Noir Alley

[Vautrin]

5 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

There are, as you are probably aware, a lot of good British noirs.  I'm always glad when Eddie finds one and shows it.

True. I got on sort of  a British noir kick when I watched  some on YT. Of course when you watch  one kind  of film, many  of  the same

genre pop up. I wouldn't say Eddie  found  it,  as  it's been available for 65+ years, but I'm still glad  he's  showing  it.

[speedracer5]

7 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

Also, maybe I missed it, but what happened to the crooked lawyer,  the one who  ( I think) orchestrated the whole blackmail scheme.  And yes,  that same lawyer left his office door unlocked with all that money there.  

But since he seemed to be the brains behind the criminal operation,  how come he sort of disappeared half-way through the movie and instead the chief bad guy seemed to be the James Craig character?   What happened to the heinous lawyer?

I just figured that the lawyer sent James Craig to go recover their money.  He didn't need to go, because he had the gangster taking care of it.

[Fading Fast]

7 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

I just figured that the lawyer sent James Craig to go recover their money.  He didn't need to go, because he had the gangster taking care of it.

I agree, he seemed like he also was always thinking about how not to give the police anything against him. Yes, he was crooked, but as a lawyer, he tried to keep his hands clean.

He also seemed too smart to leave his office door unlocked with $30,000 (about $350,000 today) in a file cabinet, even one that was locked. That's bothered from the moment I saw it. 

[cigarjoe]

13 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

There are, as you are probably aware, a lot of good British noirs.  I'm always glad when Eddie finds one and shows it.

There are about 138 of them in fact stretching from 1938 to the early 1960s

[cigarjoe]

9 hours ago, Herman Bricks said:

I too liked the business with the eggs. Eggs for dinner, or supper is very appropriate for Hagen (who like Bogart ordering eggs in In A Lonely Place) probably sleeps until 2PM every day.

I agree, characters consuming food in film noirs is rare, certainly it is much less common than characters consuming alcoholic beverages, or coffee. 

I have not researched this but my gut tells me that the commonly consumed food items in film noir are:

toast

doughnuts

Chinese food is a possibility (Pickup on South Street, The Killing).

 

And almost every roadside diner order is for a hamburger and a cup of coffee

[Thompson]

19 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

Also, maybe I missed it, but what happened to the crooked lawyer,  the one who  ( I think) orchestrated the whole blackmail scheme.  And yes,  that same lawyer left his office door unlocked with all that money there.  

But since he seemed to be the brains behind the criminal operation,  how come he sort of disappeared half-way through the movie and instead the chief bad guy seemed to be the James Craig character?   What happened to the heinous lawyer?

I wondered that too, but then I remembered they had him at the police station with the captain’s order to keep him there until the movie is over.

[misswonderly3]

13 hours ago, Vautrin said:

True. I got on sort of  a British noir kick when I watched  some on YT. Of course when you watch  one kind  of film, many  of  the same

genre pop up. I wouldn't say Eddie  found  it,  as  it's been available for 65+ years, but I'm still glad  he's  showing  it.

I didn't mean Eddie Muller "found"  Cast a Dark Shadow , although there are times when it seems he has "found" an old forgotten film languishing away somewhere and he has it cleaned up, etc., sort of resurrects it.  But I know that often he just selects a noir from those that are available to be aired on TCM,  no special credit to him, except for his taste in noirs and his information about them which he shares with us on Noir Alley.

[misswonderly3]

13 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

I just figured that the lawyer sent James Craig to go recover their money.  He didn't need to go, because he had the gangster taking care of it.

Right, but in the first half of the film the lawyer's presented as a major player in the scheme.  In most noirs, in fact in most crime films period,  the narrative follows all the members of the criminal group, not just the errand boy or thug sent to carry out the actual murders etc.  In fact, I thought it was part of the Code back then to show the crooks,  at least the master-mind crook,  getting arrested or otherwise receiving some kind of punishment. His character is just dropped from the story,  and that's what I was saying seemed odd.

[misswonderly3]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

Right, but in the first half of the film the lawyer's presented as a major player in the scheme.  In most noirs, in fact in most crime films period,  the narrative follows all the members of the criminal group, not just the errand boy or thug sent to carry out the actual murders etc.  In fact, I thought it was part of the Code back then to show the crooks,  at least the master-mind crook,  getting arrested or otherwise receiving some kind of punishment. His character is just dropped from the story,  and that's what I was saying seemed odd.

I posted the above before I read Thompson's post below.

3 hours ago, Thompson said:

I wondered that too, but then I remembered they had him at the police station with the captain’s order to keep him there until the movie is over.

