LoveFilmNoir

> {quote:title=jamesjazzguitar wrote:}{quote} > Well when it comes to this type of discussion ('who are the greatest') looks can cause one to be overrated as well as underrated. > > Take Cary Grant. Because he was so good looking some people might not give him as much credit as he was due. > > Of course I see someone listed E.G. Robertson; On one could say it was because of his looks. > > But I do notice that Errol Flynn is one of the most favorite actors listed in CFU 'favorite stars' and while I'm a fan of Flynn and he did do some good work I'm still going to assume his high ranking has something to do with his looks. I couldn't agree more. I think many Ty Power fans are more fan of his looks and matinee idol reputation than his acting and films, and I think he was a pretty good actor and did well in some solid roles. I think females are usually tooted more than men. For example, nothing is really stellar about the acting of Kim Novak or Veronica Lake...but they can easily turn a thread into 10+ pages. (all of this my opinion of course)

Jessie Royce Landis was born November 25, 1904 and Cary Grant January 18, 1904!!!!!

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > We are expected not to analyze perceived ages of screen children and parents too much. After all, we are expected to ignore enormous height differences between scrren parents and children, and also the fact that they bear no resemblance to one another, as parents and children normally do. > Could anyone really believe that Lionel Barrymore or Lewis Stone bore a direct family relationship (father, grandfather, or whatever) to Mickey Rooney? Exactly! Like was I really supposed to believe that Lucas and Robin Doolin were related in THUNDER ROAD? No resemblance!

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > Around 1952, Danny Thomas was booked as the first big-name entertainer at a Vegas casino. It really snowballed from there, especially when Sinatra started playing Vegas. From '48-'52, after Bugsy Siegel spearheaded the building of the Flamingo, Vegas was small-time compared to Reno. Good to know. Any movies or books you can suggest that kind of discuss this or have this time as the back drop? Thanks in advance. Also, have any of you seen the following, if so, how would u rate them on a 4 star scale and can you provide whatever commentary (without giving away too much of the plot?)....My fall-winter-spring 2010-2011 project is viewing/collecting film noirs from my lists and the noir encyclopedia that I have never seen, and some that I doubt will air on TCM. I hardly know where to begin! Where do I begin? and who wants to go on this journey with me? *The Brasher Doubloon (1947)* George Montgomery *The Great Gatsby (1949)* Alan Ladd (not a noir, but so what ) *Calcutta (1947)* Alan Ladd (again, not a noir, but so what ) *Cry Tough (1958)* John Saxon, Linda Cristal *Ride The Pink Horse (1947)* Robert Montgomery (directed by him also) *Witness to Murder (1954)* Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders *99 River Street (1953)* John Payne, Evelyn Keyes (the title I wish they showed during the Phil Karlson night last year!!!) *Pitfall (1948)* Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott *Chicago Deadline (1949)* Alan Ladd, Donna Reed *Red Light (1949)* George Raft, Virginia Mayo *Screaming Mimi (1958)* Anita Eckberg, Phil Carey *Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)* Edmond O?Brien, Mark Stevens, Gale Storm *The Long Haul (1957)* Victor Mature, Diana Dors (not a noir) *Destiny (1944)* Gloria Jean, Alan Curtis *Canon City (1948)* Scott Brady, Jeff Corey *Kiss The Blood Off My Hands (1948)* Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster *Wicked as they Come (1956)* Arlene Dahl *The Crooked Web (1955)* Frank Lovejoy, Mari Blanchard *Ivy (1947)* Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall *Manhandled (1949)* Dan Duryea, Dorothy Lamour *Street of Chance (1942)* Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor *The Man in The Dark (1953)* Edmond O?Brien, Audrey Totter *Drive a Crooked Road (1954)* Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster (playing Dec 30th at 7:30 AM as part of Mickey Rooney?s SOTM!!) *Desert Fury (1947)* Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Burt Lancaster *The Glass Web (1953)* Edward G. Robinson, John Forsythe, Marcia Henderson *Rope of Sand (1949)* Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre *Inferno (1953)* Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming (originally shot in 3D) *The Guilty (1947)* Bonita Granville, Don Castle *Woman in Hiding (1950)* Ida Lupino, Howard Duff *Shield For Murder (1954)* Edmond O?Brien *Five Steps to Danger (1955)* Sterling Hayden, Ruth Roman (not a noir) *The Accused (1949)* Loretta Young, Robert Cummings *Nightmare (1956)* Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell *I Walk Alone (1948)* Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott *Outside the Wall (1950)* Richard Basehart, Signe Hasso, Marilyn Maxwell *The Killer is Loose (1956)* Joseph Cotton, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey *He Ran All The Way (1951)* John Garfield, Shelley Winters *The Web (1947)* Edmond O?Brien, Ella Raines *Naked Alibi (1954)* Gloria Grahame, Sterling Hayden *Abandoned (1949)* Gale Storm, Dennis O?Keefe *The Mob (1951)* Broderick Crawford *Sleeping City (1950)* Richard Conte, Colleen Gray *Timetable (1956)* Mark Stevens, Felicia Farr *Escape in the Fog (1945)* Nina Foch, Otto Kruger *The Dark Past (1948)* William Holden, Nina Foch *Down Three Dark Streets (1954)* Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman *Private Hell 36 (1954)* Ida Lupino, Howard Duff *Deported (1950)* Jeff Chandler, Marta Toren *711 Ocean Drive (1950)* Edmond O?Brien, Joanne Dru *Three Steps to the Gallows (1953)* Scott Brady, Mary Castle *Mr. Soft Touch (1949)* Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes *Convicted (1950)* Glenn Ford, Dorothy Malone *For You I Die (1948)* Cathy Downs, Paul Langton *No Escape (1953)* Lew Ayres, Marjorie Steele *Captive City (1952)* John Forsythe, Joan Camden *The Glass Key (1935)* George Raft, Claire Dodd *An Act of Murder (1948)* Frederic March, Edmond O?Brien *Hoodlum Empire (1952)* Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor *Alias Nick Beal (1949)* Ray Milland, Audrey Totter

