Noir Alley

[LornaHansonForbes]

THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY...?

 

Eddie just mentioned this, anyone ever heard of this movie one?

[LornaHansonForbes]

**didnt quite remember right- Susan Hayward is the name of the unseen roommate of Susan Hayward in the movie.

[LornaHansonForbes]

**didnt quite remember right- Susan Hayward is the name of the unseen roommate of Susan Hayward in the movie.

 

 

AND I DIDN'T QUITE REMEMBER THAT RIGHT EITHER, HER name was Susan something, but not Hayward.

I'm about to have to change my name to Louise Howell Graham.

[HoldenIsHere]

THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY...?

 

Eddie just mentioned this, anyone ever heard of this movie one?

 

I had not heard of the movie either.

At first I thought he said THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE CHARLIE.

Ugh! RE: The Production Code dictated ending. 

 

 

This (THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME) was my first viewing of a Noir Alley installment. I was very impressed with Eddie Muller. I especially liked his more leisurely delivery style.

Now I'm going to watch POSSESSED (1947) On Demand to hear his comments.

[TomJH]

-

[mr6666]

Noir Alley‏Verified account @NoirAlley 14h14 hours ago

 

 

Join us next week on #NoirAlley for Anthony Mann's SIDE STREET ('50) starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell

 

[cigarjoe]

 

Noir Alley‏Verified account @NoirAlley 14h14 hours ago

 

 

Join us next week on #NoirAlley for Anthony Mann's SIDE STREET ('50) starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell

 

This one's got a pretty cool car chase in lower Manhattan shot from above, very impressive.

[ChristineHoard]

I'm going back a few weeks to In a Lonely Place.  I saw the movie again after I finished reading the book.  The book, by Dorothy Hughes, is dynamite and one of the best books I've ever read.  Really, really good and I can't add much to what others have said other than a big "thank you" for talking about it.  Now I want to read some of her other stuff.  I still like the movie a lot although it's not my favorite noir but it's very good with fine performances by all involved.  The only similarities are the characters' names and the LA setting.  The courtyard/apartments are pretty much the way I envisioned them from the book.  In the movie, Bogart's Dix Steele is a screenwriter.  In the novel, Dix is a mystery writer although he doesn't seem to be doing any actual writing.  It might be interesting to have a movie that follows the book's narrative more but I don't know how you could pull of the interior monologue.  It would be a challenge.  I would definitely keep the setting as post-WWII because LA and America after the war are important aspects of the story.  Again, thanks so much for the recommendation of the novel.

[cmovieviewer]

I'm going back a few weeks to In a Lonely Place.  I saw the movie again after I finished reading the book.  The book, by Dorothy Hughes, is dynamite and one of the best books I've ever read.  Really, really good and I can't add much to what others have said other than a big "thank you" for talking about it.  Now I want to read some of her other stuff.  I still like the movie a lot although it's not my favorite noir but it's very good with fine performances by all involved.  The only similarities are the characters' names and the LA setting.  The courtyard/apartments are pretty much the way I envisioned them from the book.  In the movie, Bogart's Dix Steele is a screenwriter.  In the novel, Dix is a mystery writer although he doesn't seem to be doing any actual writing.  It might be interesting to have a movie that follows the book's narrative more but I don't know how you could pull of the interior monologue.  It would be a challenge.  I would definitely keep the setting as post-WWII because LA and America after the war are important aspects of the story.  Again, thanks so much for the recommendation of the novel.

 

(*spoilers*) I have only seen the film and not read the book but it sounds like in the book it is much clearer that Dix is a killer.  Certainly today people are much more aware of things like PTSD, but I was wondering if there is any implication in the book that perhaps the war had an effect on Dix to make him the violent person that we see in the film.  (Or was he prone to be that way earlier in his life.)  I was looking for this type of motivation in the film but it was never really established positively that I can remember.  Everything I've read here does make it sound like the book is very much different from the movie, so perhaps the two may not have a whole lot to do with one another as far as fleshing out the characters.

[ChristineHoard]

(*spoilers*) I have only seen the film and not read the book but it sounds like in the book it is much clearer that Dix is a killer.  Certainly today people are much more aware of things like PTSD, but I was wondering if there is any implication in the book that perhaps the war had an effect on Dix to make him the violent person that we see in the film.  (Or was he prone to be that way earlier in his life.)  I was looking for this type of motivation in the film but it was never really established positively that I can remember.  Everything I've read here does make it sound like the book is very much different from the movie, so perhaps the two may not have a whole lot to do with one another as far as fleshing out the characters.

