Noir Alley

[Hoganman1]

I guess I'll break the ice and comment on THE SEVENTH VICTIM. I thought it was weird, but interesting. It reminded me of a much tamer version of ROSEMARY'S BABY. Two things that struck me were that possibly Hitchcock was influenced by the shower scene as Eddie suggested and how much Jean Brooks looked like Donna Reed.  I am curious as to what the rest of you think about the movie.  

[cigarjoe]

1 hour ago, Hoganman1 said:

I guess I'll break the ice and comment on THE SEVENTH VICTIM. I thought it was weird, but interesting. It reminded me of a much tamer version of ROSEMARY'S BABY. Two things that struck me were that possibly Hitchcock was influenced by the shower scene as Eddie suggested and how much Jean Brooks looked like Donna Reed.  I am curious as to what the rest of you think about the movie.  

I've seen it before, it's very atmospheric, dark, beautifully shot and quite daring/shocking for the time (the ending in particular).

[Vautrin]

I've seen it a few times before. The general spooky atmosphere and visuals are more impressive than

the plot or characters, which are occasionally on the weak side. I can certainly understand Jacqueline

hiding out. If I had that hairdo I'd do the same thing, though suicide was going a bit too far. And the

Satanists were the most gentle and unassuming devil worshipers I can recall in a movie. Hard to get

very worked about about them. So Beaumont is married to Mary's older sister and then in a few days

falls in love with her, despite being much older. That struck me as a bit odd, though in Hollywood it's

not much of a big deal. How fortunate that Jacqueline decided to commit a self-induced big sleep

and make it easier for the kids to live happily ever after. All in all though, despite its limitations, I enjoy

this film for its overall weirdness and the fact that it only runs 71 minutes doesn't hurt. 

[Hoganman1]

I'm glad to see some comments on THE SEVENTH VICTIM  trickling in  to the thread. I was beginning to think transitioning  out of DST had caused everyone to sleep through the day.  I know I'm a bit out of whack due to the time change. 

[mr6666]

 

[midwestan]

I enjoyed "Nightfall".  Eddie was his usual informative self on his wrap-around presentations.  Aldo Ray, Ann Bancroft, and Brian Keith were all good in it, as were James Gregory and Rudy Bond, who was most annoying.  Keith and Bond are bank robbers who have an accident in Wyoming's high country while making their getaway.  Ray and his friend, Frank Albertson, witness the accident and help out the robbers, but pay a terrible price for their generosity.  A camping and fishing trip turns tragic after the campers discover the satchel full of money and are shot by the bandits.   Albertson dies.  Ray is injured, but fakes his death so escapes further wrath from Keith or Bond, who leave the scene of the crime.  They forgot one thing though...the loot!

Ray takes it into the woods then across an open area near a line shack and ultimately buries it in the deep snow.  He goes back home, but doesn't tell authorities about what's happened, especially after being threatened by the robbers, who didn't get too far away from the campsite when they realized they left the money behind.  They ultimately track Ray down to find out what he did with the money.  In the meantime, he befriends Ann Bancroft while he's on the run from the bad guys.  James Gregory plays an insurance investigator trying to help the bank get its money back.  The story is told in flashbacks and it kept me engaged, for the most part.  The end scene where one of the robbers 'gets it' is not graphic by today's standards, but gruesome nonetheless as you use your imagination!

I don't remember if I've seen "Fear", which is next week's Noir Alley installment.  As usual, looking forward to the show and Eddie's commentary.

[jamesjazzguitar]

12 minutes ago, midwestan said:

I enjoyed "Nightfall".  Eddie was his usual informative self on his wrap-around presentations.  Aldo Ray, Ann Bancroft, and Brian Keith were all good in it, as were James Gregory and Rudy Bond, who was most annoying.  Keith and Bond are bank robbers who have an accident in Wyoming's high country while making their getaway.  Ray and his friend, Frank Albertson, witness the accident and help out the robbers, but pay a terrible price for their generosity.  A camping and fishing trip turns tragic after the campers discover the satchel full of money and are shot by the bandits.   Albertson dies.  Ray is injured, but fakes his death so escapes further wrath from Keith or Bond, who leave the scene of the crime.  They forgot one thing though...the loot!

Ray takes it into the woods then across an open area near a line shack and ultimately buries it in the deep snow.  He goes back home, but doesn't tell authorities about what's happened, especially after being threatened by the robbers, who didn't get too far away from the campsite when they realized they left the money behind.  They ultimately track Ray down to find out what he did with the money.  In the meantime, he befriends Ann Bancroft while he's on the run from the bad guys.  James Gregory plays an insurance investigator trying to help the bank get its money back.  The story is told in flashbacks and it kept me engaged, for the most part.  The end scene where one of the robbers 'gets it' is not graphic by today's standards, but gruesome nonetheless as you use your imagination!