Incredible. Have you been rating the films or even making a brief synopsis of each as you go? Would seem like an interesting little archive. I am thinking of doing this with my own DVD collection.

I just can't stay in my chair long enough to watch and appreciate Dr Strangelove, 2001, or 2010. Maybe I should wear a seat belt in my easy chair.

There are some actors/actresses who are praised here and on other boards (maybe more for their looks though) and I don't consider them great actors. Or some people whose looks overshadow their great acting talents. Rooney is neither of these, however, he would never make any "top" lists for me, even though I am sure those Andy Hardy films are just swell. I am only familiar with Mickey's work around the time he was trying to leave that squeaky clean image alone. He did alright as the down on his luck petty thief in QUICKSAND.

> {quote:title=C.Bogle wrote:}{quote} > "Glossy" is a good description of how the slave/master relationship, and many > others, were portrayed back in the day. Partly a reflection of the times and partly > of the fact that Hollywood had a story to tell where accuracy wasn't the first > consideration. That's understandable in a work of fiction, which is why I think > they can only have a limited use in teaching or illustrating history. If a professor used Hattie McDaniels portrayal as a servant in GONE WITH THE WIND to high light the master/slave or servant relationship after discussing history textbooks in class, they'd lose all credibility with me. I even raise my eyebrow at some documentaries I have seen over the years. Particularly ones centered around inner city struggles.

RIP. And wow what a great life she has lived.

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > ...and this was a pre-big entertainment Vegas. I think at this time (1952) Reno was a bigger deal than Vegas. I am actually interested in this...I need to read up on when Las Vegas became the "it" spot of Nevada. It seems like in all pre 1950s films, only Reno is mentioned.

Clore, I giggled....probably because I once tried to emulate a dance number from a musical and bruised my leg up pretty bad (there really should be a "do not try this at home" stamped after the WB logo, huh? lol) Anyway, Cagney is also one of my favorites. I have a high respect for him for his roles in front of the camera and how he lived his life off the camera. I love his A&E Biography...very touching, he seems like a guy you'd enjoy working with to the point that you'd want to be on the set with him forever. Also, I love that he is so believable as a good guy (YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, CITY OF CONQUEST) or a bad guy (WHITE HEAT, THE PUBLIC ENEMY, ROARING TWENTIES) or a little of both (LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME). I always enjoy any film he's in. I think he has the ability to bring out the best performance in those who he shares screen time with.

> {quote:title=ADDIE wrote:}{quote} > *Oh, I did not mean there HAS to be a special reason for a marathon, just that there usually is and it is mentioned, noted or advertised, on the station and site.* > > *That it is Dane Clark is reason enough. I was not complaining, just curious.* > > *ac* I didn't take your original post as a complaint, I completely understand the curiosity. I sometimes try to guess the connection films on various days - sometimes there is an actor or general theme or word in the title that connects the films, it's all pretty cool when you think of it (especially when they start the day with a precode). I didn't realize today was all Dane Clark films until I browsed through my DirecTV guide last night. Glad you're able to catch it!

