Noir Alley

[ElCid]

Assume you guys are talking about Follow Me Quietly, Noir Alley for 10/27/10/28?

[cigarjoe]

Follow Me Quietly I gave it a 6/10. It was a bit off the wall, and ridiculous. It goes something like this. They had this method of police investigation using a faceless dummy the right size and description of what witnesses described as the murder who call's himself "the Judge." None of them saw his face, hence the "faceless" dummy. Why they didn't just use an undercover cop that fit the description is my question? Maybe to save paying him overtime?

Anyway the importance of the flick is probably because it's one of the first films about a serial killer. The week after is Sniper another serial killer noir. Others, 1960 Psycho and then The Strangler (1964). 

[misswonderly3]

21 minutes ago, TheCid said:

Assume you guys are talking about Follow Me Quietly, Noir Alley for 10/27/10/28?

Wait ! I didn't know Boy Scouts were ever featured in noirs ! But of course Fred MacMurray was. ?

[Hibi]

42 minutes ago, TheCid said:

Assume you guys are talking about Follow Me Quietly, Noir Alley for 10/27/10/28?

Yes. Hopefully it's better than The Hunted. At least Preston Foster and Belita aren't in it.....

[Brrrcold]

The Noir Alley schedule lists the Jan 27 2019 film as 'Talk about a Stranger', but the January 2019 schedule suggests that Noir Alley has been unscheduled. Anyone know what's going on?

[ElCid]

Looked up Follow Me Quietly on Wikipedia and remembered I had seen it a while back.  There is one element described on Wiki which sets it apart from other Noir movies.  May watch it again primarily to listen to Eddie Muller, but do not recall it as being that good.  Probably a two star, but as I recall not really any better than The Hunted.

However, it was more Noirish as I recall.  Lots of dark scenes, mostly in a city and so forth.

[Vautrin]

I usually don't look ahead, waiting to be surprised a bit on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure

I haven't seen this one. Just that fact is a plus. So is this film was made without the

participation of any ice skaters. Hallelujah. 

[speedracer5]

11 hours ago, Brrrcold said:

The Noir Alley schedule lists the Jan 27 2019 film as 'Talk about a Stranger', but the January 2019 schedule suggests that Noir Alley has been unscheduled. Anyone know what's going on?

I hope they are rescheduling Christmas Holiday which was supposed to air in December! 

[misswonderly3]

On 10/23/2018 at 9:44 AM, misswonderly3 said:

Wait ! I didn't know Boy Scouts were ever featured in noirs ! But of course Fred MacMurray was. ?

I guess nobody "got" this...well, sometimes my attempts at humour are lame, I admit it.  When I heard the next noir feature's title was Follow Me Quietly, I immediately thought of that goofy Fred MacMurray thing from the '60s, long after his hey day, Follow Me Boys. It's all about how Fred kind of re-invents himself as a boy scout leader in a small town. Not very noir.

[cigarjoe]

30 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

I guess nobody "got" this...well, sometimes my attempts at humour are lame, I admit it.  When I heard the next noir feature's title was Follow Me Quietly, I immediately thought of that goofy Fred MacMurray thing from the '60s, long after his hey day, Follow Me Boys. It's all about how Fred kind of re-invents himself as a boy scout leader in a small town. Not very noir.

I didn't. I didn't get the boy scout ref. I also took a quick look at the cast of Follow Me Quietly to see if  Fred was in it. I didn't know what the hell you were talking about. Thanks for the explanation

[Sgt_Markoff]

'Follow Me Quietly' found favor with this viewer. I like it quite a bit; I'd say even more so than other films treating the same type of plot.

[cigarjoe]

2 hours ago, Sgt_Markoff said:

'Follow Me Quietly' found favor with this viewer. I like it quite a bit; I'd say even more so than other films treating the same type of plot.

See, you tune to this film more than I did.

It's just subjective, for me it's the style, the visuals, the camera work, the framing, the locations, the depth of field, I get dazzled by that first, then the story explains the visuals or it doesn't. 

Their is no real universal checklist for a noir, the total work communicates something to you, if it it all works I interpret it as my personal definition of noir.

[jamesjazzguitar]

1 hour ago, cigarjoe said:

It's just subjective, for me it's the style, the visuals, the camera work, the framing, the locations, the depth of field, I get dazzled by that first, then the story explains the visuals or it doesn't. 

Interesting;   The first thing that comes to mind is that I look for the visuals to explain the story.    E.g. use of shadows to 'explain' the depth of a character's loneliness or despair etc...     How fear is best communicated using visuals,  etc...

But I'm sure I do both as a film unfolds.

