FrankGrimes
-
Posts
10,876 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by FrankGrimes
-
-
*That is something my mother has always said too. I tease her that is what we are putting on her tombstone. If not that then "this isn't getting anything done."*
A woman of action! That sounds like Snippy.
*I like most composers. I can't always pick one on style. Rosza and Korngold are often recognizable. Of the more modern composers John Barry was always a favorite. Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein I like as well.*
I never heard of Korngold. Their biggest works?
Of today's composers, I like John Williams the most and I also like John Carpenter's music. I also liked how Shirley Walker scored Batman: The Animated Series.
*Whether I like a score or not I have deep admiration for the gift of composition. In another life (actually in this one too) it is what I would love to have done.*
I'll just keep being a dog!
-
*"The Sniper" is one of those films where I so happy to have found it. I've never heard of it and it is a real treat when you find one like this out of the blue and thanks to some friends. (ta dah.)*
Miss Gun for Hire recommended it to me. The box set it's in is very good.
*"A Killer is Loose" was one of those of films as well.*
That's one I haven't seen.
*Someday we should all have a chat about musical scores, especially those that we don't enjoy.*
I don't like the "overcooked" ones. The ones that force a feeling on you. The ones that have big "swells," telling you that this is important and you must react as such. Max Steiner can sometimes be guilty of this, I have noticed.
But, to be honest, I hardly ever notice scores unless they really do something for me, such as *Vertigo* or *Pyscho*. Of the classic composers, I'd say Bernard Herrmann and Miklos Rozsa are the two I like the most.
*I tend to be more traditional and more melodic fan of music.*
I certainly know this with you. Nothing wrong with having a traditional ear. It reminds me of my grandma's saying of, "everything has its place and everything in its place." Basically, if something doesn't match what you expect then it's all wrong to you. As my grandma is apt to say these days, "they're murdering the national anthem!" That's because she only hears it one way, the way she likes.
*Not that everyone else isn't either but the music for "Murder By Contract" and Maureen O'Hara's western "The Deadly Companion" drove me crazy. Odd instrumentation and atonal music does not appeal to me.*
The music in *Murder by Contract* reminded me of Ennio Morricone's "Leone" scores, which I love. And I do like the music in *Deadly Companions*, as well.
But I have a traditional ear with certain things, too. One would be rap music. I like a certain sound.
-
Hi, James -- *This is one of my favorite noirs.*
*Criss Cross* is also one of my very favorites. It currently ranks # 23 on my list.
*Of course I really like Dan Duryea. He was a great heal in so many movies (and a hero in a few noirs).*
Another one of my great faves. Duryea alone often bumps a film's worth for me.
So we got Siodmak and Lancaster (and Rozsa) teaming up again with *Criss Cross*. I wonder if Ava was wanted for the picture.
-
Good afternoon to you, Murder By Sniperman -- *I watched Edward Dmytryk's "The Sniper." What must have been pretty tough stuff for 1952 still manages to be intense today.*
I agree, completely. There's something chilling about looking through a scope at unsuspecting victims. Especially since we've lived through this fairly recently with the "DC Sniper."
*Arthur Franz is the story's main character who just happens to be a bit of psychopath when it comes to women.*
Franz is terrific in the film. You get a lot of emotion from him without words.
*We never really know what "Eddie's" problem is but someone, probably his mother, has made him hate women.*
Yeah, I believe it stems from his mother, as you suggest.
*He knows he has a problem but he can't control it. As his condition gets the better of him he gets careless and people finally put together who he is.*
I loved how Eddie (Arthur Franz) is painted in a sympathetic light. He really does wish to stop and he attempts to do so.
*A scared San Francisco population represented by the press pressure the police to do more then they possibly can. Some profiling and a swarm of police officers are on the lookout until the most surprising scene discovers Eddie and an exciting chase ensues until he is finally caught.*
I liked how the police, elected officials, and the press were shown in the film, too. It's still true to this day.
*Eddie is in trouble. We see it from the first minute of the movie. The only hint is his line "my mother never taught me nothing." He hurts himself in an attempt to control the uncontrollable. It doesn't stop him. He's like an addict trying to quit all the while searching for his next fix.*
That's a great way of putting it. It's very true. He cannot control his urge, and he knows it. And the biggest message of the film is how we, Society, let him down since he is attempting to reach out for help but we push him aside for other things. We'd rather kill than attempt to cure.
*Even a trip to an amusement park manifests his anger. A place of joy becomes his place of torture.*
That's one of my favorite scenes in the film. There's your "*Strangers on a Train*."
