Guest TCMhost-Claire Posted April 25, 2001 Share Posted April 25, 2001 Gangsters and detectives, double-crossing dames...cheap hotel rooms with neon lights flashing through the venetian blinds...LA before it was glamorous, Chicago during the gangster days, San Francisco in the fog. These are just a few of the elements that form the type of film we call "film noir". What do you think of when you hear the term "film noir"? What film do you think captures the essence of film noir better than any other? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest hhornsby Posted April 25, 2001 Share Posted April 25, 2001 D.O.A. is the quintessential film noir, for me. Great photography, great settings in San Francisco and LA. The premise is the ideal noir plot: man has only a couple of days to find his own killer before slow-acting poison does him in. He doesn't know who poisoned him, or why. One of the things I love about this movie is that it makes "market week in San Francisco" sound so incredibly sinister, even though it's just a convention of furniture buyers! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BettyJ Posted April 26, 2001 Share Posted April 26, 2001 Definitive film noir...The best I can do is a three-way tie among "Laura", "Out of the Past" and "Murder My Sweet". All excellent! Dick Powell is astoundingly good in "Murder My Sweet" - completely against his "song & dance man" type. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheeMonkey Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 I may not be in the right forum but would appreciate help. I am looking for the title of a movie. White female plays torch singer, in love with gangster, speakeasy days, (1920's or 30's), I think movie was around 1950, black and white, lead female sang "Bill" (Along Came Bill). Anyone know this?? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TCMhost-Claire Posted May 2, 2001 Share Posted May 2, 2001 Could it be either I Walk Alone (1948) or Dark City (1950)? Both feature torch singers and gangsters. Couldn't find a song anywhere called Along Came Bill. I did find one named Bill, by Artie Shaw, and another called Lucky Seven (Bill's Tune) by Erskine Hawkins, but could not find film references on either. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Alix Posted May 5, 2001 Share Posted May 5, 2001 How about DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and LAURA as my two favorite noirs? I love Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray as the lovers who bump off her husband. Would the STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS count as a film noir? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest skatikus Posted May 5, 2001 Share Posted May 5, 2001 Is this noir? I'm relatively new to the genre. Love the movie though. I think Sterling Hayden was great. I also saw him in The Star. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest markf Posted May 7, 2001 Share Posted May 7, 2001 Scarlet Street..... one of the darkest and most characteristic of all film noirs. Edward G Robinson and Dan Duryea are excellent, while Joan Bennett plays the ultimate femme fatale. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TCMhost-Joy Posted May 7, 2001 Share Posted May 7, 2001 Asphalt Jungle is correctly catagorized as film-noir, and was given a four star rating by Leonard Maltin. Although it has been colorized, it's better seen in B&W. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Eleanor Posted May 11, 2001 Share Posted May 11, 2001 The song was popularized by Helen Morgan, the famous saloon singer of the 1930's. It was also sung in the Warner Bros. 1946 picture, THE MAN I LOVE. Ida Lupino played a saloon singer, but I do not think that she sang this song. She later sang AGAIN in the 1948 movie, ROADHOUSE. Again, she played the part of the bar singer. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest clore Posted May 19, 2001 Share Posted May 19, 2001 Which stars Ann Blyth and Paul Newman in one of his early roles. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest clore Posted May 19, 2001 Share Posted May 19, 2001 I'll go along with Out of the Past, Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang), Criss Cross and Cry of the City (both from Robert Siodmak, he and Lang practically defined the genre), and that remarkable little B-film, Detour. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BlueAngel Posted June 3, 2001 Share Posted June 3, 2001 Double Indemnity (so cynical!), The Maltese Falcon (can there be a more noir movie? I don't think so), Detour (relentlessly downbeat). Link to post Share on other sites
