Noir Alley

[mr6666]

SEE :  https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/86054/over-exposed#articles-reviews?articleId=021546

[ElCid]

Watched Over-Exposed today even though have it on DVD.  Interestingly Eddie says it is not Noir, but my DVD set with it is titled Bad Girls of Film Noir, Vol 2, from Columbia Classics.  Cleo Moore is in three of the movies on the set.

Regardless, it is an entertaining movie and Moore definitely is the centerpiece.

[Thompson]

“Without a chaser, give it to me straight,” says Cleo Moore.  That theme is certainly followed in all the drinking scenes. Nary an ice cube or a mixer in those shell glasses.  Not one drink is left undrunk, no camera shots of one.  Raymond Greenleaf, Max, pulls off the typical alcoholic’s “just a thimble full to steady the ol’ nerves” with great style.  Always a glass.  Love the extra at the bar reading a paperback.  Cleo Moore smoked cigarettes in real life I’d venture to guess, probably a lot of them, because her cigarette smoking in Over Exposed is terrific.  As far as a sex bomb, gentlemen prefer blonds and all that, but . . . As for her acting, if you can get away from the bomb angle, I think it is very legitimate .  I’d like to see some more of her work.

[JamesJazGuitar]

4 minutes ago, Thompson said:

“Without a chaser, give it to me straight,” says Cleo Moore.  That theme was certainly followed in all the drinking scenes. Nary an ice cube or a mixer in those shell glasses.  Not one drink was left undrunk, or no camera shots of one.  Raymond Greenleaf, Max, pulled off the typical alcoholic’s “just a thimble full to steady the ol’ nerves” with great style.  Always a glass.  Loved the extra at the bar reading a paperback.  Cleo Moore smoked cigarettes in real life I’d venture to guess, probably a lot of them, because her cigarette smoking in Over Exposed was terrific.  As far as a sex bomb, gentlemen prefer blonds I’m told, but guess what?  Nobody ever accused me of being one of those guys.  As for her acting, if you can get away from the bomb angle, I thought it was very legitimate .  I’d like to see some more of her work.

Cleo Moore made 7 films with Columbia's producer,  director,  screenwriter and actor,  Hugo Haas,   the first one being Strange Fascination. 

That film was followed by One Girl's Confession,   Thy Neighbor's Wife, Bait,   The Other Women,  Hold Back Tomorrow (Universal), and her final film Hit and Run.

These "B" films are fairly entertaining with my favorite being One Girl's Confession.         

 

 

[jameselliot]

[ElCid]

5 hours ago, JamesJazGuitar said:

Cleo Moore made 7 films with Columbia's producer,  director,  screenwriter and actor,  Hugo Haas,   the first one being Strange Fascination. 

That film was followed by One Girl's Confession,   Thy Neighbor's Wife, Bait,   The Other Women,  Hold Back Tomorrow (Universal), and her final film Hit and Run.

These "B" films are fairly entertaining with my favorite being One Girl's Confession.         

 

 

This one is on the DVD set I have and is as good as Over-Exposed, but different.  Interesting plot.

[Vautrin]

A few belts would have really helped this one. Even as an exploitation flick it's pretty tame. And then it turns into one of

those1950s The Best of Everything type films--girl moving to the big city and trying to move up the ladder and  at the

same  time snag a hubby.  Cleo's profession as  a photog is different from the usual desk jockeys, but that really doesn't

help too much. And Crenna's character is about as bland as breakfast cereal. No wonder Cleo was hesitant to marry  this

guy.  This  one just doesn't do very much, noir or not. I will give credit to  the  stylish  opening credits, much better than

the  usual low-budget ones.

[Hibi]

I was bored with it. Only got interesting (and not very) in the last 15 mins or so. Some of Cleo's dialog was funny.

[mr6666]

 

[jameselliot]

I'll watch it. I'm on a French and German  noir kick the past two months.

[mr6666]

see:  https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79725/quai-des-orfevres#articles-reviews?articleId=021547

[Cigarjoe cellph]

Nice info in Eddie's intro, I've seen it before so didn't watch more than 20 minutes of it. I'll catch up with it On Demand, got to work in the AM

[Hoganman1]

I'm going to record it to watch later. I assume it's in French. One question I have is are there subtitles or is it dubbed? 

[JamesJazGuitar]

3 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:

I'm going to record it to watch later. I assume it's in French. One question I have is are there subtitles or is it dubbed? 

Subtitles.

[misswonderly3]

4 hours ago, Hoganman1 said:

I'm going to record it to watch later. I assume it's in French. One question I have is are there subtitles or is it dubbed? 

