cigarjoe
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Posts posted by cigarjoe
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In the novel Gutman (one 't" BTW) is reading Celebrated Criminal Cases In America
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R.I.P.
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Flash on right now - University of Oklahoma's Mental Hospital (1953) 19 minute documentary it's opening sequence is quite stylistic and noirish. Directed by Layton Mabrey 😎
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33 minutes ago, TomJH said:
Forget this obsession with a label.
It's not so much an obsession but an interesting investigation.
I don't think Noir ended with the end of the Hollywood Studios or the demise of the MPPC (Hayes Code). There are many films that fit the bill before the 1940s and many post the studio system. It's just that MPPC sort of put guardrails on the films. One side was sex and taboo subjects the other was the depiction of violence and moral justice. Once the MPPC diminished its control the vehicle called Noir was free to go off the narrow road and wander freely all over the place. The 60s and early 70s had this freewheeling experimentation, I like to call them the Transitional Noirs, by the mid 80s we were recognizing them again as so called Neo Noir.
Anyway it's good that we are getting back in a "noir" frame of mind for Noir Alley. 😎
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ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz
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53 minutes ago, TomJH said:
The Harder They Fall is noir?
I take it you are not a "Noir buff"? 😎
53 minutes ago, TomJH said:Noir buffs love to rationalize and justify most anything as derivative of noir.
Sort of like Classic film buffs who love to rationalize and justify most anything pre 1959 Hollywood movie-mill filler as a "Classic" film.
It's TCM's list not mine, I'd have to watch it. I don't think I've ever sat down and watched it completely, just caught the tail end of it once or twice. I'll see if it tunes for me.
Noir isn't a genre it's subjective. A combo of visual style and story that either clicks with you or it doesn't. Hence the wide range of opinions and respective films.
I prefer to call it tuning. You tune to the films or you don't.
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On 8/28/2019 at 2:20 PM, TomJH said:
The second half is good, too. Richard Farnsworth delivers a beautifully understated naturalistic performance. There's not a false note in it.
Our Bogie on these boards is perhaps too modest to mention it but he participated in the making of The Grey Fox and came up with the suggestion of having a viewing of The Great Train Robbery serve as an inspiration for the film's main protagonist to emulate what he saw on the screen.
Yes it was finished it out the other day. I saw it first in a theater long ago but never again since until I discovered it streaming.
Thanks Bogie for a great film.
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Well one more week to wait, though I did manage to catch a few noir during SUTS, last nights Noir was Deadline at Dawn in a pretty nice print. I also had two box sets of Brit Noirs to sample when going through Noir withdrawals.
September schedule is...
The Big Clock 9/7
Nocturne 9/14
Woman on the Beach 9/21
The Harder They Fall 9/28
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4 hours ago, Sepiatone said:
Is this REVIEWER for real???
Just look at the things I put in "bold". That many spelling and grammatical flubs is indicative of a mind too lazy to give anything very serious thought.
Twump base
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Well since last posting....
Recently read The Fabulous Clip Joint and The Dead Ringer, by Fredric Brown featuring the nephew/uncle team of Ed and Am Hunter. Then I read The Gulf Coast Girl aka Scorpion Reef by Charles Williams, followed by his completely different toned The Girl In The Diamond Bikini a sort of Beverly Hillbillies's outsmart everyone type tale. Currently reading Jim Thompson's The Grifters, which I had avoided seeing as how I'd seen the film first. So far the only omission from the film has been the Carol character.
Next up is Nothing in Her Way by Charles Williams.
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I wrote the pieces below after I read the original Black Mask story.
The Maltese Falcon (1931) First off this is the first go round for Hammett's novel Director was Roy Del Ruth, and Maude Fulton along with Brown Holmes, and Lucien Hubbard wrote the screen adaptation. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, with Bebe Daniels as Miss Wonderly, Dudley Digges as Caspar Gutman, Otto Matieson as Dr. Jole Cairo, and Dwight Frye as Wilmer Cook.
By now Bogart, Lorre, Greenstreet, and Elisha Cook Jr. own the parts of Spade, Cairo, Gutman, and Wilmer. But I'll give a shout out to Cortez for playing Spade as the "ladies man" he comes across as in the book, he's believably slimy and duplicitous, doing his partners wife, probably doing Effie the secretary, and doing Miss Wonderly who is played convincingly slutty by Bebe Daniels who has also been doing just about everybody also. Daniels is head over heels better than Mary Astor as Miss Wonderly. It's probably because of the dictates of the MPPC. That said the rest '41 cast is better all the way around.
