*** 4th Annual HTF Noirvember Movie Challenge*** (1 Viewer)

[dana martin]

Same as last year

1. Watch as many Noir/ Western Noir/ Neo-Noir-Themed films, etc. from midnight Noirvember 1, 2024 through the month of Noirvember 2024 (the start of the Holiday Season) (use your own time zone to set the ending time).

2. Theatrically released films and short features count as 1 point each. Running times are irrelevant.

3. Two of the films, et. al. should be new discoveries, movies you've never seen before. The point of this is to see those few movies you've always meant to see, but never got around to. Please specify new discoveries in your film list by making them bold, adding asterisks, different colors, etc.

4. Come here and talk about 'em. ( this is the best part )

5. There is an uber-category, the Heavy Smoker/ Femme Fatale for those who wish to put all of the rest of us to shame. This is the heavyweight division. These people, if they choose to accept the challenge, must view 24 Noir/ Western Noir/ Neo-Noir themed movies before dawn on Dec. 1st. Ten new discoveries are recommended for this one. The rest of us will bow down in awed reverence to these HTF members. The bragging rights will be awesome and long lived. What movies qualify?



Film Critic, Roger Ebert’s A Guide to Film Noir Genre

Film noir is . . .

1. A French term meaning "black film," or film of the night, inspired by the Series Noir, a line of cheap paperbacks that translated hard-boiled American crime authors and found a popular audience in France.

2. A movie which at no time misleads you into thinking there is going to be a happy ending.

3. Locations that reek of the night, of shadows, of alleys, of the back doors of fancy places, of apartment buildings with a high turnover rate, of taxi drivers and bartenders who have seen it all.

4. Cigarettes. Everybody in film noir is always smoking, as if to say, "On top of everything else, I've been assigned to get through three packs today." The best smoking movie of all time is "Out of the Past," in which Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas smoke furiously at each other. At one point, Mitchum enters a room, Douglas extends a pack and says, "Cigarette?" and Mitchum, holding up his hand, says, "Smoking."

5. Women who would just as soon kill you as love you, and vice versa.

6. For women: low necklines, floppy hats, mascara, lipstick, dressing rooms, boudoirs, calling the doorman by his first name, high heels, red dresses, elbowlength gloves, mixing drinks, having gangsters as boyfriends, having soft spots for alcoholic private eyes, wanting a lot of someone else's women, sprawling dead on the floor with every limb meticulously arranged and every hair in place.

7. For men: fedoras, suits and ties, shabby residential hotels with a neon sign blinking through the window, buying yourself a drink out of the office bottle, cars with running boards, all-night diners, protecting kids who shouldn't be playing with the big guys, being on first-name terms with homicide cops, knowing a lot of people whose descriptions end in "ies," such as bookies, newsies, junkies, alkys, jockeys and cabbies.

8. Movies either shot in black and white, or feeling like they were.

9. Relationships in which love is only the final flop card in the poker game of death.

10. The most American film genre, because no society could have created a world so filled with doom, fate, fear and betrayal, unless it were essentially naive and optimistic.

Been a great year since the last, with lots of new releases all around to discuss,

And a link http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/home.html

For more information



HTF Threads about Film Noir

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

65) 11-22-24: “Secret of the Whistler” (1946) (BD) 2.5/5 Stars
An artist with not much talent is married to a wealthy woman with perhaps a fatal heart condition. He's attracted to a young model and hopes to marry her once his wife is dead. However, the wife makes a recovery after being treated by a new heart specialist. This complicates the philandering husband's plan as well as his wife finding out about his affair with the other woman. Suspicious deaths ensue and the no account husband is right in the middle of it. Richard Dix plays the husband in my least favorite of the Whistler movies I've seen so far. My film grade is 2.5/5 stars with some weaker writing in this movie.

66) 11-22-24: “Secret Beyond the Door…” (1948) (BD) 2.5/5 Stars
Today, was my day to watch mediocre movies. I always thought I watched "Secret Behind the Door..." beforehand, because it's been in my disc collection for over a decade as I own the Olive and Arrow Blu-ray releases. However, after watching the 2024 Kino Blu-ray derived from a 2022 scan, I don't have any memory of this movie. Nothing at all! Therefore, I'm going to count this as a first time viewing for me because I'm pretty good remembering portions of films. What a tedious film for 99 minutes. It has some suspenseful moments but some of the important plot points were just plain silly. A woman marries a mysterious man without much of a courtship and then moves into his mansion about an hour out of NYC. Once there, she finds out he was previously married and even has a young teenage son, he never told her about. The previous wife died years earlier under some strange circumstances. There is tension in the household as it appears that the father and son don't like each other. The husband is really strange because of his mood swings, and he has a number of rooms in his mansion that are replicates of bedrooms in which people were murdered elsewhere. Fritz Lang directed this movie, but it's far from being among his better American films. The screenplay just isn't good with too many nonsensical issues with it. Very dialogue driven with a narration throughout the movie. Michael Redgrave plays the husband, and his confused wife is played by Joan Bennett. The movie bombed at the box office and received some bad reviews and for good reason in my opinion. If it wasn't for Alan K. Rode doing an audio commentary for this Blu-ray release, I probably would never watch this movie again. However, I enjoy Rode's commentaries so one day I'll watch it again just to listen to his thoughts on the movie and the principals involved in making this film. My film grade is 2.5/5 stars for this so-so movie.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

November 20: Odd Man Out (1947; Carol Reed): 5 out of 5 (Criterion Blu-ray)

After escaping from prison, Johnny McQueen (James Mason) attempts the heist of a mill's payroll to help the Irish Nationalist cause. When it goes horribly awry, a wounded Johnny must stay a step ahead of the authorities as he hides out in the Belfast underground.