*The film does not sensationalize him or mock him. It doesn't even analyze him. You get to decide. But it is his knowing what is wrong and not being able to control it that gives him a sympathetic side because he really doesn't want to do it.*
You've got it. *This Gun for Hire* is a film that it reminded me of, to a lesser degree. Mainly because of how we come to feel about the man with the gun.
*Arthur Franz does well as the tortured soul. Richard Kiley is earnest as the police psychologist. Menjou is fine but his role doesn't call for anything extraordinary.*
You gotta have the shrink who knows it all.
There's definitely some heavy-handed stuff going on, but it's still entertaining to me.*A good supporting cast that includes Marie Windsor is fine.*
Boy, she's always so good.
*San Francisco is also as much a star as anyone especially in the climax. Dmytryk give is some style and a host of unusual camera angles, none more so than when Eddie is discovered.*
A fantastic point by you, Movieman. The setting and how Edward Dmytryk (Burnett Guffey) shoots San Francisco really adds to the film. Ahhhhhhh, film noir.
*It also has an interesting and unexpected ending.*
It's one of the best endings you're gonna find. It plays like a "monster" film. I feel film noir endings are the best of all.
*The shootings themselves have a stark effect in their sound and look. They appear, for a film, rather realistic.*
And this makes the film chilling. The one scene is played silent with the exception of a low hum and it's extremely effective.
*It's a Stanley Kramer production so it is a little preachy but it is okay. One minor drawback is a police interview in a line up that sounds more like a Don Rickles' routine than an interrogation but it does allow the psychiatrist to pull them off of looking at all sex offenders.*
I thought that was jarring when I first watched the film. The second time, I liked it more. I took it as the writers taking a shot at how the police treat the criminals. They rather mock them than cure them. It's all a big joke to them.*I liked it and recommend it. A nice tight "B" noir like they are supposed to be.*
I recommend it, as well.
*I'm very late to a very small party about "Murder By Contract." (I can't seem to find a post from Sir Francis about it, only yours.)*
And I'm very late to reply!
*I found it a very odd picture.*
Indeed it is!
*Edwards is a very one note performance for me. You hardly know anything about him.*
And I think that's because he's very professional about it. He's the one dictating.
*Maybe you don't need to because his motivation is strictly money.*
I'm not so sure about that. I believe he views what he's doing as a job. He's serious about his job.
The film attempts to make a statement about a soldier being the same. Each is hired to protect interests.
*(Part of which makes his "chivalry" so out of character when a woman is involved.) He is an odd character himself.*
It really is strange. I need to watch the film again to try and figure out the entire woman angle.
*The scene with the waiter gives him two sides. He gets after the waiter for bringing him a dirty cup and the gives him a nice tip. It's a complaint and a life lesson all in the same rant. He is smart, methodical and patient.*
Claude (Vince Edwards) is a fascinating character. How he explains his thinking is very interesting. He makes you think.
*That is everything "Mutt and Jeff" aren't. Mark and George are like an old married couple. They are hardly apart. They are almost in every scene together. Even Mark acknowledges he is a meathead so the idea of them being able to take care of Claude seems a bit humorous.*
And it's these two characters and their spending all of their time with Claude that takes this film to a kooky place that I completely ate up. There is so much "quirk" with *Murder by Contract*. It's very modern, in this way. I immediately think of the Coen brothers or even Quentin Tarantino's *Reservoir Dogs*. This is why I think the only "Rambler" who may like the film is Jackie.
*It suffers, in my opinion, from its being cheap. If they could have got someone more interesting than Edwards it might have been better. (John Payne? Though he would be too old.) It relies too much on sound to make the point of the action and it just screams "B" picture.*
It's a "B" flick, all the way. And that's a big part of its charm, for me.
*I watched the Scorsese interview about it and he calls the music hypnotic. Hardly! Quirky and late in the film it uses a long series of a five note riff to the point of annoyance. It was like having a scratch on an old record. Scorsese referenced a similarity to "The Third Man." Well, only in the sense that it has a guitar. It's not very attractive to me.*
I had the exact same reaction as Scorsese did. I found the film to be hypnotic. It is so very different, especially for its time. I absolutely loved the music. It felt like I was watching an Italian film. It's mesmerizing. The entire tone of the film is quirky. And I definitely believe Irving Lerner was a fan of *The Third Man* since he goes for the "zither" effect and the ending is similar. The final shot is great. Again, film noir. No genre has better closing shots.