 

[mr6666]

The Nightmare Diva‏ @NitrateDiva 1h1 hour ago

 

Calling everybody—especially aspiring filmmakers—to watch this as an example of how to make a scary, engaging feature film that clocks in at 60 minutes.

=============================================

Noir Alley‏Verified account @NoirAlley

 

TONIGHT! See FOLLOW ME QUIETLY ('49) hosted by @EddieMuller on #NoirAlley !

[sagebrush]

I really enjoyed this film (and it's 60 min duration.)

I wonder why, though, in so many of these noir films, the detectives just pick up evidence and move about the crime scenes with their bare hands. Maybe my eyes just wander too much.

Did they ever disclose what it was about rain or streaming water that was obviously a trigger for the judge? I don't think I missed any of the dialogue, but maybe I did?

[misswonderly3]

On 10/23/2018 at 11:32 AM, TheCid said:

Looked up Follow Me Quietly on Wikipedia and remembered I had seen it a while back.  There is one element described on Wiki which sets it apart from other Noir movies.  May watch it again primarily to listen to Eddie Muller, but do not recall it as being that good.  Probably a two star, but as I recall not really any better than The Hunted.

However, it was more Noirish as I recall.  Lots of dark scenes, mostly in a city and so forth.

Cid, you don't say what  " that one element described on Wiki which sets it apart from other Noir movies"  is. I'd rather hear from you what "that one element" is than look it up on Wiki.

[ElCid]

16 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

Cid, you don't say what  " that one element described on Wiki which sets it apart from other Noir movies"  is. I'd rather hear from you what "that one element" is than look it up on Wiki.

OK.  Spoiler (why I didn't mention it) If memory serves, it was the use of the dummy to try and determine what the culprit looked like.

[kingrat]

I liked Follow Me Quietly better than some of the rest of you did. The title, by the way, was never explained. Most of the cinematography was clearly film noir, and the film was very well directed, as Eddie Muller pointed out. Not surprising that some scenes were ascribed to Anthony Mann, though that is incorrect, according to Muller.

Muller also commented that William Lundigan seems too normal to play a detective going out of control, which is true. Although Dorothy Patrick is very attractive in the slick raincoat in her first appearance, Lundigan actually gets a sexier scene than she does when he takes off his shirt. The whole scene in his apartment is cute and sexy, though some viewers may feel uncomfortable that Lundigan, not Patrick, is the center of erotic attention.

 

[LornaHansonForbes]

1 hour ago, kingrat said:

I liked Follow Me Quietly better than some of the rest of you did. The title, by the way, was never explained. Most of the cinematography was clearly film noir, and the film was very well directed, as Eddie Muller pointed out. Not surprising that some scenes were ascribed to Anthony Mann, though that is incorrect, according to Muller.

Muller also commented that William Lundigan seems too normal to play a detective going out of control, which is true. Although Dorothy Patrick is very attractive in the slick raincoat in her first appearance, Lundigan actually gets a sexier scene than she does when he takes off his shirt. The whole scene in his apartment is cute and sexy, though some viewers may feel uncomfortable that Lundigan, not Patrick, is the center of erotic attention.

 

That was a NUTTY scene, but I liked it.

I am so sorry everyone, but I again had USHER DUTY at church ca. 11:00 am and missed the end of this movie, but I liked what i saw of it and will most defintiely check for it ON DEMAND, where HOPEFULLY IT'LL SHOW UP (they've been better about posting NOIR ALLEYS in the ON DEMAND selection.)

What I saw moved fast and was amusing- it was like a less funny, "serious" attempt episode of POLICE SQUAD! You have to admire the way RICHARD FLEISCHER throws himself into his subject matter even if he's not exactly nailing it on authenticity.

I do love that the serial killer on the loose was called THE JUDGE and have to wonder if before he struck, he yelled out "HERE COME THE ME! HERE COME THE ME!"

[EDIT: I'm so sorry for that. i just HAD TO.]

The faceless dummy interrogation scene was really something, as if WILLIAM CASTLE decided to moonlight as a forensics examiner. I was reminded of the "No Face Zombie" from SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? Wonder what they did with The Dummy after filming...maybe left it propped up on the couch in HOWARD HUGHES'S office to scare the **** out of him?

Don't anyone spoil the ending of this, I really will be scoping out ON DEMAND for it.

 

[cigarjoe]

2 hours ago, kingrat said:

The title, by the way, was never explained.

