Amanda Fortini over at Elle makes a case for the femme fatale. This is a very interesting take on the femme fatale, coming from a women in today’s world. She looks at the femme fatale from the classic films noir as well as the ones she grew up watching in the 1990’s. This is worth reading and you can read the full essay over at Elle here:
Joan Crawford in her Oscar Winning role as Mildred Pierce in the now classic film noir is celebrating its 70th Anniversary! Check out the full article over at Vanity.com below:
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/joan-crawford-mildred-pierce-70th-anniversary-1201619298/
Here is a film I have never heard of, but since it has recently been released on DVD I will be looking for a copy soon. This is Alain Delon’s first American film and also stars Ann-Margret making for an interesting duo. Here is a full review of the newly released DVD over at ctnews.com:
‘Thief’ lost Alain Dolon Ann-Margret Film Noir
After reading Joe Meyers’ review of the DVD, I did a little more research on this film and see it also stars noir greats Van Heflin and Jack Palance. Sounds like a film I need to see soon! Who has already seen this film? What are your thoughts?
Here is our first look at James Purefoy and Michael K. Williams as Hap and Leonard! Who else is excited to see this new television series? Read the full article here:
https://www.yahoo.com/tv/first-look-michael-k-williams-and-james-purefoy-151759430.html
Paul Bishop is a writer of crime fiction and a 35 year vet of the Los Angeles Police Department. He has written his take on classic film noir and the outside influences on it as well as why it was so popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Part 1 of his article concentrates on the 1940’s and can be read over at The Huffington Post here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-bishop/film-noirs-inner-characte_b_8186130.html
The second part of his article looks at the 1950’s and can be read here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-bishop/film-noirs-inner-characte_1_b_8186198.html
His articles are informative and I found interesting in the fact he doesn’t name any films in his article, but looks at why the films were made and why they were popular.
I came across this article written by Roger Ebert in the mid 1990’s. It’s about how popular, noir films are today and how they have changed from the classic era. It looks at many of the great neo-noir films of the mid 1990’s and breaks them down into three different categories: Classic Noir, Deadpan Noir and Neo Noir. This is a great article and talks about some films I have not revisited in a long time, but really want to take another look at them now. What do you think of the three types of noir and do they still hold up today, 20 years later?
“Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s and ’50s” editor Sarah Weinman did an interview with Scott Timberg over at Salon.com. This collection of novels looks great, with 6 of the 8 books being adapted to movies and the other two for television. This interview has a lot of great information about the women of crime fiction in the 40’s and 50’s. Check out the film interview here:
Dashiell Hammett maybe the first author of noir and he is one of the greatest. I have found his personal life fascinating. I’ve seen a few documentaries and have read many articles about his history with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, The Anaconda Company and his time in Butte, Montana. I live in this area and if you read Red Harvest and know Butte, you will recognize that the fictional Poisonville is Butte. Anyway, here is a an article in The Washington Post by Art Taylor about what maybe legend and myth and what is fact about Hammett. It also talks about the Nathan Ward book about Hammett. Check out the full article here:
Taste of Cinema is at it again! This time with the 10 best films involving the great noir author Raymond Chandler. Agree or Disagree with the choices or the placing if you like, but read the full article for some great knowledge about the author and these movies you may not have known. Well worth your time to check it out if you are a fan of noir or Chandler. Here is the link to the full article:
Here is an article about the film noir career of Gloria Grahame and bit of history of her personal life, which sounds like a noir tale itself! This is written by Graham Fuller over at The Village Voice and is well worth reading. Here is the link:
everythingnoir 