*Murder by Contract* is very much an "art" film noir. It's so very unique. I haven't seen anything like it from the classic era.
-
That would be an improvement!
-
*You mean so they could burn me at the stake??*
Yes!
*Yeah that's about right. They dont like outsiders here. I've been here for almost an entire generation, and yet I'm still a newcomer to these old fogeys.*
A witch! Burn her!
-
*Since I was a very little girl! But that all could change in the next few minutes.*
*
* You migrated to New England for a reason! -
*I'm the good witch.
*Since when?!
-
Happy Birthday, Quiet Gal! I hope you get lots of presents! And a good ol' fashioned spanking! You need a few! You almost make Snippy seem reasonable!
-
*unbelievable. i don't think she said two words.*
She didn't have to!
-
*She is NOT just "okay".*
She's cute. I like her one girlfriend.
*Like your wit?
*I'm a dimwit! You know that!
-
*She may not be blonde, but you like Maggie, too, admit it. She's enchanting.*
She's okay.
*You and your dumb ice queens.*
I love ice creams, I mean, queens! The dumber the better!
*I am not I'm very hot tempered, more's the pity.*
Snippy, is more like it.
-
*I bet if Margaret Lockwood had been the leading lady, I'd like it more.*
Bah, humbug!
*Madeleine is gorgeous, but I find her a wee bit chilly.*
So she's like you, Chilly!
-
Good evening to you, CinemAva -- *I wish I liked Fritzie more...I respect him a lot, but I'm more emotional about Hitch.*
Lang's films are much colder with a strong masculine tilt. They are mostly about power.
*She was pretty satisfied. But she hadn't been shaken to her foundation...yet.*
I felt her falling for the Commander so quickly to be surprising. It seemed out of character. But you can see how she would since Fred was self-focused and nowhere near as romantic.
*I know she represented that "Ugly American" type traveller and the spinster who travels alone...and tries too hard. Why did you like her?*
I really like actresses who know how to do physical comedy and I felt Elsie Randolph did a very nice job with it.
*I didn't enjoy weaker Fred.*
He was mostly a selfish jerk, but I did like the comedy associated with him.
*I understand what you're saying...and I agree, Emily wasn't looking for 'that.' (I remember* *"Dodsworth" and Fran's efforts to stay young). But I'm going underneath even character; the author's choice to let her be chaste to be a bit more sympathetic rather than "a wanton hussy" looking for carnal pleasures. I don't mean to reduce it to just sex. Really I don't. But it's often in the movies girls can't do what guys can. I do understand this...that Emily's needs was to be listened to... valued; not the constant condescending little putdowns. ("This is the third time you spoke to me like that...")*
Yes, you have it right. And there is certainly a double standard with men and women and sex. In *Rich and Strange*, the man comes off looking like a fool. Fred is chasing something so empty, even though he feels it's meaningful. Meanwhile, Emily stumbles upon something that really is meaningful, yet she already has something meaningful to her.
*I go with you on that. We do put our best foot forward at the beginning of things. The opposites attract thing...It is a bit easier to be on the same page. And as you say, with enough time, opposites can fall apart. But they can stay together for years and years. It's all up to the individual couple, I reckon.*
From what I've learned, it's actually up to an invididual. It only takes one person to end the marriage. And for whatever the reason, too.
*You're right, it did. I noticed his tone changed. (Oh boy!) Gee...he wasn't happy enough to have had her with him? He had to prove he was the best man. And it cost him.*
And you wonder how long before his tone changed with Emily. But I do understand his feelings. He wants Emily and he knows (deep down) he can't have her, so he turns desperate. Bad move.
**Nice point. She was growing...recognizing a thing...this place, existed before she got there...how big the world is than just their flat in London. I'm remembering how Fred even cut her during** that* moment of reflection. Oooh, Fred. Infuriating!*
Yeah, Fred is really not in tune with Emily and her feelings and worldview. I think Emily is basically echoing the point of the film, that everyone does pretty much the same, no matter where you call home. Here they are on vacation, seeing the sights, but behind those sights are people who have kids, make dinners, and die. It's no different. The Chinese junk barge is also the same. They have babies, eat dinners, and die. We can't sail the world all our days. And if we did, we'd long for a "boring" life at home.*She was with the Commander. They were so sympatico with each other. He cared for her, about her. She could feel what it'd be like to be with someone who wasn't rough with her and who listened to her. Even his love letter was so sweet. He hadn't done anything to show he'd be a bad guy to her (...other than the bad-mouthing). After reading that sweet love letter, I don't think I could go back to Fred.*
Really? Even if you loved Fred? I'm very traditional when it comes to marriage. I can't just leave my love because somebody else is kind and gentle to me. I think Emily has it right. She explains it well to the Commander.
