Jake Hinkson has put together a list of films, noir lovers will enjoy over the Christmas Season. So if you are looking for something a little darker then the Christmas Musicals and Comedies that will be all over this season, take a look at this list for some options.
http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2014/12/dark-christmas-7-noir-holiday-films-jake-hinkson
Did Hinkson miss any? Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one of my favorites not on this list, what are yours?
A Woman’s Face is a early film noir from 1941 starring Joan Crawford. The film is directed by George Cukor. The movie is a remake of a 1938 Swedish film starring Ingrid Bergman. I have not seen this original film, but wouldn’t it be fun to watch both of these back to back and see what great actress you like best in this role?
This film starts out with a trial scene. We meet a number of witnesses as they get ready to testify. Soon we find out that Crawford’s Anna Holm is on trial for murder and the witnesses are telling the story in flashback fashion to lay out the what has happened. We don’t even know who Anna has killed until late in the film to add to the tension.
Anna is the head of a blackmailing gang and is a bitter woman. Her face is badly scarred and she hides it as much as possible. You can see where her anger comes from and why she is so evil. She looks as ugly on the outside as she feels and is on the inside.
When a blackmail victim turns out to be married to a plastic surgeon and he is willing to fix her face, things change. Now that she is beautiful on the outside will she change on the inside? Can she start a new life with her new face? Is the evil always there boiling underneath, trying to get out?
I got to admit I liked the first part of this film much better then the second half. When Crawford is an evil ring leader of a group of blackmailers, she is much more interesting then the governess of a small boy later in the film. Though there are some tense scenes and you know a crime is going to happen, it did lose some of my interest through this second half. Though watching Crawford’s performance of a Jekyll and Hyde type character makes this film worth watching.
This is not like most film’s noir and has a bit more of a Hitchcockian feel to it. This was made in 1941 and is early in the classic film noir cycle, so this doesn’t have some of the tropes that we are usually looking for, and that may be a good thing. If you are looking for something a bit outside the box of film noir, this may be for you.
Sexy Beast is a British neo noir from 2000 directed by Jonathan Glazer. This is Glazer’s first feature film and he started his career off with a bang. This received much critical acclaim especially for Ben Kingsley who was nominated for over 20 awards including a nomination for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This film also made the list for Total Film’s 50 Greatest British Movies Ever at number 15.
This film starts out with Gal Dove played by Ray Winstone enjoying his retirement in Spain with his wife Deedee played by Amanda Redman. His best friend Aitch played by Cavan Kendall(in his last role before his death) and Aitch’s wife Jackie played by Julianne White have also joined the Dove’s in Spain for a quite retirement.
In the opening scene Gal is sunbathing with a large boulder flies by him into his pool. Is this symbolism of a crime life he has narrowly escaped, but is soon coming back to haunt him?
The two happy couples soon get word a person from their past is coming to see them, Don Logan played by Ben Kingsley. Don is psychopath who is there to recruit Gal for one last job in England. Gal doesn’t want to go, but Don is persistent. Will Gal go help with the heist? Will he be able to get out of it somehow?
Ian McShane plays Teddy Bass, the brains behind the heist back in England. McShane does a great job as a gangster that maybe scarier then Don. What he does to get the knowledge he needs for the heist gives you the lengths he will go to. His brutality later in the film shows how scary this man is.
This is an amazing film and should be watched by any film buff. All the performances are outstanding and the story is great. This film does have some interesting symbolism such as the boulder I mentioned before. The other one is the scary looking rabbit that appears from time to time through out the film.
The theories behind this rabbit vary greatly. One of them is it is simple death. Is it Gal’s past haunting him or Don’s sexual repression. Maybe it is just the hunted becoming the hunter? All of which seem to be good theories to me and make sense, what is your theory on this one?
The Line-Up found this best and worst of 1995 crime films in The Armchair Detective in 1996 and was written by Ric Meyers.
It has many now classic neo noir films on both the best and worst lists. It is an interesting time capsule. What films are on the right lists and which ones are not? Personally I would have put the the film in the number 5 spot on the worst list as my favorite from 1995, how about you?
Here is the link to the full article and list
http://www.the-line-up.com/media/flashback-best-worst-movies-1995/
Anybody else find it interesting that Heat did not make this list?
The Night and the City is a film from one of film noir’s greatest directors, Jules Dassin. Dassin was a target of the Communist hunt in Hollywood and was sent to London to start filming this film to get him out of the country. This was his last Hollywood film for years after being put on the blacklist. He left for France where he made a few more classic films, before his return to Hollywood.
There is two versions of this film, one is a shorter American version and a longer British edit. I watched the shorter American cut, which seems to be Dassin’s preferred version because of it’s tighter edit and more clear dialog.
This film stars Richard Widmark and his signature laugh. He plays a street hustler in London, using anybody and everybody he meets for money or a way to get ahead. The film starts with Widmark’s Harry Fabian running at night through the city as somebody chases him. He runs to an apartment building, and seems to have lost all the stress he was just under. He enters the apartment and soon is riffling through a purse looking for money. Mary played by Gene Tierney is seen coming out of the shadows. Mary and Harry are a couple and Mary is tired of his hustling. She gets him the money Harry owes the man chasing him and Harry is free to start his next hustle.
Harry gives us a tour through the underworld of London and we meet a number of con men, hustlers and shady business owners. Harry uses a number of these people to get ahead on his latest ploy. Googie Withers and Francis L. Sullivan play a dysfunctional wed couple that will cross each other for love and hate. Harry’s latest scheme involves starting his own pro wrestling promotion. Herbert Lom plays the current wrestling promoter in London and will do whatever he needs to eliminate the competition.
