film-noir

Review: Two O’Clock Courage

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Two O’Clock Courage is an early film noir from 1945 that isn’t as well-known as other films from the era, and probably deservedly so.  So why should you watch this short noir? Two reasons I think film noir junkies should search this one out is:

  1. This is an early film of future directing great Anthony Mann
  2. This is the first credited role of femme fatale great Jane Greer, under the name Bettejane Greer here.

Two O’Clock Courage starts out with our hero, played by Tom Conway, on the side of a street with blood trickling from his head. He stumbles out into the street and almost gets hit by a taxi. The taxi driver is played by Ann Rutherford and decides to help our hero. Conway has amnesia and Rutherford wants to take him to the hospital. When it comes over the radio that a murder has been committed and the description of the main suspect happens to be Conway. Soon the two travel through town trying to solve who Conway real is and if he is innocent of the murder.

This film is very short and has a fair plot, probably pretty original for a film in 1945 and one of the first films noir to use the amnesia device, a device that would be used often in the following years. This film uses humor to great effect as well, it is not over the top and flows nicely with the dark story. The chemistry between Rutherford and Conway is very good with Rutherford being the source of most of the comedic moments. She really did well as with quick one liners throughout the film and you can see why Conway is attracted to her.

You can also see Anthony Mann does very well with an obvious small budget and B movie actors. It is interesting to watch this and see glimpses of a director who would go on to make some great films. We also see one of film noir fans favorite actresses, Jane Greer, in only her second film and her first credited role. It is a small part, but you can already see the femme fatale roots that would launch her into legendary statues only two years later in Out of the Past.

Is this film a forgotten gem somehow missed by film noir fans? Probably not. I did like the way it balanced comedy and the dark noir story line very well. This is a decent film and will entertain you for the little over the hour you are watching it. If you are a huge Greer or Mann fan, it is worth seeking out for a viewing.

Review: Thieves’ Highway

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Thieves’ Highway is Jules Dassin’s last Hollywood film before he moved to Europe. He became blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. This is an amazing film and America lost a great director to the old country as he went on to even make more masterpieces over seas.

This film stars Richard Conte as our hero. He comes back from traveling the world and has earned enough money to come home, get married to his girlfriend played by Barbara Lawrence and start his own little business. Unfortunately things have changed as his father has lost all his money and his ability to work. This is all do to a crooked fruit vendor up in San Francisco played by Lee J. Cobb. Conte vows vengeance for his Father and teams up with Millard Mitchell to buy some apples and truck them to San Francisco to make some money. Along the way our hero meets truck driver and overall fun-loving good guy Slob played by Jack Oakie. He also runs into Rica played by Valentina Cortese. Is Rica a femme fatale or does she have our hero’s best interest at heart? Will our hero get his revenge? Will he get burned by the same man who took advantage of his Father? Will his partner double cross him before he even gets to San Francisco?

This is an amazing film worth watching if you are a film noir fan or not. Conte and Cobb are at their best in this one. I also really liked Mitchell and Oakie in their smaller parts. Also look for a small appearance by Hope Emerson. All noir fans need to see this. I have seen a few of Dassin’s other films and have loved them all. I will be seeking out more of his work in the near future.

Review: Kansas City Confidential

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Kansas City Confidential is a classic film noir from 1952, directed by Phil Karlson. I watched this recently because of the recent passing of Coleen Gray. I loved Gray in Nightmare Alley which I reviewed here:

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/07/02/review-nightmare-alley/

I really look forward to watching more films with her in it. She was one of the great actress from the classic film noir era. If you have not watched any films with her in it, I highly recommended you do.

This story starts out with Preston Foster casing a bank. He is timing when a delivery man is stopping at a floral shop and when an armored car is picking up cash at the bank next door. When he seems to have the perfect crime planned out he starts to recruit his team. His team consists of three of the best actors to play thugs in the classic film noir era. The three criminals are played by Neville Brand, Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam. The key to this heist is all four men wear a mask all the time!

The masks not only hide their I.D. from witnesses and the police, but also from each other. This way if somebody is busted they can not rat out the other three. So the robbery goes down, as our driver of the florist truck leaves, the crooks pull up in an exact replica and rob the armored car. When the A.P.B. goes out for the getaway vehicle our innocent driver is soon pulled over. The driver is played by our headlining star for this film,John Payne. The police take Payne in, thinking he has to be involved in the armed robbery in some way. He has been in prison for a year and just recently got out, so it doesn’t look good for him. As our four thieves get away clean and disappear to 4 different locations, with plans to meet at an unknown location later to split the money. When the police let Payne go, he starts his on investigation to find out who framed him. We don’t stay in Kansas City very long for this one as we travel to a few foreign locations.

This plot is a very well crafted story and you don’t know where it is going until the very end. The plot is very complicated, but very easy to follow. Though I watched this for Gray’s involvement, and she is great in her role as the innocent traveler who falls for Payne, the five male leads of this film stole the show. This is a must see for classic film noir fans and film buffs in general.

Article: The Last of the Film Noir Women

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Here is a very nice article about Coleen Gray over at Legacy.com Written by Linnea Crowther. It has a great time line of Gray’s film noir career and a quick look at her influence on noir films. Worth checking out for all Gray fans or those wanting to learn a little more about the late actress. Enjoy!

http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/the-last-of-the-film-noir-women/3452/

Re-Watching the Classics: Conflict

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Conflict is a classic film noir from director Curtis Bernhardt. The original story is from novelist Alfred Neumann and the great noir director Robert Siodmak. This film maybe cashing in on the success of The Maltese Falcon with the teaming up of Humphrey Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet once again. Then again who cares! I would love to see this duo in 100 movies!