-
Good evening, Jackie -- *Alice was doing algebra last year (fifth grade) - they did their math on a rotating schedule... learning all different kinds of math - then going back over it every few weeks. At first I was nonplussed, but I read up on it and it seems that they learn better this way, when they multi-task - a word I hate to use. It helps stimulate their brains to work on different areas all the time.*
Oh, yeah? I always think of multi-tasking as doing many things half good. That would be my fear with teaching anything that way.
*She already seems like she is settling in.*
I'm sure she's gonna love being a little woman.
*A boy next to her locker said something about now I have this girl here, I can't have two lockers anymore. She ignored him.
*And that's how romance starts!
*Ha! That's dad's big fear.*
I bet!
*They sound like my speed! I am VERY curious about* *The Farmer's Wife - it's a standard play that all the up and coming actors of the early thirties did on stage - both Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson headed up London productions of it, and I am sure there were a ton of other young lions of the stage who also got their start in touring companies with this one. It was very popular.*
It's one of the sweetest of Hitch's films.
*Maybe I have the wrong movie - the one with the couple who are dissatisfied with their circumstances, then inherit money and go on a boat and it all crumbles from there?*
Yeah, that's it. I just re-watched it, too. I still don't see how it's disturbing. It seems very human, to me. I like seeing the mature take on love (Emily) and the immature take (Fred).
-
TWO FLAGS WEST SPOILED
*We're doing a poll of favorite directors at SSO (ChiO is in charge) and I just bumped poor Bob off my list in order to accommodate Joe Mankiewicz or David Lean.*
ChiO is in charge? You're doomed! I'll have to check that out. Mankiewicz and Lean are definitely more "you." I'm more Wise. I think he's the best at social commentary.
*I think it's different because La Roche was enduring the most horrific of battlefield command scenarios on a daily basis, whereas Kenniston isn't seen dealing with combat until the climax.*
Superb point. You are very correct.
*Until then, he's like Thursday, spinning his wheels at a posting he beileves to be humiliating. It leaves him time enough to indulge in little fantasies about the girl under his care and to nurse his hatred for the South. I imagine busy commanders have no time even to consider who their enemy is, they are so consumed with objectives and keeping their men alive.*
I agree. The wanting of a battle is what Kenniston pines for. He ends up creating one.
*So the question is, was Kenniston a good officer or a lousy one? Maybe he wasn't cut out for army life. He took too much personally.*
I see him as a lousy one. He was too proud and for the wrong reasons. Tucker (Joseph Cotten) was the good officer.
*I was shocked. I hadn't really thought him capable of anything quite so awful as murdering a child. But it opened the way to my favorite visual moment in the film, when he gives himself up to the Indians. I like the drum beats, and the way the gates open to this dusty/foggy emptiness, like he entering "hell".*
That really was a wonderful scene. It's really messed up, when you think about it. Kenniston's act cost people their lives and created his own demise which makes him both tragic and heroic. Crazy.
*Ha! He sounded rather like an old time Jewish patriarch at that point (it was once an Israelite custom that the widow marry her husband's brother. By the way, Chandler was Jewish.
).*The film calls attention to this, remember?
*You left out The Big Combo, did you like him there?*
Oh, yes. I did like him in that.
*I really like him Road House. He acts so shocked by Ida, more than even by Widmark.*
If he thinks Ida is shocking, he should meet you! *I wonder what you'll think of Lust in the Dust (**Duel in the Sun) < <img class="jive-emoticon" src="images/emoticons/grin.gif" border="0" alt=":D"/>I believe Tall T likes that one. Cotten seems so at sea, as if he wished he were somewhere, anywhere, else.*
I'm interested in that film, I know that. I believe I'll like it.
*how did he care about humanity?*
Tucker chose to risk his and his men's lives to save the fort full of northerners. It wasn't about his people, it was about all people.
*Yes, but it really is only the one act that puts us with the Indians. Before that, they're not much involved in the story.*
This is true. But how many indian attacks in westerns do we feel are completely warranted? I found it to be remarkable.
*I do think the Yankees are shown to be more churlish and uncharitable than the Southerners, but Americans often have a feeling for the underdog. I like that.*
I just thought it was really interesting to see the southerners versus the northerners and us, the viewers, siding with the southerners.
