meurice, and Deborah Neumann as Debra.
Julian (Dan Hedaya)
Visser (M. Emmet Walsh)P.I.'s are arguably, along with the femme fatale, probably the two top icons of Noir, but in the totality of the Noir/Neo Noir canon there are surprisingly, contrary to popular perception, not very many films that actually do feature your classic hardboiled private detective. Oh don't get me wrong there is sleuthing going on in quite a bit of Film Noir, but it's done by a plethora of characters, newspaper reporters, the falsely accused, the amnesiacs, the framed, cabbies, tabloid photographers, secretaries, taxi dancers, average joe's, even kids. Out of those films that do actually have P.I.'s, I can only think of four with private detectives that have gone bad, Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) in, Out Of the Past, J.B. MacDonald (Raymond Burr) in Pitfall, Kerric (Raymond Burr) in Abandoned, and hayseed sheetkicker Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) in this film Blood Simple, which takes "The Bad Detective" to a whole new level.Blood Simple starts off with sleazy bedroom dick Visser's voice over about there being no guarantees in life. Visser was hired by Julian Marty who owns Neon Boots a ****-tonk/strip bar. Marty wants Visser, to keep tabs on his "funny: acting wife, Abby. Julian suspects some hanky panky is going on between Abby and one of his barkeepers, either "Motown" Meurice or "Cowboy" Ray.On a rainy night Ray offers to drive Abby to Houston on his day off. Abby spills the beans to Ray about her screwed up marriage. Ray replies that he's always liked her.Abby: He gave me a little pearl-handled .38 for our first anniversary.Ray: Uh-huh.Abby: Figured I'd better leave before I used it on him. I don't know how you can stand him.Ray: Well, I'm only an employee, I ain't married to him.One thing leads to another and Abby ends up repeatedly batter-dipping Ray's corn dog in a variety of positions in a cheap roadside hot sheet motel. Visser who has been tailing them all along in his VW bug is able to indulge in one of his perverted kinks, peeping and photographing their dirty deeds. Visser takes particular pleasure rubbing Julian]s nose in his armature porn shots of Ray and Abby.Private Detective Visser: [about a photo of Ray and Abby] I know a place you can get that framed.Marty: What did you take these for?Private Detective Visser: What do you mean? Just doin' my job.Marty: You called me, I knew they were there, so what do I need these for?Private Detective Visser: Well, I don't know... Call it a fringe benefit.Marty: How long did you watch her?Private Detective Visser: Most of the night... They'd just rest a few minutes and then get started again. Quite something.Julian stews over the revelations, confronts Ray and Abby to little effect, then decides to make Visser an offer.Marty: I got a job for you.Private Detective Visser: Uh, well, if the pay's right, and it's legal, I'll do it.Marty: It's not strictly legal.Private Detective Visser: [Thinks for a second] Well, if the pay's right, I'll do it.Julian offers Visser 10 Gs to kill Ray and Abby and get rid of the bodies.Of course this being a Neo Noir nothing goes down quite as expected, and when it does go down, it's with great style. The film is full of twists, double crosses and a healthy helping of bizarre black humor.Noirsville
Dan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh are both in top form as the films unforgettable two sleazeballs around which this picaresque universe revolves. The soundtrack and score compliment the action. Review is of 2000 re-release. 9/10Full review with more screencaps here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/blood-simple-1984-bad-detective.html
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I watched a film from either the late 1950s or early 1960s (can't recall the name now) in which one of the characters used a tv remote control. I remember not paying much attention until I realized, "hey, a remote control had been invented that early?"
The Case Against Brooklyn I think it was.
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...of a toilet in a Hollywood movie? Martin Balsam in Catch-22 (1970).
That's not right there was a toilet shown in a cell in one of the late 50s prison flicks.
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Silence reminds me of The Mission
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shoot, i might've remembered it wrong...i think he's ultimately good, but kind of a coward who allows himself to be bullied by Robert Ryan for much of the film...although again, i might be remembering it wrong
That's right both Brennan and Dean Jagger were both pretty cowed by Ryan.
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Wait I remember Walter Brennan was a good guy "Doc" in Bad Day At Black Rock
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In Cold Blood (1967)
You'll know it when you see it. Just like you know a Noir when you see it. In Cold Blood is a Masterpiece and it's a Masterpiece of Film Noir, to boot, no doubt about it. It was made right at the end of Black & White film production and that format, along with the Classic Noir look/aesthetic couldn't have gone out with a bigger or more powerful bang.The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Director, Original Score, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay. It should have nominated Blake and McGraw also, and it should have won all of them. It's chilling 10/10.Full review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/in-cold-blood-1967-noirneo-noir.html
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In Cold Blood (1967) Noir/Neo Noir MasterpieceYou'll know it when you see it. Just like you know a Noir when you see it. In Cold Blood is a Masterpiece and it's a Masterpiece of Film Noir, to boot, no doubt about it. It was made right at the end of Black & White film production and that format, along with the Classic Noir look/aesthetic couldn't have gone out with a bigger or more powerful bang.