As far as story this version shows a little bit more of the tale than The "Hayes Code" wouldn't let be shown in the 40s. You get a more sexual Wonderly you see her suggestively naked in a tub, you see her pulling up her skirt and showing her bankroll hidden in her stocking top, later she submits to a strip search in Spades kitchen.
In Bogart's film, Wonderly comes off like a cold fish, she may have loved Spade she may not have. We'll never know. In this version, however, it's made clear, in a prison visit by Spade (that is not in the book BTW), that she actually did care for him.
This version seems to have more interesting sets but I'll have to re-watch the '41 film to compare before I can say definitely one way or the other. 7/10
In the 1931 version the opening scene shows a pair of female legs adjusting her dress and walking out of Sam Spade's office followed by Spade (Ricardo Cortez) adjusting the pillows on the couch with the definite implication that hanky panky had been taking place. His relationship with Miss Wonderly seems to be sexual for sure and there's no question about his affair with partner Miles Archer's wife Iva. The 1936 "Satan Met a Lady" Betty Davis-William Warren vehicle changes quite a few elements but the story has basically the same dynamics.
Satan Met a Lady (1936) is a parody of the first version, Bette Davis plays the Wonderly part and Warren William plays Ted Shane filling in for the Spade part playing it like a con man, the Gutman part is played by a woman and they are all after the "Horn of Roland" in this version. The rest of this cast is forgettable. It does have a nice denouement in a downpour and also shows the ship, the La Paloma burning off shore, which is only alluded to in the Huston version. 5/10
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8 hours ago, LawrenceA said:
Banks was a standout in the original The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
You know, that's the only film mentioned that I've seen, and it's been awhile if I didn't recognize him.
The others no. Though I have seen Confessions of a Crazy Cat which was based on The Most Dangerous Game. 😎
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21 Days (1940) Early Brit café au lait Noir
Labeled as a British Film Noir. Filmed in 1937.
It's a pretty early entry sort of testing the waters for films to come. I'm attempting to catch up on both British and
Directed by Basil Dean ( who built Ealing Studios in 1930) He ran it until 1938. The screenplay was written by Basil Dean and Graham Greene, and based on John Galsworthy's play The First and the Last. Music was by John Greenwood with Cinematography by Jan Stallich.
The film stars Vivien Leigh, Leslie Banks, Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Arthur Young and Francis L. Sullivan.
It's a sort of café au lait noir, it starts off dark. Larry (Olivier) and his gal pal Wanda (Leigh) are head over heels in love with each other. They meet for a date, grab the fixin's for an Italian dinner at a deli. When they reach Wanda's apartment house they see that her light is suspiciously on. When they open her apartment door a man Esme Percy is there. When Larry asks who he is the man replies "Ask my wife."
Nice opening twist.
Vivien Leigh as Wanda 
Laurence Olivier as Larry 
The husband demands his wife Wanda's money. Larry confront's him. He pulls a knife. They struggle. The man goes down hitting his head on the hearth. He's dead.
Larry is distraught and goes to visit his brother Kieth who is a judge. Larry tells him the details and Kieth to avoid scandal tells him to get rid of the body.
Esme Percy
Leslie Banks as Kieth
The Fight
The knife 
The customary killed by fall on stone hearth.... 
Larry sneaks him out of the apartment and dumps him in an archway leaning him up against an alcove.
On his way back to Wanda's Larry meets a bum, a former preacher Asher, who "bums" a cigarette from Larry. They chat a few minutes then Larry takes off but Larry accidentally dropped his gloves. The bum notices them eventually and puts them on. The bum also later discovers the body and robs it of its ring and money
Kieth instructs Larry to get ready to travel without Wanda. Wanda can follow later. Meanwhile the bobbies find the body and pick up the bum and accuse him of murder. The 21 days represents the number of days starting at the killing and including the trial of the bum.
Larry and Asher (Arthur Young)
Instead of splitting the country, Larry and Wand decide to stick around to makes sure an innocent man isn't convicted of the crime. Larry will confess if need be, but they feel that it most likely will not happen with the flimsy circumstantial evidence. 3/4 of the film is a light love story with Larry occasionally getting hallucinations of the innocent man.
Larry and Wanda try and make the most of their 21 days together, if that's all they have. They head to Kursaal (an amusement park) at Southend on the Sea, the London sort of the equivalent of New York's Coney Island. Apparently the way to go was by side wheeler steamboat. A sort of "party boat," where drinking was encouraged.