*He is underappreciated. He was wonderfully wacky in The Lusty Men. Not quite "all there", like a Shakespearean fool.*
He's excellent in *The Lusty Men*. I've run across him a few times this year and I've greatly enjoyed seeing him in all encounters.
-
Hi, Swithin -- *I've never seen Hitchock's film of Juno and the Paycock, aka The Shame of Mary Boyle. I love the play, saw a great production of it some years ago, with Siobhan McKenna. Why is the film so disliked? It has the greatest of directors, not that one can't dislike a Hitchcock film - I positively hate NBNW, and a peerless cast with impeccable Irish credentials. Hitchcock so admired O'Casey, he based one of the characters in The Birds on him. But what's the problem with Juno?*
My problem with *Juno and the Paycock* is that it's talk, talk, talk. Hitch's camera is mostly static. The film just sits there, visually.
I liked the characters and performances, namely Juno (Sara Allgood), Joxer (Sidney Morgan), and Captain Boyle (Edward Chapman). I believe it's a must-watch film for anyone who likes Sara Allgood. She's terrific.
Since you're a fan of the play and Hitch, I think you should definitely check it out.
-
*That's how school is affecting us this year! Sixth grade is much harder, but exciting too. I have a lot of worry right now. Worrying about my daughter worrying...
* You two need to relax! One relaxes the other. My cousin's daughter, Kylie, just started sixth grade, as well. It's her first year of middle school, so she's feeling independent and mature. She likes that feeling. I've looked over her homework in pre-algebra and language arts.
*And I started running again, so I feel good and bad right now.*
You're always running!
Some gals are always on the edge. I know another who is always looking to kick.*I wonder what you'll think of them. In fact, I'm a big fan of all the movies. I'm curious as to which you'll like the best. I'm thinking it will be Woman of the Year, but I'll be pleased with any other choice too.*
I expect some fireworks. That's something I'll like.
*There have rarely been any Hitch films I haven't enjoyed. Even the ones I am not particularly fond of (North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Spellbound) I've enjoyed at one point or another. They are not hard to sit through, by any means, and almost all are pleasurable.*
Since you're a fan of silents, it only makes sense you'd watch some Hitch silents.
*Rich and Strange just scared the bejesus out of me for some reason. It's the only one that I had a hard time with, because it was so disturbing to me. I think I was literally up on the edge of my seat.*
Really? How so? I've never had that feeling with *Rich and Strange*. It's a cautionary tale, but I didn't think it was disturbing. It seemed rather cute until the end. I know Joan Barry is cute.
-
*Your screencaps are killing me! Not only are they so appropriate, but Burt is amazingly gorgeous in them.*
I need to post more Yvonne!
*"Go, Don't Go..." I loved the way he said that - you really capture his expression there. That's hard to do when capping sometimes.*
But I failed! Anna is the one who says, "Go. Don't go." Steve is the one asking if he should go. Anna is kind of defeated, at that moment. But those mixed signals remain prevalent... with both.
*Even worse is that you and I seem to be on the same page.*
I don't know how that happened! It must be your fault.
*They both have a masochistic streak I think, when it comes to each other.*
I believe so. Steve speaks of this since it's his tale... and tail. And her tail! Ahhhh, Anna.
*Here is the great divide between man and woman, I think. Their wants are different. Maybe men have just as much want, but it's grounded and earthy, somehow.*
We want one thing!
Our ego is a big problem. We want what we want. If we want a girl, we need to have her or our ego takes a beating. And once we have a girl, we don't want to lose her unless we want to lose her. It's all about our ego. Women are more complicated. Women want a man to provide. Even the most modern of women want a man to provide. It's just it may not be money and material things like the past, it may be other things, such as emotional support and encouragement. Where we run into problems is the levels we set our needs at. We also lose sight of the difference between needs and wants. We get greedy. We complicate love. We make it unimportant. Yet we still say we need it. Do we? Anna seems to be more true today than ever before.
*I get the idea that in some noirs, the roles are reversed. There is something feminine in Steve's wants, masculine in Anna's wants. Steve's are romantic, and Anna's are practical.*
Precisely. Film noir is mostly about male longing. They are male fairy tales. In some ways, *Criss Cross* is a film noir "*Wuthering Heights*."
-
*I may have to try* *The Manxman on Monday - Weekends are rugged around here, with lots to do.*
A woman's work is never done.
