Watching Film Noirs

[Willie Oleson]

Even if they aren't.
Since the other film noir thread is exclusively FOX I decided to start another one.
The plan is that there is no plan, I'm not going to seek out any titles or invest in DVDs, I'll just click on whatever pops up first on youtube.

The first one to appear as a result of the "film noir" search is THE DARK PAST (1948)
A psychoanalyst specialized in the criminal mind is taken hostage by one of those criminal minds and this is happening in a very beautiful and very American bungalow of sorts.
I found it intriguing enough and didn't mind the commercial breaks every 10 minutes, but then 10 minutes became 8 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes. It simply wasn't doable anymore so I've decided to avoid all movies uploaded by this channel.
So much for unplanned, but anyway, the next one is CAUGHT (1949).


I failed to see what made this so noir-ish but I watched it anyway. It's a strange movie because there isn't anything in it that backs up its very premise (the trophy wife nightmare).
Leonora Eames (Barbara Bel Geddes) is encouraged by her friend to make herself more presentable and then marry rich.
That man is going to be Smith Ohlrig (ha!) played by Robert Ryan.
It never becomes clear what kind of man Smith really is and he only marries Leonora to prove his doctor or therapist that he's wrong about - I don't even remember what, it was more like a throwaway comment.
There's no chemistry between the future spouses, nothing about the characters or their motivations (if only I knew) that anchors it as a starting point from where it all goes wrong.
Smith suffers from the rare condition of pseudo-heart attacks every time he...something/something not.

Suddenly they are married (for love, from Leonora's point of view, well she literally says it) and she has, indeed, become Ohlrig's trophy wife.
He acts very possessive because he can but it's no problem whatsoever when she moves to the city and basically starts a new life as a single woman. This was a big "huh?" moment for me.

Then it's time for the actual romance between Leonora and doctor Larry (James Mason) and most of it is very watchable. I think their dancing scene is the highlight of this movie.
He asks her to marry him and she wants to but then it turns out she's pregnant.
Ohlrig grants her a divorce on the condition that he keeps the child. It struck me as odd that this powerful man had to bargain about anything in the first place, nevertheless the movie has now reached its final act of Big Drama.
Except that the two men in Leonora's life don't do anything to progress the situation and Leonora herself hides in her bedroom.
Gay housefriend Franzi (Curt Bois) tries to glue the narrative together but, alas, he also throws in the towel.

Smith Ohlrig has one of his attacks, Leonora miscarries and that means she's free from her evil, possessive tycoon husband who never wanted her in the first place.
This is a movie that constantly informs but never shows. The character of Smith Ohlrig is massively underused but the mansion, as every American movie mansion, looks gorgeous. The hallway is almost as big as entire Southfork.


I'm sure things can only get better from this point on, otherwise it's going to be a painfully short-lived film noir thread.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Next Up:



All right, I did search for this one and I was pleasantly surprised to find the upload in excellent picture quality.
It's gorgeous: the scenery, the interiors, the actors, the wardrobe.
There's nothing in it that surprised me but I should keep in mind that this film predates all those other similar stories I've already seen or read.
The main attraction is, of course, Gene Tierney with her beautiful, icy "evil queen" features. She could have stared into the camera for 90 minutes and it would have been equally entertaining.

I understand she's the villain of the piece but come on, the little brother and the older man working around the house were super-annoying.
And there's the darling "I've done nothing wrong" sister who's been in love with her brother-in-law all along (don't you agree, @Alexis? )

Ellen wants to have the last laugh and in fact there is going to be a "trial". I used quotation marks for sarcasm because it's such a preposterous hamfest.


The dialogue in the first scene (when Richard meets Ellen) sounds very promising but after that it becomes more and more to the point and the other actors don't get a lot of acting to do.

Discovery: scattering ashes while horse riding looks very camp.

 

[Alexis]

Ellen wants to have the last laugh and in fact there is going to be a "trial". I used quotation marks for sarcasm because it's such a preposterous hamfest.

To be fair that's the only kind of trial that's good to watch. A real trial would put you to sleep, you just want to see people chew the courtroom scenery from the witness box and hear the lawyers interrogate witnesses in ways that wouldn't be allowed in a real trial.
It's a great film, of it's time.