Guest glendeee Posted June 7, 2001 Share Posted June 7, 2001 Where is the best place to buy classic movies? I have been looking for Now Voyager and The Big Sleep. Any suggestions? P.S - How many people are still collecting VHS as opposed to upgrading to DAD? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest G, Joe Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 I'm more of a horror fan, but I've seen a number of these - the genres skirt each other, really. I agree about "The Maltese Falcon", "Out of the Past", "DOA" and "Double Indemnity". Recently I saw (on TCM, of course)"Detour" and "The Devil Thumbs a Ride" for the first time - terrific films! Lawrence Tierney wasn't always just the old guy in "Reservoir Dogs"! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BlueAngel Posted June 10, 2001 Share Posted June 10, 2001 You can get both Now Voyager and The Big Sleep on amazon.com. I'm sure there are other sources as well. As for the VHS/DVD issue, I was never a movie collector until I got a DVD player. The quality of VHS just never seemed worth the price of ownership to me. But DVD looks so much better, and will (hopefully) last longer so it feels like a better investment. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CornellWoolrich Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 I've never really considered "Maltese Falcon" as noir, probably because it's excellent blend of steel and humor seems to transcend genre labels. However, certain scenes, such as when Spade is slipped a "mickey" by Gutman, are not only noir, but some of the most definitive examples of hard-boiled narrative to date. "Glass Key," perhaps my favorite film in any genre, is another faithful adaptation of Dashiel Hammett, yet also hard to define as noir. As with "Falcon," the glamour of the Ladd/Lake pairing and the relentless humor defy noir convention. But when handsome Alan Ladd is shown beaten beyond recognition by a gleefully psychotic William Bendix, we see the underside of tough-guy glamour, with no visual punches pulled. Except, of course, for Ladd's miraculous recovery at film's end, back to his marquee features! Anyone who loves "Maltese Falcon" that has not seen "Glass Key," I highly recommend an immediate viewing. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TCMhost-Claire Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Amazon is a good place to start. Here are some places that specialize in more obscure films:http://www.rarevideo.comhttp://www.captainbijou.com/http://www.rarereels.com/ (also offers a search service)http://robertsvideos.com/ (specializes in hard-to-find videos)http://cinemaclassics.com/ (also has a retail operation in NYC)http://www.nostalgiafamilyvideo.com/ (also has cartoons and TV shows)http://www.wildeast.net/content.htm (specializes in spaghetti western, horror and cult films on DVD)Happy hunting! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest clore Posted June 18, 2001 Share Posted June 18, 2001 Not that I agree, but to me, if it doesn't have the femme to lead the male lead down the wrong path, it's not noir.When I see THE BIG SLEEP, KEY LARGO, CALL NORTHSIDE 777, SHADOW OF A DOUBT referred to as film noir, I cringe.Now, when ya got dames such as Joan Bennett (SCARLETT STREET), Barbara Stanwyck (DOUBLE INDEMNITY), Jane Greer (OUT OF THE PAST) or Ava Gardner (THE KILLERS) causing basically good men to take a wrong turn into a (then) contemporary and shadow-laden Greek tragedy, then you're in noir territory. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest garylee64 Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 Hey what about Detour? What about The Glass Key? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Fcapra Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 The ultimate noir has to be Double Indemnity, but Murder, My Sweet and The Postman Always Rings Twice (original) are fine examples of the genre as well. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest scooper Posted July 20, 2001 Share Posted July 20, 2001 Laura with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews certainly fits the bill. I also think Shadow of a Doubt with Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten qualifies as a good one. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest jeryson Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 To me, "The Seventh Victim," Val Lewton's powerful excursion into film noise/macabre entertainment, from l944, is unforgettable. The darkish tale of a young girl who discovers her sister is a member of a satanic cult, is beautifully done. The final scene, where Elizabeth Russell, dying of TB, goes out into the night for a final night of partying, is extraordinary. Don't kill me, but the colorized version looks sensational. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest marco, bennett Posted October 5, 2001 Share Posted October 5, 2001 joseph l. lewis' B masterpiece. really over the top visually (anthony mann as DP), thematically very dark with cornell wilde as a tormented and morally corrupt detective. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest rs Posted November 12, 2001 Share Posted November 12, 2001 speaking of joseph lewis - i think it has to be Gun Crazy. This still is one of the most under-rated film noirs of all time. Link to post Share on other sites
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