And I'll be watching football. A man's work is done never. *Champagne is the one I am most curious about. I just like the title.*
It's a playful kind of film in the mold of the 30s. I think you'd find it agreeable.
*The Manxman* is about Society and its mores. It's a straight drama. A great triangle film with heavy consequences. I love the setting, especially the young couple's abode. I think you'll enjoy it. It plays as a "woman's picture," really.
-
Good afternoon, Little Red Buick -- *She's governed by her capricious nature - and she thinks Steve has rejected her - he hurt her. She can't leave it alone - her first thoughts are to run AWAY from Steve, to his least favorite person. "I'll show him!" On some level she wants to hurt him. And I think on some level, Steve wants to be hurt.*
Oooohhh, I really like that! I believe what you say to be very true. Anna's marrying Slim was her way of hurting Steve. It ends up hurting her, too.
*Maybe I didn't mean "the next thing"... maybe I meant she wanted "more". I think they were alike in one way - they both wanted MORE - he wanted more of her, and she wanted more FROM him, a life with the money and for him to be more sensible.*
Oh, no! I agree with that, too! What you wrote is perfect. Steve just wants Anna, that's all there is to it. He's crazy about her. There's a lot of lust involved, as CineMaven mentioned. I love how you say Anna is wanting more FROM him. That's right on. Anna isn't content with just Steve, she needs Steve with things. Things she knows Steve can't provide or is unwilling to provide. Steve just needs Anna.
*Yes, even though we see that Burt loves her more than she loves him, he is not being selfless at all. He wants her.... perhaps because she is just out of his reach? Maybe he is the one who wants what he cannot, should not have.*
Awful! Just awful! More agreement from me. Steve wants Anna a certain way, not how she really is. It kills him that she can't be the way he wants her. The same with Anna. She wants Steve a certain way, a way he isn't. It's a very classic tale of man and woman and the complications of wanting different things from each.
-
How's the dance, CinemAva? -- *Yes. She's got an exotic look; ...maybe in the Spanish family?*
Very much so. She's a dark beauty.
*Perhaps it's because I'm not one hundred percent sure of your definition ("femme fatale film noir") but it seemed mostly about Steve and his angst over Anna.*
"French, literally, disastrous woman"
"a seductive woman who lures men into dangerous or compromising situations"
The thing is, not all femmes fatales are at fault. We men create our own problems by losing our mind. We convince ourselves, "I have to have her."
*True. And yet they still couldn’t stop this train wreck.*
Isn't that how it usually works? If you try and force someone not to do something, the odds are you are going to push them towards it more. They have to be the one who makes the decision.
*Can you imagine his family when they get the news at the end?*
I'm sure his mom will rake herself over the coals the rest of her life.
*Funny, I didn’t find her tough to please. I got the impression that all she wanted was to go away and be with Steve; but he was being difficult about that instead of going with the flow of it.*
I thought Anna was telling Steve one thing but wanting another. There was just something off about her. Steve can't get her out his system yet he wants to. They always fight. Over what? What is their beef? They were married, so they did commit to one another. What ended it?
*When he threw in the idea of the heist, I think that was a monkey wrench for her and then it became about the money.*
So can a person be about one thing all the time and then all of a sudden just toss that belief out the window for a big score? Was Anna's telling Steve about her needing to watch out for herself and her damning the idea of love was all a new belief with her? Or was this the real her, the one Steve has fought with for years, the one who caused Steve to flee? Money is often a good polygraph for who a person really is, inside. I think the real Anna showed up.
*That reminds me...I've got to re-visit "Decoy."*
Now that girl ain't hiding a darn thing!
*Ha! What femme fatale is. Her outburst certainly felt tacked on to me...her jawing on and on about the money and how they’re both different, felt like it came from left-field. Nothing earlier in her character gave me any indication she was a money-hungry vamp.*
I agree. But, like I said, something felt phony about Anna before she swallowed the truth serum of money. I believe she was attracted to Steve and most likely in love with him but she also knew he couldn't provide her with the money and lifestyle she wanted.
*I think she came to want more than Steve in the end. Earlier she was just wanting Steve. Maybe if his family and Ramirez didn’t interfere... ( “get outta town you...you...” *
You could be very right about that. Maybe their wires are also crisscrossed, because Steve thinks she married Slim (Dan Duryea) because of...
I absolutely love the ending. I think it's one of the best in all of film noir. Film noir endings are so doggone poetic.
-
*I believe it was a good movie. I'm surprised I never saw or heard of it before.*
I was only familiar with it because it's a Robert Wise and Linda Darnell film. They are two of my favorites.