 

[Willie Oleson]

you just want to see people chew the courtroom scenery

It was painfully obvious a personal vendetta and they didn't even get the chance to answer his questions (well, more like statements, and not one single "objection!").

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[ClassyCo]

Yes, there's a thread dedicated specifically to the film noirs released on DVD under the Fox Film Noir banner, but there's also another thread titled Noir Alley devoted to noirs in general.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I don't know if this is the perfect film noir, but it certainly is a perfect thriller. The drama and suspense is basically non-stop and the explanation of the flaw in the perfect crime is almost like a cheeky criticism of film fiction itself: it's simply not believable enough.
Ironically, the story does get away with murder as the actual murderer redeems himself by planning another murder, and in that regard it gives me strong "Jill Bennett" vibes.
Sweaty palms and not a moment to catch your breath, what a cracker!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

View attachment 41904

I don't know if this is the perfect film noir, but it certainly is a perfect thriller. The drama and suspense is basically non-stop and the explanation of the flaw in the perfect crime is almost like a cheeky criticism of film fiction itself: it's simply not believable enough.
Ironically, the story does get away with murder as the actual murderer redeems himself by planning another murder, and in that regard it gives me strong "Jill Bennett" vibes.
Sweaty palms and not a moment to catch your breath, what a cracker!

It's one of the definitive noirs, to be sure. Stanwyck said director Billy Wilder "taught me to kill" after she'd expressed her reservations about playing such a homicidal villain and Wilder responded, "Are you an actress or are you a mouse?"

She's apparently much creepier in the book.

If it wasn't for DOUBLE INDEMNITY, Fred MacMurray probably would only by remember for his '60s sitcom MY THREE SONS.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

View attachment 41904

I don't know if this is the perfect film noir, but it certainly is a perfect thriller. The drama and suspense is basically non-stop and the explanation of the flaw in the perfect crime is almost like a cheeky criticism of film fiction itself: it's simply not believable enough.
Ironically, the story does get away with murder as the actual murderer redeems himself by planning another murder, and in that regard it gives me strong "Jill Bennett" vibes.
Sweaty palms and not a moment to catch your breath, what a cracker!

Possibly the best of the genre. Superb writing, direction , casting, etc

 

[Crimson]

DOUBLE INDEMNITY is about as good as it gets. Not just top-of-the-line noir, but one of the best films of the Old Hollywood era. So many hard-edged films of the time are undermined by censor-enforced, last minute moral plot twists that ensure no guilty character went unpunished; Wilder was one of the few who knew how to incorporate that compellingly into the plot, rather than feeling like something tacked-on.

The film is the best indication of the specific niche Stanwyck occupied among her peers: more alluring than Davis, more forthright than Crawford. Bette wouldn't have been sexy enough for the role, and Crawford probably would have wanted the character to be more sympathetic. (The murder would have been committed by the daughter or something.)

If it wasn't for DOUBLE INDEMNITY, Fred MacMurray probably would only by remember for his '60s sitcom MY THREE SONS.

With perhaps a footnote to his career for THE APARTMENT; Wilder was the only person on Hollywood who recognized that there was something oily about MacMurray. Otherwise it's remarkable he made much a long career out of being bland.

 

[Crimson]

I almost went through Noir-vember without watching a single noir (well, except for CHINATOWN). So tonight I rectified that by watching one I've never seen before; indeed, never even heard of it: TAKE ONE FALSE STEP (1949) with William Powell and Shelley Winters.

This is one of the noirs that were inherently too light-hearted. I'm not entirely sure I didn't just watch an unfunny comedy. Powell, one of my favorites, was entirely wrong for a noir thriller. His stock-in-trade was an elegant nonchalance; he lacked any sense of urgency as a man under suspicion for murder. This is the first movie I've ever seen with young Shelley. As the murder victim, she was so shrilly neurotic I wanted to murder her myself.

Forgettable.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I almost went through Noir-vember without watching a single noir (well, except for CHINATOWN). So tonight I rectified that by watching one I've never seen before; indeed, never even heard of it: TAKE ONE FALSE STEP (1949) with William Powell and Shelley Winters.