 

1 hour ago, JamesJazGuitar said:

Subtitles.

And a good thing, too.  I can't stand dubbed foreign films,  the acting is usually pretty bad, the dubbing always seems to be out-of-sync with the actors,  and you can just tell they're not really speaking what you're hearing.  I find it distracting,  much more so than subtitles.   Dubbed-into-English versions of foreign language films just takes away from the movie.  I have no problem whatsoever with foreign films using subtitles.    

(  Hoganman,  I wasn't suggesting that you have a problem with subtitles.  Maybe you, like me, prefer them to dubbing.  I was just giving my own personal take on the subtitles - versus-dubbing thing.)

[misswonderly3]

I loved  Quai des Orfevres.  I don't care whether it's regarded as a noir or not  ( and apparently Eddie wasn't too worried either),  it entertained and engaged me every minute.   I enjoyed all the actors, for one thing.  The "sad sack" character, Maurice  ( Bernard Blier)  was oddly sympathetic. 

Did anyone else think Suzy Delair bore quite a resemblance to Angela Lansbury?  Both of them have that round-faced, rosebud mouth look.  Sort of a lush quality.  I thought Miss Delair was very good in her role as Jenny, whom I did not see as a femme fatale at all.  

For one thing,  she truly loves that sad-sack husband of hers'.  Yes,  she's a flirt,  but that's all, she's just one of those women who naturally enjoys flirting, it doesn't   "mean anything".   I really liked that  in spite of everything -  Jenny's flirtatiousness and dishonesty,  Maurice's jealousy,  etc.,  these two truly love each other.  How unusual is that in this kind of film?  I know some of you will probably complain that it can't be a noir, for one thing,  it had a happy ending   ( except maybe for that car thief...)  But I liked that it had a happy ending,  it didn't feel inauthentic or stuck-on.  I liked those two characters and I wanted them to end up absolved and free and together.  Call me a softie,  maybe my true favourite genre is rom coms.  (NO!)

I also loved the look of this film,  I thought the visuals were perfect.  I don't know if those little French alleys were a set or filmed on location  ( I have no idea what the state of French film making was immediately post-war), but they looked great.   And the interiors,  similar and yet in so many little ways different from American film interiors in 1947.   

Plus,  French films, at least back then,  were so different from American ones in other ways.  The dialogue.  The things they talk about.  The characters all seem so articulate and also,  kind of funny ( as in clever.)   And I may be wrong,  but I suspect you'd never have seen a white police detective with a Black son in an American film in  1947.    All we know is the detective had spent time in "the colonies";  we don't get any kind of back story as to who the kid's mother was, or how the boy came to live with his father in France.  But I like that,  I don't need the backstory.  I just like it that the police guy has a young son, who's Black,  and nobody cares or makes any comment about it at all.  I just hope the kid passes his geometry test next time.

I thought Quai des Orfevres was a real treat, and I thank Eddie M. for finding it and showing it.

[King Rat]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

I loved  Quai des Orfevres.  I don't care whether it's regarded as a noir or not  ( and apparently Eddie wasn't too worried either),  it entertained and engaged me every minute.   I enjoyed all the actors, for one thing.  The "sad sack" character, Maurice  ( Bernard Blier)  was oddly sympathetic. 

Did anyone else think Suzy Delair bore quite a resemblance to Angela Lansbury?  Both of them have that round-faced, rosebud mouth look.  Sort of a lush quality.  I thought Miss Delair was very good in her role as Jenny, whom I did not see as a femme fatale at all.  

For one thing,  she truly loves that sad-sack husband of hers'.  Yes,  she's a flirt,  but that's all, she's just one of those women who naturally enjoys flirting, it doesn't   "mean anything".   I really liked that  in spite of everything -  Jenny's flirtatiousness and dishonesty,  Maurice's jealousy,  etc.,  these two truly love each other.  How unusual is that in this kind of film?  I know some of you will probably complain that it can't be a noir, for one thing,  it had a happy ending   ( except maybe for that car thief...)  But I liked that it had a happy ending,  it didn't feel inauthentic or stuck-on.  I liked those two characters and I wanted them to end up absolved and free and together.  Call me a softie,  maybe my true favourite genre is rom coms.  (NO!)

I also loved the look of this film,  I thought the visuals were perfect.  I don't know if those little French alleys were a set or filmed on location  ( I have no idea what the state of French film making was immediately post-war), but they looked great.   And the interiors,  similar and yet in so many little ways different from American film interiors in 1947.   

