- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
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- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Fox has released the third group in their Noir series, and two are more than worth the price of admission.
One of the most literate of filmmakers, Joseph Mankiewicz's 1946 Somewhere in the Night, tells of a man waking in a military hospital having lost his memory and only a few clues to help him on his way. We find ourselves putting the pieces together along with the lead character.
Whirlpool is a 1949 production directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, a brilliant Jose Ferrer and Charles Bickford. Mr. Ferrer plays a less than honest hypnotist who goes after the wife of a successful phychiatrist, involving her in a murder.
Both of these black and white productions are beautifully rendered by Fox, with only a passing sync problem on Whirlpool to take away from total viewing pleasure.
Whirlpool was photographed by Arthur Miller, who's work can be found in The Gunfighter, A Letter to Three Wives, Gentlemen's Agreement, Song of Bernadette and other major films of the 1940s. A decade earlier he did service on most of the Shirley Temple productions. Tracking his career further back, one finds that he was Asst. Cameraman on A True Indian's Heart in 1909, and cinematograher on The Perils of Pauline in 1914.
He apparently knew what he was doing.
Both of these films come recommended from these quarters.
RAH
One of the most literate of filmmakers, Joseph Mankiewicz's 1946 Somewhere in the Night, tells of a man waking in a military hospital having lost his memory and only a few clues to help him on his way. We find ourselves putting the pieces together along with the lead character.
Whirlpool is a 1949 production directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, a brilliant Jose Ferrer and Charles Bickford. Mr. Ferrer plays a less than honest hypnotist who goes after the wife of a successful phychiatrist, involving her in a murder.
Both of these black and white productions are beautifully rendered by Fox, with only a passing sync problem on Whirlpool to take away from total viewing pleasure.
Whirlpool was photographed by Arthur Miller, who's work can be found in The Gunfighter, A Letter to Three Wives, Gentlemen's Agreement, Song of Bernadette and other major films of the 1940s. A decade earlier he did service on most of the Shirley Temple productions. Tracking his career further back, one finds that he was Asst. Cameraman on A True Indian's Heart in 1909, and cinematograher on The Perils of Pauline in 1914.
He apparently knew what he was doing.
Both of these films come recommended from these quarters.
RAH