 

I don't think PTSD is a factor in this story, cmovieviewer.  I heartily recommend the book; the violence is pretty subtle but no doubt that Dix is a very dangerous character.

[cmovieviewer]

I don't think PTSD is a factor in this story, cmovieviewer.  I heartily recommend the book; the violence is pretty subtle but no doubt that Dix is a very dangerous character.

Thank you C. - Another thought I had on the movie was that the filmmakers wanted things to be ambiguous to build the suspense until the end, so they don't really want you to know too much about Dix's past.

[Marianne]

I'm going back a few weeks to In a Lonely Place.  I saw the movie again after I finished reading the book.  The book, by Dorothy Hughes, is dynamite and one of the best books I've ever read.  Really, really good and I can't add much to what others have said other than a big "thank you" for talking about it.  Now I want to read some of her other stuff.  I still like the movie a lot although it's not my favorite noir but it's very good with fine performances by all involved.  The only similarities are the characters' names and the LA setting.  The courtyard/apartments are pretty much the way I envisioned them from the book.  In the movie, Bogart's Dix Steele is a screenwriter.  In the novel, Dix is a mystery writer although he doesn't seem to be doing any actual writing.  It might be interesting to have a movie that follows the book's narrative more but I don't know how you could pull of the interior monologue.  It would be a challenge.  I would definitely keep the setting as post-WWII because LA and America after the war are important aspects of the story.  Again, thanks so much for the recommendation of the novel.

 

**Spoilers**

 

As I recall, Dix in the book In a Lonely Place isn't a writer at all. It's another one of the lies he tells. His whole presence in L.A. is based on lies and murder. He is living in his friend's (his name is Mel?) apartment because he killed Mel and could say that Mel left the country to work in Rio.

 

Maybe flashbacks would work for the interior monologue. That would certainly be noir! But it would be very difficult to show how Dix views his present world in flashbacks, and the story might lose something because being in his head is what really makes the book interesting. It would probably take a skilled filmmaker to capture Dix's persona on film and yet remain true to the novel.

 

I agree, by the way, that PTSD has nothing to do with the story. I didn't get that as a theme when I read the book.

[GordonCole]

I don't think PTSD is a factor in this story, cmovieviewer.  I heartily recommend the book; the violence is pretty subtle but no doubt that Dix is a very dangerous character.

This is one book I've never read but due to your excellent rendering of its value, I look forward to finding it for perusal. Thanks, Christine for your excellent exegesis of both film and book.

[ChristineHoard]

This is one book I've never read but due to your excellent rendering of its value, I look forward to finding it for perusal. Thanks, Christine for your excellent exegesis of both film and book.

 

Thank you, Gordon.  I don't have a bookstore near me so I got it at Amazon, published by the New York Review of Books with a new afterword by Megan Abbot.

[Marianne]

Thank you, Gordon.  I don't have a bookstore near me so I got it at Amazon, published by the New York Review of Books with a new afterword by Megan Abbot.

 

There is also an edition of In a Lonely Place published in 2003 by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, with an afterword by Lisa Maria Hogeland. I am on the waiting list at my local library for this edition and the one with the afterword by Megan Abbott. Apparently both editions are in high demand! But I really want to see what two modern writers have to say about the novel, especially with all the feedback that the novel has generated on this discussion thread. It's a great read.

[ChristineHoard]

 

There is also an edition of In a Lonely Place published in 2003 by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, with an afterword by Lisa Maria Hogeland. I am on the waiting list at my local library for this edition and the one with the afterword by Megan Abbott. Apparently both editions are in high demand! But I really want to see what two modern writers have to say about the novel, especially with all the feedback that the novel has generated on this discussion thread. It's a great read.

 

 

I haven't read the Lisa Maria afterward but I think you will enjoy reading Megan's comments.

[LornaHansonForbes]

SPOILERS KINDA SORTA IN RE: "IN A LONELY PLACE"

 

(but really at this point, don't we all know?)

 

in the hour long radio adaptation of IN A LONELY PLACE that was done for the SUSPENSE! Radio show, and which are posted somewhere below, it is revealed that there was a female character named Margie that both Brub and Dix knew when they were in the service together in England. It's later on revealed the Margie was found strangled.( I give you two guesses as to who did it.)