Oh.  Ok,  that explains it, thanks,  Thompson.   I'm embarrassed I didn't notice that bit, where the police arrest the lawyer and show he is detained at the police station.   Maybe that moment happened when I went to the kitchen to get more coffee   ( I do have a DVR function,  but lately it's been messing up, sometimes I lose the tv connection altogether when I use it,  which is why I was willing to miss a minute or two of the movie rather than pause it.   I know all this is irresistibly fascinating to all Noir alley posters here.  😐 )

 

[Hibi]

13 hours ago, speedracer5 said:

I just figured that the lawyer sent James Craig to go recover their money.  He didn't need to go, because he had the gangster taking care of it.

I remember now. The cops were holding him while they searched for the other crooks! So he didnt escape. I assume he was booked and charged when they wrapped up the chase. Wasnt he in his office when they told him that? Then, I assume they took him down to the police station. No need to show that as it would've been anti-climactic.

[Thompson]

1 hour ago, misswonderly3 said:

I posted the above before I read Thompson post below.

Oh.  Ok,  that explains it, thanks,  Thompson.   I'm embarrassed I didn't notice that bit, where the police arrest the lawyer and show he is detained at the police station.   Maybe that moment happened when I went to the kitchen to get more coffee   ( I do have a DVR function,  but lately it's been messing up, sometimes I lose the tv connection altogether when I use it,  which is why I was willing to miss a minute or two of the movie rather than pause it.   I know all this is irresistibly fascinating to all Noir alley posters here.  😐 )

 

I initially missed it too.  Then I remembered the scene.  It is pure luck these days to remember anything.  

[Vautrin]

2 hours ago, misswonderly3 said:

I didn't mean Eddie Muller "found"  Cast a Dark Shadow , although there are times when it seems he has "found" an old forgotten film languishing away somewhere and he has it cleaned up, etc., sort of resurrects it.  But I know that often he just selects a noir from those that are available to be aired on TCM,  no special credit to him, except for his taste in noirs and his information about them which he shares with us on Noir Alley.

Yes on occasion the Film Noir Foundation will bring  back a forgotten  film and  restore  it, but I don't think this  is the  case

with  Cast  a  Dark Shadow.  I  think it's just  an old British film  that likely isn't familiar  to  some folks. 

 

Speaking of film noirs  where no one actually eats anything, I'd bet William Bendix scarfed down  something in at least one of

his noir appearances. 

[Herman Bricks]

7 hours ago, Vautrin said:

 

Speaking of film noirs  where no one actually eats anything, I'd bet William Bendix scarfed down  something in at least one of

his noir appearances. 

In The Glass Key, Bendix has a flop above a bar (a rather cozy flop) and on his little table are the remnants of a meal, but we don't see him eat.

On the table is a bottle of ketchup, a coffee mug, and a plate. The only easily identifiable food item on the plate is a piece of bread (I'd like to presume toasted). I am guessing as to the rest of Bendix's meal but the ketchup and the coffee mug indicate breakfast food was served, in my opinion. So once again eggs in a film noir? Highly likely.

[Dargo]

Now that Thompson also has me scratchin' my brain to think of a time where I've seen some character in a noir chowin' down on somethin', I keep thinking that I recall Thomas Gomez who plays Curly and/or Harry Lewis who plays Toots being shown eating something in the film Key Largo.

(...guess the next time I watch this one, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for this to see if I'm right here or not, huh)

[Fading Fast]

There's a scene in 1953's "The Glass Wall" where hungry and broke Gloria Graham is in a coffee shop and she runs over to a table a man just left. She sits down and starts eating the bits of food he left on his plate. It's far from "a meal," and the point is to show her arrant hunger, but it is a noticeable eating scene in a noir. Eddie uses the clip - I couldn't find a pic of it or I would have posted it here -  in one of his noir montage promos. Interestingly, in that same movie, there's a scene where a Hungarian family is having dinner and a lot of food is served, but I'd have to see the movie again to say if we see it being eaten. 

[Herman Bricks]

4 hours ago, mkahn22 said:

There's a scene in 1953's "The Glass Wall" where hungry and broke Gloria Graham is in a coffee shop and she runs over to a table a man just left. She sits down and starts eating the bits of food he left on his plate. It's far from "a meal," and the point is to show her arrant hunger, but it is a noticeable eating scene in a noir. Eddie uses the clip - I couldn't find a pic of it or I would have posted it here -  in one of his noir montage promos. Interestingly, in that same movie, there's a scene where a Hungarian family is having dinner and a lot of food is served, but I'd have to see the movie again to say if we see it being eaten. 