Party Boat 
Good Times 
Roller Coaster 
The shots of fun at the park are juxtaposed with the severity of the trial of where Robert Newton (Kiss the Blood Off My Hands ) tries to defend Asher.
Noirsville
<spoilers>
Of course the ex padre is found guilty and sentenced to hang. Larry heads to the police station to confess to the accidental killing. However the bum has a convenient heart attack and dies of natural causes. Wanda hears the news and runs to intercept Larry reaching him after a dramatic chase right at a police station.
<end spoilers>
Vivien Leigh gives us a hint of her Blanche Dubois character to come. She made this film among a few others between Gone With The Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire and just beforeWaterloo Bridge. Olivier is kind of wiry, quite youthful, and a bit of a ham, compared to what most of us remember of the highlights of his film work in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. It's quite interesting to see the two of them acting as a couple together. Leigh's greatest "Drama" Noir for me is A Streetcar Named Desire. Leslie Banks I was not familiar with, but Francis L. Sullivan I knew from Night and The City.
What's interesting is if this was an American Noir, the MPPC would usually not allow Larry to get away so Scott-free. 6/10
21 Days, aka 21 Days Together is a part of Great British Movies - Film Noir [DVD] [1940] along with Hunted, Sapphire, So Long At The Fair, and Turn the Key Softly.
PS - You'll need a third party converted region free DVD player to watch these in the U.S.-
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26 minutes ago, Hoganman1 said:
Just finished SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT starring John Hodiak. This was a film noir that I had not seen. It's really good with the usual plot turns and mysterious characters. I won't go any further so as not to spoil the ending. I highly recommend it to all my friends that enjoy this genre.
Agree very good with with a nice cast including Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte, Sheldon Leonard, Margo Woode, and John Russell.
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5 hours ago, EricJ said:
Wait--The Grey Fox is SHOWING somewhere?
You can find it streaming.
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11 hours ago, Gershwin fan said:
Yeah but Netflix has Mindhunter. That is good enough for me.
Coincidentally, I was watching that the other day.😁
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Half of The Grey Fox (1982)
before my chromecast crapped out, forgot how good it was.
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On 8/24/2019 at 7:25 AM, EricJ said:
I'm trying to think of a movie where Darren McGavin DIDN'T play a reporter...Any help?
The Man With The Golden Arm (a drug pusher) The Case Against Brooklyn (a cop), The Outsider (TV Movie) (a detective), A Christmas Story (a dad).
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2 hours ago, Det Jim McLeod said:
she did not say no to any
anything, she sorta gives you that impression.
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The Crawling Eye (1958) UK film title The Trollenberg Terror
I watched this for a week straight laying on my aunts rug on Million Dollar Movie, had to be in '59-'60-ish. It was the next best thing to a theater experience, my head was about three feet from the big console TV, it was pretty cool as a kid. The multi generational Youtube streamer available sucks. It must have been something to see on the big screen for anyone my age. Anyway it all looks cheesy now. Forest Tucker stars. 6/10
double billed with....
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
Roger Corman directed with a cast of nobodies. This was on TV also in the 60s. Radiocative cloud produces giant land crabs on a small Pacific atoll. The crabs, who acquire the minds of the people they eat, are quickly excavating the crumbling island with subterranean tunnels reducing the islands area as the undermined surface collapses into the sea. 6/10
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He's great in Born To Kill (1947) as Lawrence Tierney's partner in crime (with Ester Howard below)
He plays Bobo a sort of sad sack Santa Claus in a cameo in I, The Jury (1953)
He plays the deranged incestuous preacher/father to **** Arlene Martel in The Glass Cage (1964) (below)
He plays a taxi driver in Hammett (1982) below
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Akim Tamiroff (1899–1972) first film credit 1934 last 1972 he's got 157 acting credits
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Kenneth Tobey 😀 not a major star but he shows up in a lot of Noir, Westerns, SiFii. and Comedies.
He Walked by Night (1948)
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Angel Face (1953)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Cry Terror! (1958)
Seven Ways from Sundown (1960)
Stark Fear (1962)
Marlowe (1969)
Airplane! (1980)
Innerspace (1987)
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WHY DOES STANLEY DONEN NEVER GET HIS DUE?
Who?
Just look at the things I put in "bold". That many spelling and grammatical flubs is indicative of a mind too lazy to give anything very serious thought.
The Maltese Falcon: Questions
in General Discussions
Posted
Miss Wonderly (Bebe Daniels) 1931 version