Noir Alley

[Hibi]

I liked the film, but the constant yak (and subtitles) were a pain. Too much talk! (typical for the French). I found myself ffing through some of the interrogation scenes. I don't think I missed too much. Eddie mentioned they changed who the killer was from the book but I don't think he said who the killer WAS in the book! Anyone know?

[Hibi]

17 hours ago, Vautrin said:

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. 

Did anyone ask for a lawyer back then???? None anywhere!

[misswonderly3]

18 hours ago, King Rat said:

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

Maybe not...I was really just observing there's a physical resemblance.  Angela Lansbury's screen persona may not have been similar to Suzy Delair's,  I was merely noting they have a very similar  physical  appearance.       Agreed,  Miss Delair did have a very "earthy warmth and sex appeal".  

[Thompson]

William Holden and Edmond O’Brien next week.  In the long run is there a better movie than D.O.A.?  No, Holden wasn’t in that one, but I’ll give him another chance.  We’ll see how slow he acts in this one.

[misswonderly3]

4 hours ago, Hibi said:

I liked the film, but the constant yak (and subtitles) were a pain. Too much talk! (typical for the French). I found myself ffing through some of the interrogation scenes. I don't think I missed too much. Eddie mentioned they changed who the killer was from the book but I don't think he said who the killer WAS in the book! Anyone know?

Good question, Hibs, I too would love to know who the original killer in the book version was.  For some reason I suspect maybe Dora,  perhaps she rushed in to protect her beloved Jenny from the horrible lecherous Monsieur Brignon and it was she who whacked him with the champagne bottle (although there's always that aspect of the gunshot wound...but maybe that wasn't in the book, they added that to the film to show it was the car thief?)

[JamesJazGuitar]

21 hours ago, Thompson said:

William Holden and Edmond O’Brien next week.  In the long run is there a better movie than D.O.A.?  No, Holden wasn’t in that one, but I’ll give him another chance.  We’ll see how slow he acts in this one.

Next week is  The Turning Point (1952) and in addition to Holden and O'Brien,  also includes Alexis Smith,    but the real deal in this film is Carolyn Jones;

[Hibi]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

Good question, Hibs, I too would love to know who the original killer in the book version was.  For some reason I suspect maybe Dora,  perhaps she rushed in to protect her beloved Jenny from the horrible lecherous Monsieur Brignon and it was she who whacked him with the champagne bottle (although there's always that aspect of the gunshot wound...but maybe that wasn't in the book, they added that to the film to show it was the car thief?)

Yeah, I thought about her too. There weren't too many suspects.

[Hibi]

Haven't seen The Turning Point, so looking forward to seeing, but there have been a good number of films covering this territory on Noir Alley of late.

[Vautrin]

6 hours ago, Hibi said:

Did anyone ask for a lawyer back then???? None anywhere!

Maybe  the  French legal system is different  from ours or perhaps these  folks  didn't have enough  money to hire a

good  lawyer. And  once it  is revealed  that  the dirty old  man died of a gunshot  wound the three suspects must  know

they are not guilty.  Still, this  is another movie  that  shows how authoritarian and  arbitrary the police can sometimes

be. It  doesn't look  like a system that cares very  much  about  the rights of the accused.

I preferred Dora to the  Suzy Delair  character, though she is  out of bounds  to half the population. What a shame. She  could

very  well be  on of  those  icy Hitchcock  blondes.  

[Hibi]

9 minutes ago, Vautrin said:

Maybe  the  French legal system is different  from ours or perhaps these  folks  didn't have enough  money to hire a

good  lawyer. And  once it  is revealed  that  the dirty old  man died of a gunshot  wound the three suspects must  know

they are not guilty.  Still, this  is another movie  that  shows how authoritarian and  arbitrary the police can sometimes

be. It  doesn't look  like a system that cares very  much  about  the rights of the accused.

I preferred Dora to the  Suzy Delair  character, though she is  out of bounds  to half the population. What a shame. She  could

very  well be  on of  those  icy Hitchcock  blondes.  

DEFINITELY NOT! LOL. Yes, too bad her character wasn't more developed..

[Fading Fast]

31 minutes ago, Vautrin said:

Maybe  the  French legal system is different  from ours or perhaps these  folks  didn't have enough  money to hire a

good  lawyer. And  once it  is revealed  that  the dirty old  man died of a gunshot  wound the three suspects must  know

they are not guilty.  Still, this  is another movie  that  shows how authoritarian and  arbitrary the police can sometimes

be. It  doesn't look  like a system that cares very  much  about  the rights of the accused.

I preferred Dora to the  Suzy Delair  character, though she is  out of bounds  to half the population. What a shame. She  could

very  well be  on of  those  icy Hitchcock  blondes.  

Perhaps you can  help me. I'm sure it was obvious, but I missed the reason why the car thief shot the old man as wasn't the old man already knocked out from the hit he took from the wine bottle by the time the car thief got there? Thank you.