This is one of the noirs that were inherently too light-hearted. I'm not entirely sure I didn't just watch an unfunny comedy. Powell, one of my favorites, was entirely wrong for a noir thriller. His stock-in-trade was an elegant nonchalance; he lacked any sense of urgency as a man under suspicion for murder. This is the first movie I've ever seen with young Shelley. As the murder victim, she was so shrilly neurotic I wanted to murder her myself.

Forgettable.

View attachment 42009

Do you see the Lucille Ball in young Shelley??

 

[Willie Oleson]

As in "THE FILE ON...."

Hmm, this is starting to look a tad familiar; a gullible male lead and Barbara's character doing her smoke and mirrors thing. Not that familiarity says anything about the quality of the film.

Wendell Corey basically narrates the beginning of the story as he describes in detail why he's drunk, unsatisfied and a dysfunctional element at home.
It's quite a lot to accept and believe since we don't even know this character, but as soon as Thelma Jordon walks into his office it doesn't matter anymore.
Cleve Marshall is not easy to like but I thought there was something intriguing about his self-destructive behaviour, partially because I didn't find the romance terribly convincing from his point of view.
The crime itself was a little confusing but the courtroom scenes were entertaining (as per usual), however, as a fall guy Cleve didn't really suffer that much. I had hoped for a tighter and more explosive plot twist. I feel it kinda petered out and I didn't really care what happened to Tony Laredo.

It's not bad but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece.

 

[Crimson]

Do you see the Lucille Ball in young Shelley??

Physically , yeah, although I think (young) Lucy was more beautiful than (young) Shelley.

Reading about her a bit, I have seen at least one other films when she was younger - EXECUTIVE SUITE (1954) -- and I recall not liking her there either. I'm not sure if she was a Method actor, I didn't see any reference on her Wiki bio; but she had that basic style. There was that period in the late 40s and early 50s when the Method actors first starting showing up in movies, and they almost always seemed incongruous. Everyone else would be giving those lowkey Old Hollywood performances -- or at least traditionally theatrical -- and there'd be that one Method actor sticking out like a sore thumb.

That was Shelley in both movies.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Physically , yeah, although I think (young) Lucy was more beautiful than (young) Shelley.

Oh, yes, Ball was stunning in her youth. I've heard a number of people say how much young Lucy and young Shelley remind them of each other (Sun in Leo/Cancer Rising, both of 'em).

Reading about her a bit, I have seen at least one other films when she was younger - EXECUTIVE SUITE (1954) -- and I recall not liking her there either. I'm not sure if she was a Method actor, I didn't see any reference on her Wiki bio; but she had that basic style. There was that period in the late 40s and early 50s when the Method actors first starting showing up in movies, and they almost always seemed incongruous. Everyone else would be giving those lowkey Old Hollywood performances -- or at least traditionally theatrical -- and there'd be that one Method actor sticking out like a sore thumb.

That was Shelley in both movies.

But when she drowned in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, she really did seem dead.

 

[Crimson]

I've heard a number of people say how much young Lucy and young Shelley remind them of each other

But they're cousins,
Identical cousins all the way.

But when she drowned in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, she really did seem dead.

Oh I adored Shelley as a blowsy character actress. I think she grew into her talents.

 

[Crimson]

Last night, THE VELVET TOUCH (1948); one of my favorite obsure-ish films.

I'm a bit iffy about whether this is noir or not. It looks like noir, but most B&W films of the mid- to late-40s look like noir even when they're not. This one is a bit light for the genre, but Wiki and IMDB both classify it as such; so bet it. Plus there's no thread on the forum for "Watching Quasi- Film Noirs". This one's a melodrama about a famous stage actress who kills her abusive lover; the rest of the movie is about whether she gets caught, or her conscious gives her away. (Hint: Hayes Office.)

There's no actress of the era that I find more hit-or-miss than Rosiland Russell. She could be great but, just as often, grating. Here, I think she found a good balance between florid but not too over-the-top. She's well supported by Claire Trevor, who seemed to know the exact right amount of over-the-top. This and her work in KEY LARGO rank among my favorite performances of the era. Sydney Greenstreet is equally good as a starstruck detective investigating the crime.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

INNER SANTUM (1948)

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1945)

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

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