Masterfully directed by Richard Brooks (Deadline - U.S.A. (1952), Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Elmer Gantry (1960), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)). Written by Richard Brooks whose previous credits include (The Killers (1946), Brute Force (1947), Crossfire (1947), Key Largo (1948), Mystery Street (1950), Storm Warning (1951), Deadline - U.S.A. (1952), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Elmer Gantry (1960)) and based on Truman Capote's book "In Cold Blood"
The incredibly crisp and strikingly artistic cinematography was by Conrad L. Hall (The Outer Limits TV Series (1963–1965), Harper (1966), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Black Widow (1987)). Editing was by Peter Zinner (The Professionals (1966), The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974)). The film also has an excellent score by Quincy Jones (The Pawnbroker (1964), In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Getaway (1972)).In Cold Blood stars Robert Blake (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Black Hand (1950), Naked City TV Series (1958–1963), Electra Glide in Blue (1973), Lost Highway (1997)) as greaser Perry Smith. Scott Wilson (In the Heat of the Night (1967)) as farm boy Dick Hickock.The film has a plethora of Classic Film Noir veterans, John Forsythe (The Captive City (1952), The Glass Web (1953), ) as Alvin Dewey the lead investigator for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). Paul Stewart (Johnny Eager (1941), Champion (1949), The Window (1949), Edge of Doom (1950), Appointment with Danger (1951), Deadline - U.S.A. (1952), Loan Shark (1952)) as Jensen, the reporter. Gerald S. O'Loughlin (Cop Hater (1958)) as Harold Nye KBI. Jeff Corey (Somewhere in the Night (1946), The Killers (1946), Brute Force (1947), The Gangster (1947), Scene of the Crime (1949), Once a Thief (1965)) as Dick's father, Charles. Charles McGraw (ten Classic Noir under his belt) as Perry's father Tex. Vaughn Taylor (The Lineup (1958), Screaming Mimi (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Party Girl (1958), Psycho (1960)) as the Good Samaritan. James Flavin (High Sierra (1941), Laura (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Spider (1945), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Nora Prentiss (1947), Nightmare Alley (1947), Armored Car Robbery (1950), The Naked Street (1955) ) as Clarence Duntz KBI. Will Geer (Johnny Allegro (1949), The Tall Target (1951), Seconds (1966)) as Prosecuting attorney. Jim Lantz as Officer Rohleder, John McLiam as Herbert Clutter, Paul Hough as Kenyon Clutter, Ruth Storey as Bonnie Clutter, Brenda C. Currin as Nancy Clutter, Donald Sollars as Clothing Salesman and John Gallaudet as Roy Church fill out the rest of the cast.
In Cold Blood is both intensely horrific and starkly beautiful at the same time. The incredibly random violence visited upon a Kansas family triggered by an off hand remark to Dick Hickok from a prison cell mate, should send shivers down your spine. The film is an electrifying reenactment (in the actual locations) of the brutal murder of the Clutter Family near the town of Holcomb, Kansas on November 14, 1959, the subsequent six week flight of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock to Mexico, and their final track down by law enforcement in Las Vegas.
The film is stylistically nonlinear in format and there are multiple time jumps and flashbacks to Perry's and Dick's past, giving you quasi insights as to the why. There are occasional daydreams and escapist sunken pirate treasure fantasies that sometimes just add to the mystery and other times add to the explanation of what tipped the incident into brutal hideous murder in cold blood.An interesting take away from the film is that neither Perry or Dick by themselves singly would have committed the murders, but together they formed a third sort of super personality that fed off the weaknesses of both of them and canceled any inhibitions they may have had.
It's not until the trip with the two fugitives back towards Holcomb do we get to hear Perry's confession with a flashback that reconstructs the fatal events of the night. What we don't see is actually far more suggestively appalling in Brook's skilled direction. The isolated farmhouse. A howling prairie wind. A foreboding interior darkness stabbed crazily about by erratic flashlight beams. Pleas for mercy cut off by gun blasts. Muzzle flash, juxtaposed with eerie silences. The actual massacre of innocents is solely in your imagination.
Perry Smith: It doesn't make sense. I mean what happened. It had nothing to do with the Clutters. They never hurt me. They just happened to be there. I thought Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman... I thought so right up to the time I cut his throat.The film takes you along with the marauders on their getaway in their 1949 Pontiac Chieftain, excellently weaving their backstories with the various objects, encounters, and incidents that trigger the aforementioned revealing flashbacks. It's almost jarring upon reflection in the way that we get to know, and on some level, even feel some sympathy for the killers. Traditional Hollywood would have either painted these two murderers all in basic black or glamorized them, but Brooks shows us that despite their having no moral compass, there is still some modicum of humanity even in these two deplorables.
I can't emphasize enough the powerful performances of Robert Blake and Scott Wilson, they make these two sleazeballs BONAFIDE. Combined that with the vivid realism of the direction, the artistry of the cinematography, and the score from Quincey Jones and you have a film for the ages. This is undoubtedly Robert Blake's best performance, and I was also deeply impressed with the supporting work of Charles McGraw as Perry's grizzled, broken down and out, cowboy father Tex, living in what looks like the back of derelict box truck, outfitted with a bed pallet, a hot plate, wrangler gear, festooned with rodeo posters, horse blankets, and lit by kerosene lanterns, setting in a auto junk yard.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Director, Original Score, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay. It should have nominated Blake and McGraw also, and it should have won all of them. It's chilling 10/10.Full review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/11/in-cold-blood-1967-noirneo-noir.html
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Harper (1966)
Ross Macdonald is the main pseudonym that was used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer."The Moving Target" was set in 1949, Harper moves the action up to the 65-66 (present at the time), with the only throwback to the 50s being the robin's egg blue 1955 Porsche 356 A Speedster that Newman drives, which I also see as a nod to 1955's Kiss Me Deadly opening sequence with Meeker driving a 1950 Jaguar XK 120 Roadster.This film is in the Classic Hollywood style of P.I. flicks, Newman's Harper is almost in the same mold as Sam Spade, and Philip Marlowe. Harper has that same quality of wisecracking cool, that's essential for your classic P.I. Though Harper doesn't drink a lot or smoke, he's more of a habitual gum chewer, the various ways he disposes of his wads are good for a few chuckles.Harper is at best soft boiled and noir lite. Available on Warner Brothers DVD. 7/10 The review with more screencaps on Film Noir/Gangster board and the full review here:
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