*I found him much more rigid than Baxter, less nuanced than that character, but I see the similarity.*
You're right, he was more rigid. But Captain La Roche (Warner Baxter) was a tough cookie on the battlefield. He was harsh but his tactics ended up being right. Major Kenniston's (Jeff Chandler) tactics were egotistical. Their inner turmoil was similar, though.
*It's funny how his love for the girl should have humanized him but it really didn't very much. Maybe that's just not where the director cared to place any emphasis. I think if Anthony Mann had directed, because Jeff's character seems very "Mann-ish", he might have been a bit more complex, but there's enough going on despite that.*
I got the feeling that Captain La Roche was awkward with human relations, especially those with a woman. It felt as if he was too regimental with his world and his view of life was a harsh one. This made him the opposite of Colonel Tucker (Joseph Cotten).
*It was probably smart not to actually show him doing what he did, or we'd lose any sympathy we might have for Chandler's character. It was a brutal, unwarranted act.*
Without a doubt. To see such an act would have been horrific. It was still stunning how it was done, though.
*Wasn't there? It made me uneasy. This wasn't the chasteness of say, Ethan for Martha. I even worried he might attack her at one point, his love seemed so possessive.*
"Possessive" is a good word for it. He was making it seem like it was Elena's duty to love him, for he promised his brother he'd look after her.
*He's impossible to dislike, a very easy natured fellow and that comes through his characters.*
I find him to be boring in *Leave Her to Heaven*, but I liked him in *Shockproof*, *Road House*, and *Two Flags West*.
*Oh, is this your first time seeing Cotten in a western? I've seen a few, two others I'm thinknig of feature him being the more educated, "progressive" type, almost a "dude", which is a good fit. He's not really a cowhand.*
Yes, I'm pretty sure this was the first time I saw Cotten in a western. It's rather strange, I must say.
*It's a tough spot, if you care at all about your men.*
But it wasn't just his men he cared about, it was humanity. Then you toss in his feelings for Elena and he's being pulled in many directions.
*She has presence, she's never empty.*
That's a great way of putting it.
*I didn't get that so much. Fairness, yes, but it didn't seem prominent.*
Our sympathies end up being with the southerners and indians. That's pretty impressive.
*I've always like him tremendously. He's desceptively genial, usually wise, and never makes a fuss.*
I love his voice and his look.
-
SPOILED BY THE CRISS CROSS
What's the bad word, Lively Gal? -- *Sometimes men go down with the ship. And this ship is the S.S. DeCARLO:*
That's not a bad way to go. She's stunning in *Criss Cross*.
*"All those things that happened to us; everything that went before...we'll forget it. You'll see. I'll make you forget it. After it's done, after it's all over and we're safe... it'll just be you and me. You and me. The way it should have been all along from the start."*
*Promises, promises.*
That's great! Ahhhhhh, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). She could sell a guy most anything.
*I re-visited "CRISS CROSS" which I haven't seen in ages. Now I know this film might not have the narrowly defined mise en scene of film noir, but it does have a fatalistic hero...one who blithely, obstinately and steadfastly walks down that path of doom and self-destruction. Well that's* *BURT LANCASTER...in spades in this movie.*
It's a big-time film noir to me because of what you say about Steve (Burt Lancaster), but also Anna. *Criss Cross* is a "femme fatale" film noir. One of the best.
*One thing that kept niggling me the back of my neck during the movie was why his cop friend and family was soooooooooooo getting into this man's love life? He's a grown man.*
Because they knew the score with Anna and Steve. Sure, it wasn't their place, but they feared what was to happen. Sometimes it's necessary to play the villain.
*Lancaster plays* *STEVE and he's in love with* *ANNA. Hmmm...love might be an understatement. The movie states it is LOVE but it looks and feels like LUST to me.*
I agree with you. I think Steve is on the "lust" side. He knows what he's doing is wrong but he can't let it go.
*Anna is played by YVONNE DeCARLO. To say she's hot might also be an understatement if her Rhumba dancing is any indication.*
Yeah, she's sizzling in this one.
*Steve and Anna were married, fought all the time and split up.*
Passion.
*But I guess Steve couldn't get her out of his head.*
More like bloodstream!
*His family was trying to help him get over her...but he just couldn't get out of his own libido's way. Strong thing that libido.*
I always think when we're lost we turn to past emotions for rescue. Until you can move on, you are stuck on something.