I think one of the cops says that line when he put handcuffs on a suspect, unless I imagined it,

[Vautrin]

Well done and efficient for getting everything covered in one hour, and not feeling that

things were rushed. Another cop with a Murphy bed. Hmmm. And another scene that's

a bit risque but can't go too far due to the Code. Both feet on the floor now. The plot

isn't anything original, but good enough. I suppose there could have been a bit more

background on the Judge, but one look at four eyes and his ugly mug and that's a

shortcut way of saying Of course this guy's as nutty as they come, just take a look at

him. And in movies where the psychos are given more explain time, one grows weary

of the constant whining about mommy. Back in the days cops weren't as careful as

they are now. Twenty years later, Joe Friday wouldn't get caught wearing a pair of

gloves. That's for sissies. Or pot smoking hippies.

[LornaHansonForbes]

DANG IT.

FOLLOW ME QUIETLY has not shown up on [my] TCM ON DEMAND.

Lately, the planets have not been aligned with my preferences at all.

[Sgt_Markoff]

Quote

It's just subjective, for me it's the style, the visuals, the camera work, the framing, the locations, the depth of field, I get dazzled by that first, then the story explains the visuals or it doesn't. 

Unnnghhhh.

The infatuation with personal subjectivity is far too prevalent in many viewer's descriptions of the films they watch. Bad trend.

After all, its not as if whatever you experienced watching this movie, (which maybe happened as a result of what you personally ate or drank that evening, or which was maybe the result of some childhood experience), 'goes' for the rest of us. When studying a book of film criticism, and suddenly arriving at a chapter about film noir, we can't halt and contact you to get your reaction. There's no sole, lone audience member who's opinion can stand for all. Subjectivity has to be taken out of it all this. We can't all sit inside your skull.

Even if one blithely wishes to characterize a film as 'following a certain logic' (for them); a noir flick nonetheless has many qualities which viewers do react to uniformly; or near-uniformly. What truly matters is these more 'universal traits', when it comes to describing what a noir is. You can't often do this in cinema; and so we shouldn't veer away from it and insist on our individual reactions instead. Where does that get anyone?

Quote

Their is no real universal checklist for a noir, the total work communicates something to you, if it it all works I interpret it as my personal definition of noir.

H'mmm? What prevents us from making a checklist for noir? What prevents us even, from singling out one primary quality of noir? Thanks to the unique structure of noir, its perhaps the only genre of cinema where we can do confidently such a thing.

Remember, personal opinions do not constitute disagreement. If two people sit at a table and each of them speaks about 'what works for them'...'what they like' ...'what they dislike'...then, the entire matter ends when they get up and walk away. There's no contention between merely two opinions.

[ElCid]

Follow Me Quietly is not a bad movie, but I too question if it really Noir.  Spoilers.  Incidentally, the title comes from close to the end where Lundigan handcuffs The Judge on top of the refinery and then tells him, "Follow me quietly."  Doesn't really make sense to me.  How else would he want him to follow him?  The fight scene there is not really very plausible.  Lundigan is hanging on by a thread so to speak while The Judge is firmly on the catwalk.  Yet it is The Judge's handcuff that comes off and he flips over the catwalk.  And why didn't Lundigan fasten The Judge's handcuffs tighter than his own?

As Muller noted, Lundigan is not a Noir actor and certainly wasn't in this one.  Neither was Dorothy Patrick.  Sort of reminded me of a "more mature" Nancy Drew movie.  Jeff Corey was good in his limited role.  He should have been the lead.

Lundigan's taking off his shirt and changing into pajamas and getting into bed were obviously to encourage Nancy Drew to get out.  And why would she dress somewhat sexily and then not really do anything to encourage Lundigan to help her?  Definitely not Barbara Stanwyck, Jane Greer or a multitude of others.

I didn't buy Edwin Max as The Judge.  He just did not appear to be the type that could have planned out everything so well and eluded the police for months(?) and gotten away with seven murders.  Also found it a stretch that Nancy Drew, err, Ann Gorman came up the ultimate solution to the crime.

Someone noted the dinky apartment and the bed in the closet.  This is the second feature recently where a police lieutenant is living in a very cheap apartment.  The regular patrol officers with families must live in cardboard boxes. 

The ending was even more "cute" than the one in the movie a week or so ago - and less plausible.

Overall, it seemed to be a light, mystery movie.  Entertaining, but not a Noir.  No more than a Saint or a Falcon would be considered a Noir.

 

Oh, did think the dummy was an interesting touch.  I had seen the movie before, but watched it again.

Edited October 29, 2018 by TheCid

[Hibi]

Once again a film whose title wasn't familiar, but 5 mins into the film, I realized I'd seen it before. But I didnt remember that much about the plot until near the end. A step up from last week's offering! I thought Eddie was too hard on Lundigan. The script didnt give him anywhere to go for that type of character development......

Some really creepy scenes (esp. the one where the dummy turned out to be not so dumb!)