I don't remember if I've seen "Fear", which is next week's Noir Alley installment.  As usual, looking forward to the show and Eddie's commentary.

I'm a big fan of Nightfall.     For me one of the better end-of-the-cycle noir films.   

[cigarjoe]

I like Nightfall also. 

 

 

[Hibi]

On 11/1/2020 at 6:27 PM, Hoganman1 said:

I'm glad to see some comments on THE SEVENTH VICTIM  trickling in  to the thread. I was beginning to think transitioning  out of DST had caused everyone to sleep through the day.  I know I'm a bit out of whack due to the time change. 

I forgot to comment. It was ok. I'd seen it once before. Story was a bit on the ridiculous side, but the visuals helped make up  for the script's shortcomings.

[Hibi]

Nightfall had another ridiculous script. I'd seen this once before also. Hard to swallow any of the story, but it was involving enough if you didn't think of all the implausibilities. Rudy Bond's fate was very satisfying though (I guessed the first time that was going to happen).

[ElCid]

Nightfall was a pleasant movie, if implausible at times.  A year later Anne Bancroft made The Girl in Black Stockings, which I much prefer.

[chaya bat woof woof]

While it isn't noir, did anyone ever see Don't Bother to Knock (think that is the name) with Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft as his love interest, and Marilyn Monroe as a young woman in need of psychological help?

[jamesjazzguitar]

8 minutes ago, chaya bat woof woof said:

While it isn't noir, did anyone ever see Don't Bother to Knock (think that is the name) with Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft as his love interest, and Marilyn Monroe as a young woman in need of psychological help?

I have seen the film a few times.     My favorite Monroe film (well,  after All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle,  but in those films Monroe only had a small part).

Monroe's screen persona of vulnerability was used very well in Don't Bother to Knock.

[Vautrin]

I had never seen Nightfall before. Pretty well done with a good balance of urban and rural locations,

though I could have done without the butter/cornmeal debate. The Ray~Bancroft romance was more

interesting than many of these noir romances, more down to earth than usual. And among other

things, Ray says he paint soup cans. A pop artist ahead of his time. I couldn't decide whether I wanted

Red to be killed because he was such a nasty psycho or because of all his dumb jokes. Maybe a com-

bination of both, though I felt a little sorry at his ultimate fate. There certainly were a lot of improbabilities.

The most glaring to me was the two robbers not looking in the bag to make sure it was full of cash and

not the doc's medical equipment. Hard to believe.

 

[jamesjazzguitar]

2 hours ago, Vautrin said:

I had never seen Nightfall before. Pretty well done with a good balance of urban and rural locations,

though I could have done without the butter/cornmeal debate. The Ray~Bancroft romance was more

interesting than many of these noir romances, more down to earth than usual. And among other

things, Ray says he paint soup cans. A pop artist ahead of his time. I couldn't decide whether I wanted

Red to be killed because he was such a nasty psycho or because of all his dumb jokes. Maybe a com-

bination of both, though I felt a little sorry at his ultimate fate. There certainly were a lot of improbabilities.

The most glaring to me was the two robbers not looking in the bag to make sure it was full of cash and

not the doc's medical equipment. Hard to believe.

 

After Hibi made the point about improbabilities,  I decided to find the biggest ones and found 3:

Not looking into the bag,    not making sure the Ray character was dead,   and at the end when the good guys see the tracks in the snow,  and even say they must be from the bad-guys,  they go ahead anyway without any firearms (which the two men also discuss and the insurance guy says guns are for the police).    Yea,   so why didn't you back away and call the police!!!!

Oh well,   I really like this film and as is the case with many films one just has to go-along with those improbabilities.

  

 

 

[Vautrin]

2 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

After Hibi made the point about improbabilities,  I decided to find the biggest ones and found 3:

Not looking into the bag,    not making sure the Ray character was dead,   and at the end when the good guys see the tracks in the snow,  and even say they must be from the bad-guys,  they go ahead anyway without any firearms (which the two men also discuss and the insurance guy says guns are for the police).    Yea,   so why didn't you back away and call the police!!!!

Oh well,   I really like this film and as is the case with many films one just has to go-along with those improbabilities.

  

 

 

I liked it also despite some of the pretty unbelievable aspects of the movie. I just about rolled my eyes

when the insurance investigator said he wasn't carrying a gun. Hey, this isn't some fraudster trying to

collect disability you're going after. Film fans just learn to roll with the punches when it comes to

improbabilities. They're all part of the biz.