I don't think there was any film made before 1960 with a fictional backdrop that had a fairly accurate portrayal of slavery in America. The slave/master and servant/employer relationship in Hollywood always seems a little too "glossy" in movies from the studio era.

ValentineXavier said: *For me, the bottom line is that as an American citizen, I have the right to be a communist, or a member of any party I please. I have the right to vote for any party, advocate for any party, and try to persuade others to vote for any party, whether the party is the Bullmoose Party, the Whigs, the Know Nothing Party, the Monster Raving Loony Party, any party at all. Congress has NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to call my political allegiances into question.* This is my summed up opinion on all of these investigations, witch hunts, cover ups, shenanigans or what have you. I still can't understand why more people didn't fight back against these "hearings".

To even highlight a Darwin Porter biography of any of the actors that we celebrate and discuss here on these message boards is just a disgrace and an insult. Darwin Porter is a disgrace to the profession of writing as well as biographer. Just a disgusting disgrace.

This is an interesting topic. What I always thought was that those "older" parents, who usually seemed to be aristocrats or members of high society, simply started their families late. Like if a father had his first child in his late 30s or early 40s, and the main character is in their 20s, then the dad will be 60ish. I always find this to seem like the case with films where Charles Coburn is the father.

Tikisoo, I agree. I think most films based on works of fiction that depict a specific time in history of any country can be a good stepping stone in getting students to understand the time period. This goes beyond watching a film and then reading the book. I do think that it is up to the teacher to be competent enough to communicate to the students what is fact and what is dramatized Hollywood. I like how you mentioned the Great Depression, there are so many films that have story lines around that time - many not even directly about the Great Depression - but they give a great view into the lives and feelings of many people at that time. When I think of Woody Allen's *The Purple Rose of Cairo* and how during that era some people had nothing but the movies...it really shows you just how much things have changed. Today, people who are unemployed at least have enough to pay an internet bill and have access to websites and streaming movies online. Movies are a great way of teaching our youth about the past without coming off as preachy or old timer-ish.

I totally missed them all! Did someone say they will be reaired in December? I think Edna May Oliver is a hoot.

> {quote:title=markfp2 wrote:}{quote} > Why does there have to be a reason other than the programmers wanted to do it? I don't think there has to be. I love the variety from 6am-8pm from the programmers whether it's a birthday tribute or a theme like every film title has the word "girl" or "boy" or "summer" in it (I enjoy when they do that....but my ultimate favorite is when they do a day full of one genre - and even particularly when it is mystery/crime films and film noir.

Call me naive about it all but I still don't know why if the films are going to be in DVD-R format they all can't be a 4 in one for $20 or 4.99 each. Warner's and other studios are basically throwing business at the bootleggers.

Wow. I'm speechless. Thanks for the info lz. I don't know what is more shocking: knowing how flammable film is and the result of it being stored incorrectly, or that someone would really think silent pictures as an art form have "no value".

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > I think Turner or Tierney would have been best for UNDERCURRENT. The others on your list may have been too much the femme fatale type. Crawford, possibly. Yes, I think you are right. Now that I think about it, some of the others like Virginia Mayo and Audrey Totter, and Lizabeth Scott already have a "danger" look to them from the moment you first see them on the screen.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > Man, The Prowler is awful! What a cad! > > Evelyn Keyes is wonderful! I recorded it to a DVD and I plan to watch it over the weekend so I stayed out of the thread on it to prevent any spoilers. However, I did watch the first 15 minutes or so of it and man oh man....Van Heflin was super creepy. This is the stuff film noir is made of! Times sure have changed! In 2010, a woman alone in her house isn't inviting a cop inside even after he's been there earlier because of a call....and she darn sure isn't offering him coffee (or milk!).

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > That's quite a coincidence---a 5-way tie for first place with 7. Can't we reclassify a film to be a noir and give somebody 8? .......Oops, I see that people already did. > Just to dip back into the subject of who has been in the most noirs, I don't mind going into the supporting and character actors a bit...sometimes I feel like Sam Levene and Brian Donlevy are at a crime scene! But then again, I believe the films I may be thinking of with Levene are pre-1940 anyway.

> {quote:title=cujas wrote:}{quote} > "The Girl Hunt Ballet" in *The Bandwagon* is a musical satire of film noir. One of my favorite Astaire numbers!