*He wants her...he doesn't want her. He barks at her...and then follows her around like a little puppy dog.*
He hates to love her but he's too weak to make that break. Internal struggles are horrible.
*I thought it was funny how his family saw the signs in him, even while he didn't...he was going on auto-pilot on his return to town. Maybe his mom should have been Anne Revere. On second thought even Mother Teresa couldn't compete with Anna.*
That was funny! Those who are caught up in the storm never know it, but others can see it.
*Well the first thing you do is get the hero's attention. Then beg and plead with him not to do anything (too) foolish.*
Women! That sounds like my country grandma. "Can you do this for me? No rush." Yeah, right!
*Steve keeps fighting Anna (or fighting himself for still having feelings for Anna).*
Oooohhh, I like that. You're right on it.
*She looks like she's ready to pick up where they left off; let bygones be bygones. But he keeps pushing her away. She said she was tired of chasing him. Why did their marriage break up in the first place? Was he insecure that he wouldn't be able to keep her? Is this something I even need to know...is it integral to the plot? Maybe not, but I was curious.*
It's a very good question. Anna seems like the restless type. She seems tough to please. In this viewing, she came off as a softer version of Margot Shelby (Jean Gillie in *Decoy* ). She just doesn't reveal it until later.
*I liked when the film turned to this heist.*
So did I. It gives the film a real jolt. I love the ironic results, too.
*BUT what a wacky excuse to give a husband when he catches you with your pants down around your ankles with his wife. (Steve's brainstorm?? He comes up with the idea that he was seeing Anna to get in contact with Slim for purposes of planning a heist).*
That's some quick thinking! It seems surreal to me. Does Steve realize Anna needs money to love him (the money)?
*Another heist gone wrong sequence...and I loved it: the smoke...the confusion..the torn loyalty.*
I love it, too. It's one of the best I've seen.
*Pop pays the ultimate price for Steve's love-crazed decision to pull a heist on his own company.*
I really enjoyed the ride with "Pop" (Griff Barnett).
*I was on pins and needles with the hospital sequence and the gentleman visiting his wife. (I thought of Don Corleone in the hospital with nothing but young Michael between Corleone and some hit men). To see Steve trussed up in his hospital bed totally vulnerable to the fates was rough. But the fates do find him.*
You are hitting on all the right notes. I thought the hospital scene was very suspenseful.
*Steve finally "gets it" about Anna. The light finally goes off in his head and he takes the acceptance very well considering much of the movie he is a hothead. As you see Anna giving him a good tongue lashing Steve sits there...arm in a sling with a slight slight peaceful look on his face.*
I thought he was kind of stunned by her words. He was incredulous.
*I'm not sure if she was money-hungry all along.*
That's hard to say. I certainly believe she was never truly honest with Steve. So was she completely honest then?
As Anna tells Steve: "You always have to do what's best for yourself. That's the trouble with you. It always was, from the beginning. You just don't know what kind of world it is."
Which leads to:
And I think that's the problem with their relationship. What Steve wants and what Anna wants are completely different. Steve wants Anna. Anna wants more than just Steve. A couple is doomed if they don't just want each other, above all else. When other factors come into play... trouble.
*I like to think that Anna did love Steve but he was just too fat-headed to deal with Love head on. Then again I also would like to think of her as a real lethal lady in that when Steve proposes the idea of a heist with Slim...that her little femme fatale mind started working over time and she plotted to get the money and be rid of both her sleazy husband and puppy dog Steve. Dump two birds in one fell swoop as it were. When the money presents itself to Anna, well...temptation is a heady thing. What's a girl to do?*
Her true nature is exposed.
*I believe Steve taunted Fate. And Fate finds him. Fate comes in through the door as the Boogey Man. Enter Slim...and he will give Steve what he wanted; to be with Anna, forever.*
Love that ironic ending. That's why I love film noir. It's the best.
*This is the second time Burt Lancaster is shot and killed over a woman. ("THE KILLERS.") I hope he* *never learns his lesson. It makes for a better movie.*
Very good!
There's definitely some heavy-handed stuff going on, but it's still entertaining to me.
* You migrated to New England for a reason!
A Walk on the Noir Side
in Film Noir--Gangster
Posted
*^So....The Tall Target, This Gun for Hire, The Sniper, The Killer is Loose, Murder by Contract, then Point Blank ^and Hard Contract and The Godfather movies and finally,^ Dirty Harry.^*
That's good! I've seen only four of those films. Peter Bogdanovich's *Targets* is a scary sniper film that I like. *Man Hunt* is one that features a "hit."