[cigarjoe]

Fear (1946) tonight. Thought I hadn't seen it but checked my  list and I have seen it must have not made much of an impression, lol.  Well I'll give it another go.

 

[cmovieviewer]

6 hours ago, cigarjoe said:

Fear (1946) tonight. Thought I hadn't seen it but checked my  list and I have seen it must have not made much of an impression, lol.  Well I'll give it another go.

 

Anyone setting a DVR for tonight's show should be aware that the run time is 68 minutes (plus time for Eddie's material), in spite of the fact that the on-line schedule is currently listing it at 54 minutes.

(Eddie mentioned it was going to be 68 minutes in his wrap-up last weekend.)

[LsDoorMat]

Wow, pertaining to "Fear", this was just about the least passionate wrap-around I've ever seen Eddie give on Noir Alley. He clearly was not enthused about "Fear". 

I loved his line in the intro - "Starring Peter Cookson, Anne Gwynne, and Francis Pierlot, all of whom I'm sure you'll be seeing on Summer Under the Stars next year...". I could be paraphrasing.  When you see Eddie basically say "meh" at a "meh" film, it is probably not worth sticking around. 

It was Warren Williams' second to last film. He died in 1948 of cancer at only age 53. 

[chaya bat woof woof]

Fear was, per Eddie, an abridged version of Crime and Punishment (saw two versions - one with Peter Lorre, which Eddie mentioned, and the other with John Hurt (may have been a TV one).  I started watching but quickly lost interest, especially since the film was very grainy.

[ElCid]

I watched all of the movie.  Not good, but not that bad either.  Eddie was so down on it, why did he show it?

One thing I found interesting was on the title screen, the production company was listed as Motion Pictures for Television, Incorporated.   Was this added at a later date by a different company?

 

[jamesjazzguitar]

3 hours ago, ElCid said:

I watched all of the movie.  Not good, but not that bad either.  Eddie was so down on it, why did he show it?

One thing I found interesting was on the title screen, the production company was listed as Motion Pictures for Television, Incorporated.   Was this added at a later date by a different company?

 

I could only watch part of it.   Just too "flat".   Warren William added some interest.     I guess I needed actors that I was familiar with other than William.    

[lydecker]

5 hours ago, LsDoorMat said:

Wow, pertaining to "Fear", this was just about the least passionate wrap-around I've ever seen Eddie give on Noir Alley. He clearly was not enthused about "Fear". 

I loved his line in the intro - "Starring Peter Cookson, Anne Gwynne, and Francis Pierlot, all of whom I'm sure you'll be seeing on Summer Under the Stars next year...". I could be paraphrasing.  When you see Eddie basically say "meh" at a "meh" film, it is probably not worth sticking around. 

It was Warren Williams' second to last film. He died in 1948 of cancer at only age 53. 

Yes, he did seem to be really dissing the film which was a little confusing since I thought he generally chose the Noir Alley films.  As for the "all of whom you'll be seeing on SUTS next year" line, I did take exception to the inclusion of Warren William in that since the guy was a pretty big star in the 30's, very active in the 40's and almost was SOTM not too long ago but lost to another TCM Backlot selection. Poor WW.  If he hasn't already gotten a SUTS salute, he surely should, one of these days. 

[LsDoorMat]

2 minutes ago, lydecker said:

Yes, he did seem to be really dissing the film which was a little confusing since I thought he generally chose the Noir Alley films.  As for the "all of whom you'll be seeing on SUTS next year" line, I did take exception to the inclusion of Warren William in that since the guy was a pretty big star in the 30's, very active in the 40's and almost was SOTM not too long ago but lost to another TCM Backlot selection. Poor WW.  If he hasn't already gotten a SUTS salute, he surely should, one of these days. 

I think Eddie specifically mentioned the three lesser known stars in his "Summer Under The Stars" remark, because I would have been offended too if he mentioned Warren William in that way. In fact, if he wanted something good to say, I was wondering why he didn't mention William's performance. I didn't stick around for the outro remarks, so he might have mentioned him then. 

[Vautrin]

It's a long way from St. Petersburg to Poverty Row, in more ways than one. I would call this one

a comic book version of a Classic Illustrated version of the novel. Taken as an adaption of the

novel, it's pretty thin and weak. Taken on its own as another crime movie, it's okay, but nothing

special. The low budget sets and look go with setting of the original story, but otherwise not very

good. And then here's another dumb criminal. Doesn't take the money and run, starts throwing 

himself in the way of the police inspector. The trick ending is kind of lame, but it also goes with

the whole quickie vibe of the movie. The crime was the idea of adapting the novel on the cheap,

the punishment is sitting through most of it. Thank goodness the sentence is only 68 minutes.