LoveFilmNoir

ValentineXavier, you are right! I guess I should say "least favorite" or "popular", huh? No matter how low ranked a noir is, I will watch it again on TV just because it is a noir!

I admit that I am an online schedule hound and I look up films by the star names or popular directors on Cinemax and HBO's sites. Encore mystery and drama, I look at their whole month's schedule which is available in a PDF. For February 2010, the only movies I saw for Encore Mystery were Laura and The Stranger...maybe a Sherlock Holmes film or two. I need to get more tech savy and learn how to record from my DVR to DVD.

Believe it or not I watched this film 2 times over the long weekend (missed some parts while I was cooking). I really like Mark Stevens acting and Lucille is good in the noir genre. Bendix is hands down one of my favorite supporting actors of the late 40s early 50s. I love how Clifton Webb's presence in a film can always " class up" the storyline. Well done indeed.

I watched KOD this weekend for the millionth time with my significant other (please, round of applause for getting him to watch any movie before 1970 and black and white at that) and a few observations/comments - 1.) the various slang for an informant is used in this film and is quite comical... "stoolie" "stool pigeon" "squealer" "talker"...we got some good laughs particularly since these terms are still used in criminal circles 2.) I underestimated Coleen Gray....I don't think the script gave her much and she actually did do with it as much as any other "wife" in a noir could have - think Bel Geddes (Panic in the Streets) or Jocelyn Brando (The Big Heat)...so all in all, I say she was okay....their romantic chemistry was kind of cute (or am I still smitten from v-day weekend?) either way, I have now altered my opinion 3.) Who were the two girls that played Mature's kids? The chemistry with him was very realistic and I believed that those were his kids. Mature must have really liked kids.

TCM did a good job again last night. I been keeping track (or at least trying to) of the Fox titles being played on TCM and it has been blowing me away...they been selecting GOOD ones. High Five TCM!

I loved Delores Gray in The Opposite Sex...I caught it a month ago on TCM...I enjoyed all the women in that film....I guess it was a remake of "The Women" for that time period. Best scene has to be when the lovely June Allyson slaps the taste out of Joan Collins mouth in the dressing room - WOW and WOW!

You all have made some good points. I sometimes think my bias towards certain actors may blind some of their not so good performances etc. For example, many people think Victor Mature is a ham when I usually love him in films. Bogie is one of my favorite actors and I definitely agree with you markbeckuaf. Give me The Harder They Fall or Barefoot Contessa or In a Lonely Place Bogie...maybe Cagney would have made a better Mr. Carroll! I still have MANY noirs I have yet to see.....especially B films so it is hard for me to decide what I didn't care for from what I have seen...the more and more I ponder through my memory archive, the more I start thinking about actors who should have contributed to the noir genre.

Holly, what cable service do you have? I have DirecTV and every few days I do a search where I manually toggle through the day's schedule between 3-8am (they have about 2 weeks of programming available to view) or I search for the usual suspect directors/acrors...right now HBO/Cinemax are in HEAVY rotation of Ty Power films.

"31 Days of Fred" is classic, I am keeking like Mutley from Wacky Races! I was so glad they played this film last night and it seems like the same print from which they put to DVD in the Fox Studio Classics. I am big fans of Power, Faye and Ameche maybe it's because I started watching classic film musicals first and I segued into dramas and made a home in noirs. I also loved all three of them in "In Old Chicago"...the fighting scene between Power and Ameche definitely brings the Mutley out of me. I don't think I've ever seen a better face of someone in their 20s than Ty Power. I really wish Ameche did more sinister roles because I could tell he had great versatility. I watched Heaven Can Wait this morning before work and it really shows his great acting abilities. I really hope TCM shows more FOX titles...particularly those that FMC doesn't air.

They definitely did a good job with "Pick Up" keeping the whole theme less political...can't really say the same for a few other noirs that seem to get lost in the political/propaganda sauce i.e. The House on 92nd Street.

Holly, I look forward to seeing that film. FrankGrimes, thank you for the lovely welcome. I have seen Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (I believe I have the last airing of it on my DVR) and the whole plot is ridiculous and takes on the assumption that the entire police dept is incompetent. Joan Fontaine's acting was blah but for some reason I still liked the film...I liked the twist at the end and I am admittedly a Dana Andrews fan. I liked Call Northside 777 as James Stewart was less hyper in this role and I guess the technology used to expose the truth was considered cutting edge for the time, it adds to the uniqueness. I was priviledged (or was I?) to see the Two Mrs. Carrolls during Bogie's month in Dec and while I think Bogie and Stanwyck had chemistry and should have been in more movies together, that film was pretty weird. Shock just arrived a few days ago so I will check it out, I also have not seen Jeopardy. It is considered a noir, and I can say that Black Widow is not a good noir. More like a back stage broadway mystery at best. I remember seeing Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Daisy Kenyon, In Name Only and Nob Hill...who knew she'd grow up to be a ham? She was horrible, as was the man who played Ginger Rogers wife. If a noir is going to be shot in color, I would much prefer it done on location (Leave Her to Heaven, Party Girl) vs. on soundstages.