[Vautrin]

15 minutes ago, mkahn22 said:

Perhaps you can  help me. I'm sure it was obvious, but I missed the reason why the car thief shot the old man as wasn't the old man already knocked out from the hit he took from the wine bottle by the time the car thief got there? Thank you.

Paulo the car thief  saw the open door  and went in, figuring he might be able to  scoop up  something. Brignon had recovered  somewhat  from

his head wound  and  started  screaming when he  saw Paulo. So Paulo panicked  and  shot  him.  As  he admitted,  it  was a sloppy job.  There is

a pretty  good looking copy of this movie on the Internet Archive. 

[Fading Fast]

2 minutes ago, Vautrin said:

Paulo the car thief  saw the open door  and went in, figuring he might be able to  scoop up  something. Brignon had recovered  somewhat  from

his head wound  and  started  screaming when he  saw Paulo. So Paulo panicked  and  shot  him.  As  he admitted,  it  was a sloppy job.  There is

a pretty  good looking copy of this movie on the Internet Archive. 

Thank you  - that is the exact detail I missed.

[Vautrin]

5 hours ago, Hibi said:

DEFINITELY NOT! LOL. Yes, too bad her character wasn't more developed..

Not a Hitchcock  blonde? I still see it. But maybe she could  be  a little more talkative. It  was a supporting role, though a

fairly large  one. And being  a fellow shutterbug  she could help Jimmy in Rear Window.  And as she likely wouldn't  warm up  

to him, well there's always Grace Kelly. 

[Vautrin]

5 hours ago, mkahn22 said:

Thank you  - that is the exact detail I missed.

You're  welcome. Things  do  get somewhat confusing  with the old inspector going from one suspect to  another. Busy man.

[cigarjoe]

On 1/30/2022 at 5:47 PM, Vautrin said:

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. 

Agree, rewatched the whole film again the other night.

[Fading Fast]

On 1/30/2022 at 5:47 PM, Vautrin said:

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. 

"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. "

Well said. That top was funny in a movie that had a surprising amount of humor tucked in amidst all its angst and crime drama. I wish her character had been given a larger role (but then again, the movie is so well done, why change anything). 

 

[Hibi]

9 hours ago, Vautrin said:

Not a Hitchcock  blonde? I still see it. But maybe she could  be  a little more talkative. It  was a supporting role, though a

fairly large  one. And being  a fellow shutterbug  she could help Jimmy in Rear Window.  And as she likely wouldn't  warm up  

to him, well there's always Grace Kelly. 

No, I meant the French legal system. Yes, to the blonde! Unintentional pun there with the "more developed".....:D

[jameselliot]

There was no closure in the story for Dora. The last time we see  her is when Jouvet confronts her at the police station. I liked her subtle performance. She was in the Belmondo flick That Man From Rio but most of her films are unknown to me.

[Cigarjoe cellph]

French Republic

As every man is presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it should be considered necessary to arrest him, any undue harshness that is not required to secure his person must be severely curbed by Law.

[JamesJazGuitar]

19 hours ago, Hibi said:

Haven't seen The Turning Point, so looking forward to seeing, but there have been a good number of films covering this territory on Noir Alley of late.

If you mean legal dramas feature organized crime,  that is correct.     What is covering fairly new territory is that this film hasn't been shown as part of Noir Alley and it is a Paramount production.      Not very noir even with some top notch supporting actors known for noir\crime films like Neville Brand,  Ted de Corsia,  and in-more-noirs than anyone else,  Ray Teal (yet again  as  a cop).

 

[Hibi]

1 hour ago, Cigarjoe cellph said:

French Republic

As every man is presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it should be considered necessary to arrest him, any undue harshness that is not required to secure his person must be severely curbed by Law.

LOL! Not in this film!

[Hibi]

3 hours ago, jameselliot said:

There was no closure in the story for Dora. The last time we see  her is when Jouvet confronts her at the police station. I liked her subtle performance. She was in the Belmondo flick That Man From Rio but most of her films are unknown to me.

Yeah, she got the short end of the stick in every way. Wish her character had been  more fully developed. I doubt audiences back then even got the lesbian vibes...

[Vautrin]

10 hours ago, cigarjoe said:

Agree, rewatched the whole film again the other night.

I watched about  the  last forty minutes  or  so Sunday morning as on Saturday night I split my attention between it and keeping the

fireplace going and  missed  some  details of  the dialogue. I'll wait a little while and  watch  the whole thing on Internet Archies. It's

worthy  of  a second  viewing. 

[Vautrin]

9 hours ago, mkahn22 said:

"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. "

Well said. That top was funny in a movie that had a surprising amount of humor tucked in amidst all its angst and crime drama. I wish her character had been given a larger role (but then again, the movie is so well done, why change anything). 

 

There was, including  a number of  double entendres, verbal  and visual. I have  a feeling that things would eventually  work out  for  Dora

after the trauma of the murder and not finding any reciprocity from Suzy  Delair.  Dora  was certainly  an attractive woman.