This is pretty unique in we get wrestling instead of boxing as our noir sport of choice. This seems to mirror how wrestling territories where back in this time, as well as showing the move from traditional wrestling to the entertainment wrestling we have today. Ex-pro wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko plays the old guard, wanting to keep the art of traditional pro wrestling alive. Unfortunately this was the only screen appearance by Zbyszko, who is great in this film. Zbyszko in real life echoed his on screen character.
Mike Mazurki was also a pro wrestler and plays The Strangler. The Strangler is the big draw in London and is part of the new guard of entertaining wrestlers Zbyszko’s character thinks is destroying the art of wrestling. Mazurki moved from wrestling to the movies and was one of the first actors to be type cast as the heavy or thug and had a film career that lasted over 50 years.
The inevitable wrestling match in this film is amazing. The scene lasts over 4 minutes and is one of the best fight scenes in film noir. This is a very complex film with may reasons to view it. It has one of the most brutal and heart wrenching ending in classic film noir.
This film is based on the book by the same name written by Gerald Kersh. This book was originally published in 1938 and was kicked around for years in Hollywood. A lot of this had to do with timing, the book is very dark and shows crime in a very different way then audiences were used too. Thanks to a long run of film noir, Hollywood decided the public was ready. I have not read the book, but from my little research, it appears the movie varies from the source material for a number of reasons.
This film was also remade in 1992 starring Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange.
I loved this film and think it is required viewing for any film noir fan, classic movie fan and I feel pro-wrestling fans or those that would like to learn more about pro-wrestling will enjoy this as well.
How is excited for this show! Based on the books of Joe Lansdale and starring James Purefoy, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Christina Hendricks. Check out the short article and teaser below.
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/17/hap-leonard-teaser-sundancetv
Andrew Diamond was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book Warren Lane. I was impressed he took the time to send a hand written note and signed my copy, a nice touch I appreciated.
Warren Lane is a name of a character in the book, but not the main character. This book’s plot is a series of miscommunication, mistaken identity, and bad luck.
The story revolves around a handful of characters. The first is Ready, a drunk that has been getting by with his good looks, something he isn’t comfortable with. For all his flaws, Ready is a lovable character we root for through out. Ella is a beautiful model who gets involved with a rich, older, married man. William is the rich, older, married man Ella makes happy. William is the character I most rooted against in this tale. Susan is William’s wife and thinks he is cheating on her. Susan hires a private investigator named Warren Lane to find out if William is cheating or not.
The story has these characters crossing each other’s paths while they all try and find their way through life. This book is for fans of Elmore Leonard stories and Coen Brother’s movies. It is a mix of black comedy and noir crime with an improbable chain of events.
This is Andrew Diamond’s first book and it sounds like he is already in the process of writing a second book that will be darker and more in the vein of Jim Thompson or Ross Macdonald. This is a very good book for a first work and I look forward to reading his second effort.
Grab a copy if you are looking for a fun read from a new author. This story will take you on an enjoyable ride worth the price of admission.
Here is a great write up on Heat by Jennifer Wood over at Rolling Stone. This is a look at how the film was made and how it became a classic.
Everything Noir also looked at Heat for its 20 year anniversary here:
https://everythingnoir.com/2015/03/12/re-watching-the-classics-heat/
“‘Sci-fi Noir’ in the tradition of Dark City, Blade Runner,” well that is enough to get me intrigued by this new film coming out next month. Synchoronicity sounds like a film worth checking out. Check out the trailer here:
Also read the review over at Slash Films here:
From director Budd Boetticher in 1960 comes the story of real life gangster Legs Diamond. This film is a mix of fact and fiction of the legendary mobster. Legs was an Irish American who was born in Philadelphia. He was known to be a great dancer, hence the nick name Legs. He also had been shot numerous times over the years only to live to tell the tale. He may have also got the Legs nickname for being able to outrun assassination attempts. He was a womanizer and willing to do whatever it took to get ahead.
This film covers all the highlights talked about above about Legs. Legs is played by Ray Danton for this film. It opens with Legs and his sickly brother played by Warren Oates getting caught in a drive-by shooting. This gives Legs the idea to steal a necklace out of a jewelry store near the shooting. He quickly picks up a dance instructor played by Karen Steele to be his alibi. He takes her to a movie and excuses himself. While he is out he uses the theater’s skylight to get into the store and steal the necklace. This opening shows Legs and his brother as small time crooks who are just trying to get by.
Legs goes to jail, but convinces the dance instructor to get him out by marrying him and traveling as a dance duo. Legs soon sees Gangster Arnold Rothstein and does everything he can to get into his inner circle. From here Legs uses his cunning, toughness and brutality to get to the top of the mob world. Will he get to the top? Will somebody take him down? Will Legs ever be happy?
Legs makes for a unlikable lead character with little to no redeemable qualities. With all this said we still root for him through out the film. A decent anti-hero that most will enjoy watching.
This film rode the coattails of other true crime drama’s about gangster that became popular in the early 1960’s. The Untouchables television series may have been the catalyst for this explosion of popularity. Legs did appear as a a character on that series as well as the television series The Lawless Years. This film was also adapted for Broadway in the late 1980’s.
Film noir buffs will enjoy this film as well as Mobster history fans. It is well directed and well acted, though we have seen this basic plot line many times in pre-noir gangster films, I guess it is true that history repeats itself.
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