With a simple google search it is so easy to find a list of the best film noirs (Double Indemnity, Maltese Falcon and other usual suspects make the list) but what are some of the worst in your opinions? And what exactly makes them bad- acting, plot, etc??? I will rattle my brain for a little and come up with some of my least favorites that I've seen so far.

Cinemaven, you just made my day. I haven't stopped laughing. Bravo and thank you.

FYI, Whirlpool (and many other Fox and a few MGM film noirs) are only $5.99 each at Amazon. I have no idea when the sale ends. The titles must be flying out of inventory because when I purchased, they were all in stock and now many are being shipped in 1-3 weeks.

I also really liked the evil that existed in Peter's character in "Vicki"...she def had a good little contribution to the noir genre.

stjohnrv, I happen to think Thelma did the best with what she had script-wise. It should also be noted that she was typecast...I also think her typecasting may have hurt her. I can imagine the thought process during voting time "look, another Ritter role as a maid or tired mother".

This thread is hilarious!

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and that fur coat were a hoot in the film!

I watched it this morning too. Cute special effects. I enjoy seeing Carole Landis and I definitely think her career would have been great had she lived longer....I def could see her in a few femme fatale roles (I liked her in "I Wake Up Screaming")

I think the script didn't really have anything for Coleen Gray to do so I can't fault her totally. KOD is one of quite a few noirs that do not rely on a "femme fatale" or a woman to push the plot. Her character wasn't necessary at all. If anything, Bianco's kids could have been raised by a grandmother with no real mention of a mother and her narration didn't have to be included...she was great in Nightmare Alley, but then again, the script made use of her character. Actually, the script made use of all three ladies - Gray, Blondell and Walker - and quite wonderfully so.

Thanks for the research Holly! In fairness to those ladies, I will have to check out some of those performances again as well as take a look at the other nominees in that category that year before I make a final opinion (will probably be biased anyway). I happened to be reading Walter Brenan's wiki page and I was a little disturbed about the Academy voting etc and what led to them changing the rules early on...fast forward many decades later and I STILL don't and may never understand the Academy and their voting practices etc. I guess what is most important is the actor or actress being well respected and recognized by their peers. From my understanding, Thelma Ritter was.

I too get Cinemax and MoreMax (and HBO signature) and record the early morning broadcast of older films. I missed the Bride of Frankenstein (it was short too) and I still have a recording of Night and the City on my DVR from last summer. Whirlpool is coming on tomorrow on MoreMax and on 2/17 Fallen Angel is showing. I believe HBO/Cinemax has an exclusive deal with Fox as 80%+ of the early morning pre 1960s films are from the fox Library. It wouldn't even make sense for TCM to premiere a Fox title without it going on in prime time.

They don't make character actors like they used to. I need to google who Thelma lost all her nominations to over the years...I can't imagine being nominated 6 times and losing - that woman knew how to pick a script! She saved Boeing Boeing from being a complete waste of 100 minutes of my life and DEFINITELY should have won for The Mating Season. There is something magical about her supporting performances....

Interesting opinion JackFavell. I love your analysis on Vic Mature....I have always liked him as an actor and I definitely have him on a list of actors who were supposed to be more iconic but fell under the spell of bad scripts during their day (I put Don Ameche on this list as well....something tells me he was supposed to stick around and play a few dark characters in the 40s and 50s vs moving on to radio). Coleen Gray was not in Now Voyager, she was in quite a few other noirs (Nightmare Alley, Kansas City Confidential, The Killing) and was okay in these films but boy oh boy was she a HAM in Kiss of Death! She could have easily been replaced with any other "leading lady" (even one who didn't venture into noirs) of this day. Last night was the 1 millionth time I seen Kiss of Death and for some reason I laughed hysterically (for the first time) at Widmark's Udo during the night club scene and the boxing scene....between his snarling, grinning and squealing, his wooden looking denture teeth, and his bugged out eyes, I never realized how almost cartoonish he was (think of the characters in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" when they are being put into "the dip"). Anyway, to see him 40 minutes later in a scene in Pick up on South Street, his eyes and teeth looked like they went back to normal.

Good point Holly. I guess I should file it under a western mystery while it may be 'noirish'...it definitely deals more with racism than crime.