This film revolves around Richard Mason played by Bogart. He is a wealth business man who is married to Kathryn played by Rose Hobart. Greenstreet plays a family friend who is a psychiatrist. Alexis Smith plays Kathryn’s little sister and has caught the eye of Richard. After a party where we get to know the main players Richard, Kathryn and her little sister are involved in a car crash. Richard is hospitalized and now has to use a cane to get around. Richard and Kathryn’s marriage is on the rocks after Kathryn brings up the fact she can tell Richard is in love with her little sister. She decides to go up to the lodge in the woods by herself and Richard stays behind. With Richard using his injury and alibi of staying in the city, he causes Kathryn to drive off the pass in her car falling to her death. With Kathryn out of the picture will Richard win the heart of her little sister? Will anybody ever find Kathryn? Will Richard’s evil plan all come together for him or will it unravel as his web of lies start to fall apart?

This maybe one of the lesser known noir films starring Bogart, but it shouldn’t be. This is an amazing film with Bogart at his dapper best. He is pure evil in this one, but you still root for him. Greenstreet plays the smartest man in the room like no other. The cinematography in this one is well above average for a classic noir with some amazing shots and scenes that look totally original. If you are noir fan or fan of Bogart and/or Greenstreet (and who is not!) you will enjoy this film.

Favorite Tidbit: Way before Easter Eggs was even a thing, this film has two of them, both from earlier in Bogart’s career. In one scene you will see a version of The Maltese Falcon on a filling cabinet and one of the brooches worn by Kathryn is the exact same one worn by Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.

Video: San Francisco is the Scene of a Perfect Crime

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In the world of noir Los Angeles and New York seem to be the two cities used most often. San Francisco may not have the numbers of the other two, but it sure has a lot of high quality noir and neo noir films based in this city. Here are the films I have already reviewed that appear in this video from RubyTuesday717 on YouTube.

Bullitt

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/02/21/re-watching-the-classics-bullitt/

Basic Instinct

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/04/14/the-great-villain-blogathon-2015-catherine-tramell-and-re-watching-basic-instinct-2/

Woman on the Run

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/06/24/review-women-on-the-run/

Maltese Falcon

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/03/05/re-watching-the-classics-the-maltese-falcon/

The Conversation

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/05/14/re-watching-the-classics-the-conversation/

Zodiac

https://everythingnoir.com/2015/02/26/re-watching-zodiac/

Here is the video, this is well done and every noir and neo noir fan will enjoy this short video:

Review: Roadblock

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Roadblock is a film noir from 1951 directed by Harold Daniels. This film stars noir regular Charles McGraw with a bunch of noir roles coming before this film and maybe his high mark in the noir genre coming one year later with Narrow Margin. This also stars Joan Dixon as our femme fatale. She is a gold digger who doesn’t believe in love, but knows she wants riches.

The story start out with a sting on a man who has stolen some money. McGraw is an insurance fraud investigator and takes his job seriously. He stays honest and doesn’t bend the rules at his job. After successfully recovering a large amount of money for the insurance company, he gets on a train to head home. This is where he meets Dixon and falls madly in love. She says he doesn’t have the money or income to interest her. After running into her again while investigating another case he figures the only way to her heart is by stealing a large amount of money. While he do that to win the love of our femme fatale? Will he get away with it? If he does it will it be enough for her to “fall in love” with him?

This is a short film that is borrowing from a lot of the films that came before it. This doesn’t have anything that we have not seen from noir films of the 1940’s. This being said, it is still an entertaining short film. At only 73 minutes long it is well worth your time to check it.

Review: The Strip

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The Strip from 1951 is a different film noir than most. This film has a small noir tale to tell, but the tale seems to just be there to get you from one song and dance number to the next. People who are fans of the music of the era will love this film.

This film revolves around Mickey Rooney who has just got out of a mental institution. He soon gets a job selling “insurance” for a local gangster played by James Craig. He soon gets the chance to chase his passion of playing drums at a club on the strip in Hollywood. Fluff, played by William Demarest, owns the club and is Rooney’s father figure for this film. He soon falls for Sally Forrest who is a cigarette girl and dancer at the club. Rooney soon has plans of marriage, but Forrest is hoping to improve her career in the entertainment industry by trying to get into the movies. Rooney, wanting to keep Forrest happy, introduces her to his old gangster connection, Craig. Craig says he has connections in the movie industry and will help Forrest get into the movies. Will Rooney lose his girl to his old gangster friend? Will Forrest ever get into the movies?

All this is happening as we see performances from Louis Armstrong, Monica Lewis and Vic Damone. We see Rooney on the drums and Forrest doing dance numbers as well. This is a very entertaining film because of the music and dancing, but falls into the average film noir department.

If you are a fan of Rooney, Forrest or some of the musical acts that perform, I think you will love this film. If you are looking for a very dark film noir, skip this one.

Article: The Modern Noir Has Atrophied

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Angelica Jade Bastién has written an interesting article over at Vulture. She looks at neo noir and what is missing from it lately compared to the classic noir period. She gives a very interesting point of view with some great information. Though I don’t agree with everything she has to say, it does make for some interesting reading and discussion.  What do you think of her take on noir and neo noir?

http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/noir-has-atrophied-its-not-all-true-detectives-fault.html