Plus,  French films, at least back then,  were so different from American ones in other ways.  The dialogue.  The things they talk about.  The characters all seem so articulate and also,  kind of funny ( as in clever.)   And I may be wrong,  but I suspect you'd never have seen a white police detective with a Black son in an American film in  1947.    All we know is the detective had spent time in "the colonies";  we don't get any kind of back story as to who the kid's mother was, or how the boy came to live with his father in France.  But I like that,  I don't need the backstory.  I just like it that the police guy has a young son, who's Black,  and nobody cares or makes any comment about it at all.  I just hope the kid passes his geometry test next time.

I thought Quai des Orfevres was a real treat, and I thank Eddie M. for finding it and showing it.

MissW, I agree with every word. I thought Bernard Blier (Maurice) looked so much like Bob Newhart. This was the second time I had seen the film, and the second time was the charm, in more ways than one. If you can accept the film on its own terms and not try to put it in a certain genre, it's wonderful. Great script, great directing, great visual style. Suzy Delair has so much charm and sex appeal. No wonder everyone is after her! And she sings well, too. In the days of CGI you can't help noticing how many extras, real people, are in the theater scenes. Louis Jouvet is great as the inspector.

Eddie's intro and outro were excellent, packed with information. He did struggle pronouncing Quai des Orfevres, as would anyone but a native French speaker. "Keh dehz or-FEV" would be close, with a slight emphasis on the last syllable.

[ElCid]

Wandering through You Tube and found somebody has uploaded Eddie Mueller's intros and outros to some of the Noir Alley shows.

[Hoganman1]

2 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

 

And a good thing, too.  I can't stand dubbed foreign films,  the acting is usually pretty bad, the dubbing always seems to be out-of-sync with the actors,  and you can just tell they're not really speaking what you're hearing.  I find it distracting,  much more so than subtitles.   Dubbed-into-English versions of foreign language films just takes away from the movie.  I have no problem whatsoever with foreign films using subtitles.    

(  Hoganman,  I wasn't suggesting that you have a problem with subtitles.  Maybe you, like me, prefer them to dubbing.  I was just giving my own personal take on the subtitles - versus-dubbing thing.)

I prefer subtitles too. Like you, I think dubbing takes away from the film. Besides, I'm losing my hearing and sometimes struggled understanding when the actors have European accents.  I'll probably start using the closed caption function soon. I cannot seem to find a hearing aid that works that well. 

Anyway, I have QdO recorded and will watch because a read a synopsis that sounded interesting. 

[Thompson]

There was too much emotional stuff going on and the music didn’t blend in right.  I agree that Jenny was not a femme fatale, but a better than average burlesque dancer but still not that special.  Too much corn IMO.  The lesbian angle added nothing to the story.  Funny that two Eddie films in a row featured female professional photographers.

[Vautrin]

This  is  the best flic  Eduardo has shown in the last month or  so. Firing  on all cylinders for the most  part, a real 

pre-Vera  treat. I enjoyed the police procedural parts  of the movie most. The grimy,  ill-lit and in general low

down  digs  the cops  had to operate it were something else. These boys  definitely did need  a bigger budget.

Crime  fighting on the cheap for sure. And Jouvet as  the well worn old  veteran inspector  just about  stole

the  picture. He was reminiscent of the similarly shaggy veteran nosey cop in Les Diaboliques. I got  a kick  out

of Dora the Sexual Explorer, especially when she had that top with her name on it. A bit of  a self-esteem

problem  perhaps?  All in all, very well done. 

Eddie neglected  to mention that C'est Si Bon was  a favorite of  Eddie Haskell! And I wonder  what the French  phrase  

is that  translates into diddly squat. 

[misswonderly3]

2 hours ago, King Rat said:

 

MissW, I agree with every word. I thought Bernard Blier (Maurice) looked so much like Bob Newhart. ...

YES !   That's it,  Bob Newhart !  I kept trying to figure out who Bernard Blier reminded me of. Actually, he looks like quite a few "sad sack" -faced actors, it's a type.  But Bob Newhart most of all,  I believe that was the one I was trying to think of.   Thanks, King Rat, it was driving me crazy.

...so, speaking of resemblances,  what did you think of my comparison of Suzy Delair to Angela Lansbury?

[misswonderly3]

Angela.

 

Suzy.

[King Rat]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

Angela.

 

Suzy.

Angela would certainly have had fun playing Jenny Lamour, but I don't think she has Suzy Delair's earthy warmth and sex appeal.

[Cigarjoe cellph]

19 hours ago, King Rat said:

Bernard Blier

He is in a lot of French Noir. He's even in at least one French Neo Noir. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079980/