Gloria makes tea with a tea b@g she has in her purse, eats another customer's leftover half doughnut and steals Kathleen Freeman's overcoat! But despite her poverty, still looks great. The scene is reminiscent of Midnight Cowboy when Voight makes a meal of ketchup, water, and leftover crackers (and still looks great).

 

 

[JamesJazGuitar]

11 hours ago, Herman Bricks said:

In The Glass Key, Bendix has a flop above a bar (a rather cozy flop) and on his little table are the remnants of a meal, but we don't see him eat.

On the table is a bottle of ketchup, a coffee mug, and a plate. The only easily identifiable food item on the plate is a piece of bread (I'd like to presume toasted). I am guessing as to the rest of Bendix's meal but the ketchup and the coffee mug indicate breakfast food was served, in my opinion. So once again eggs in a film noir? Highly likely.

Don't forgot the earlier scene in this film where Bendix and another hood are holding Ladd hostage (and Bendix beating the crap out of Ladd):    The other hood is making steaks and we see Bendix eating it and complaining.      (but this does distract Bendix just enough for Ladd to make his escape).    So even a crappy tough steak can save the day! 

 

[Thompson]

Of course we all know when you sit down with your mob buddies in  a family owned New York Italian restaurant and dig in to that veal parmigiana, well, so long Sterling Hayden.  That’s an eating scene that’s hard to top.

[Katie_G]

Jocelyn Brando fried up a big steak for Glenn Ford in The Big Heat.

John Garfield ate in Postman, I think.  Maybe a burger.

Bogie had a hearty breakfast or two of bacon and eggs in High Sierra.

[JamesJazGuitar]

45 minutes ago, Katie_G said:

Jocelyn Brando fried up a big steak for Glenn Ford in The Big Heat.

John Garfield ate in Postman, I think.  Maybe a burger.

Bogie had a hearty breakfast or two of bacon and eggs in High Sierra.

Garfield ended up burning the burger patty on the grill because something distracted him:

 

[Vautrin]

17 hours ago, Herman Bricks said:

In The Glass Key, Bendix has a flop above a bar (a rather cozy flop) and on his little table are the remnants of a meal, but we don't see him eat.

On the table is a bottle of ketchup, a coffee mug, and a plate. The only easily identifiable food item on the plate is a piece of bread (I'd like to presume toasted). I am guessing as to the rest of Bendix's meal but the ketchup and the coffee mug indicate breakfast food was served, in my opinion. So once again eggs in a film noir? Highly likely.

Bendix just has  the look a a guy who is going to gobble something down in some movie. I'll have to  start taking notes.

I'm  sure someone ate something at the diner  in The Killers. If I recall  it  correctly,  the two hoods who show up  at

the  start of the movie weren't very impressed with  the menu fare. 

-Holy ****. Can you believe this. A floor show in this dump.

-Wow. You never know what these hick  towns will come up with. You think this up, bright boy?

[Hibi]

4 minutes ago, Vautrin said:

Bendix just has  the look a a guy who is going to gobble something down in some movie. I'll have to  start taking notes.

I'm  sure someone ate something at the diner  in The Killers. If I recall  it  correctly,  the two hoods who show up  at

the  start of the movie weren't very impressed with  the menu fare. 

Paula is coming back Sunday! She's only been gone 3 mos. Not long enough! This must be at least her 10th season or so. Longer than Joe Kenda! But he's back too. No escape!

[Katie_G]

56 minutes ago, JamesJazGuitar said:

Garfield ended up burning the burger patty on the grill because something distracted him:

 

LOL  That's right, I guess that doesn't count.   In Human Desire Gloria serves Broderick Crawford a bowl of soup, IIRC.  Which he probably complained about, loudly.   This is fun.

[Vautrin]

25 minutes ago, Hibi said:

Paula is coming back Sunday! She's only been gone 3 mos. Not long enough! This must be at least her 10th season or so. Longer than Joe Kenda! But he's back too. No escape!

Well, well, well. Yeah, she's been on a long time.  Kenda has or had  a new show on some other kind of media. I guess  when they showed  him the

money he wasn't as  burned  out  as he  sounded  when he left ID.  I haven't  watched it too much  recently, not  for  any  specific reason.  I guess

I stared  watching  other things and got out of the habit. I'll have  to  check  it  out soon, but probably not Sunday.

[Hibi]

Yeah, Kenda's new show is about other cases, not his. None of the current ID shows are very good. And tons of reruns. Sometimes whole nights! Usually dont see a first run show till 9pm, if then. Dunno if its covid or what. Doesnt keep Paula down!