 

I can't remember if this plot point is in the novel in any form, it's not a main point of the radio episode, but it's in there. And as I remember it, the radio episode hues pretty closely to the novel.

 

Long story short, it seems like Dix has been A ladykiller in the literal sense for quite some time

[ChristineHoard]

SPOILERS KINDA SORTA IN RE: "IN A LONELY PLACE"

 

(but really at this point, don't we all know?)

 

in the hour long radio adaptation of IN A LONELY PLACE that was done for the SUSPENSE! Radio show, and which are posted somewhere below, it is revealed that there was a female character named Margie that both Brub and Dix knew when they were in the service together in England. It's later on revealed the Margie was found strangled.( I give you two guesses as to who did it.)

 

I can't remember if this plot point is in the novel in any form, it's not a main point of the radio episode, but it's in there. And as I remember it, the radio episode hues pretty closely to the novel.

 

Long story short, it seems like Dix has been A ladykiller in the literal sense for quite some time

 

Yeah, that's Brucie in the book - the lady they both knew in England during the war.

[LornaHansonForbes]

Yeah, that's Brucie in the book - the lady they both knew in England during the war.

 

Oh God.

I. Am. THE WORST.

 

It's "Brucie" in the radio version too; i really ought to have checked before I wrote that, I just remembered it firmly as 'Margie", I NEVER REMEMBER ANYTHING RIGHT.

 

I am SO becoming Louise Howell Grahame.

 

[cmovieviewer]

SPOILERS KINDA SORTA IN RE: "IN A LONELY PLACE"

 

...

 

in the hour long radio adaptation of IN A LONELY PLACE that was done for the SUSPENSE! Radio show, and which are posted somewhere below, it is revealed that there was a female character named Margie that both Brub and Dix knew when they were in the service together in England. It's later on revealed the Margie was found strangled.( I give you two guesses as to who did it.)

 

 

Unless there's something about Brub in the book / radio show you all aren't telling us, I think I only need one guess to say who killed Margie!

 

 

(Pardon the joke, I could not resist.)

[Hibi]

This one's got a pretty cool car chase in lower Manhattan shot from above, very impressive.

 

 

YES.

[cmovieviewer]

AND I DIDN'T QUITE REMEMBER THAT RIGHT EITHER, HER name was Susan something, but not Hayward.

I'm about to have to change my name to Louise Howell Graham.

 

Sorry Lorna, I just got caught up on They Won't Believe Me.  You were very close on the roommate's name - it is "Susan Haines."  It goes by very fast so I had to play it back to make it out (together with IMDB).

 

Eddie's main focus this week seems to have been producer Joan Harrison.  I also had not heard of The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry before, so I'll have to seek it out.  As Eddie was comparing Joan's movies, he also mentioned Ride the Pink Horse, which I think I like a bit better than They Won't Believe Me, mostly because I enjoyed Robert Montgomery's performance, but they are both good films.

 

Robert Young sure shattered his later good-guy image in They Won't Believe Me.  Talk about people who have it all and still aren't happy.  Not only did his character have a rich wife who would do anything for him (and forgive him of anything), he also had two other beautiful women he could string along as well.  You know by the end of the movie the Production Code will enact severe retribution for that kind of behavior.

[Hibi]

Yes, and it did! 

[LornaHansonForbes]

 

Robert Young sure shattered his later good-guy image in They Won't Believe Me. Talk about people who have it all and still aren't happy.  Not only did his character have a rich wife who would do anything for him (and forgive him of anything), he also had two other beautiful women he could string along as well.  You know by the end of the movie the Production Code will enact severe retribution for that kind of behavior.

 

I dunno about the wife.

 

She reminded me of the Gene Tierney character in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (wanting to keep him all to herself) only she was, forgive me, no Gene Tierney.

 

and as obsessive as she was, she also struck me as the type who will only do missionary and NOTHING ELSE.

 

just no fun, total Ice Queen.

 

...and That Aunt of hers who wore mourning with sequins!

[cmovieviewer]

I dunno about the wife.

 

She reminded me of the Gene Tierney character in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (wanting to keep him all to herself) only she was, forgive me, no Gene Tierney.

 

and as obsessive as she was, she also struck me as the type who will only do missionary and NOTHING ELSE.

 

just no fun, total Ice Queen.

 

...and That Aunt of hers who wore mourning with sequins!

 

She was a bit manipulative.  But still,

 

- she is pretty!

- she likes horses!

- she has money!

 

(Am I too superficial?)