Quintessential British Noir helped to establish both director Carol Reed and James Mason on this side of the Atlantic. Incredibly tense from start to finish, with a memorably bleak ending.

November 21: The Hitch-Hiker (1953; Ida Lupino): 4.5 out of 5 (Kino DVD; Film Noir: Five Classics from the Studio Vaults)

The best directorial effort of Ida Lupino's career is tense psychological character study of two Americans on a fishing holiday in Mexico terrorized by the titular menace, who they make the mistake of picking up. Before becoming known as the District Attorney with likely the worst record in legal history on TV's Perry Mason, William Talman has his best film role here as the madman who makes the lives of Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy into a living nightmare.

November 22: Double Indemnity (1944; Billy Wilder): 5 out of 5 (TCM broadcast)

Perhaps the defining film of the film noir genre - and the true breakthrough film of Billy Wilder's directorial career - this classic still mesmerizes after 80 years. Having already reviewed the Criterion UHD Blu-ray for this site, I don't feel the need to say anything more that I haven't already written about it.

 

[compson]

Lost Argentine noir classics found

48. Never Open That Door (No abras nunco esa puerta), 1952*
49. If I Should Die Before I Wake (Si muero antes de despertar), 1952*
50. The Beast Must Die (La bestia debe morir), 1952*
51. M, 1931
52. The Black Vampire (El vampiro negro), 1953*
53. The Bitter Stems (Los tallos amargos), 1956*

*first time viewing

Five more movies from Flicker Alley, the Film Noir Foundation, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, these from Argentina, and one ringer. My comments:

Spoiler: Comments (minor spoilers)

Never Open That Door (1952) presents two independent segments based on stories by Cornell Woolrich. In the first, a young woman, the daughter in a factory-owning family, incurs a large gambling debt, and her brother goes after the debtholder. The final twist works but makes the segment feel like a gimmick, like an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The second segment is stronger. A man returns home after eight years to his blind, elderly mother and with two gang members in tow, one of them wounded in a shootout. The segment does a good job of creating tension, especially when the mother tries to avoid waking gang members as she sneaks about the rooms they’re sleeping in. This segment has a twist, too, but it’s telegraphed and seems more fitting. The Blu-ray case bears a blurb from Eddie Muller saying that in this movie, Woolrich’s work is “rendered as well—or perhaps better—than any Hollywood adaptation of his work,” and while the movie is enjoyable, viewers who have seen Rear Window (1954) are likely to disagree.

Never Open That Door was conceived with three segments, but the movie would have been too long. The third story was cleaved off, expanded, and released separately as If I Should Die Before I Wake (1952). It is included as an extra, from damaged source materials, on the Never Open That Door Blu-ray. Even at 70 minutes, If I Should Die Before I Wake feels padded, but it still packs a punch. A schoolgirl is murdered after leaving school with a man who had been giving her candy. A schoolboy who had seen the man keeps his promise to the girl to never tell anyone about the gifts. Three years later, the boy sees the man again, and another classmate is in danger. The climax is intense.

A beast of a man dies from poison at a large family dinner, in The Beast Must Die (1952). Suspicion falls on a mystery novelist, and the bulk of the movie consists of flashbacks of the novelist’s experiences with the family. When the movie begins, we don’t know who anyone is, and everyone yells at one another. That tendency to turn things up to 11, and the over-the-top performance of one of the actresses, are flaws, but the movie ultimately reaches a satisfying conclusion.

No, M (1931) wasn’t made in Argentina, but it was remade there. Before watching the remake, I rewatched Fritz Lang’s original, on the Universum Blu-ray. Someone is killing the city’s children, and we learn early on that Peter Lorre is responsible. Some of the scenes would likely be trimmed if the movie were made today, but when Lorre is with an intended victim or is being pursued—crouched in shadow, his eyes bulging, looking very much like vermin—the movie is spellbinding.

The Black Vampire (1953) is a good movie, a credible remake of a great movie. It lacks Lang’s composition, law enforcement’s and even organized crime’s efforts to eliminate the killer so they can get back to their business, the terror of Lorre’s being gripped by compulsion when he sees, in a store window, the reflection of a little girl, and Lorre’s trial by mob and his wail, “I can’t help it.” The remake adds a prosecutor with a disabled wife at home and an attraction to a nightclub singer. The singer caught a glimpse of the killer, and the singer’s daughter, by terrible coincidence, later ends up out alone with the killer. You get the idea. If you remake something, you invite comparison to the original, and The Black Vampire does not fare well in that comparison. The Blu-ray contains an extra in which thoughtful people praise this movie and even prefer it to Lang’s. Needless to say, I did not respond to it in the same way.

Two strangers go into business together to establish a correspondence school for journalists but one grows suspicious of the other, in The Bitter Stems (1956). The movie starts slowly, with impressive imagery, but a little past the midpoint, kicks into high gear and becomes something else. It’s a very interesting movie, reminiscent of other movies that came later. It has an Alfred Hitchcock Presents-like twist at the end, probably common in short stories in mystery magazines at the time, that is either fitting or gimmicky, depending on your point of view.

 

[Robert Crawford]

For those that have TCM and need another film noir to watch this weekend:

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Trapped" (1949) starring Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton and John Hoyt. Directed by the underrated Richard Fleischer this is an engaging and taut crime drama in which we have Bridges playing the "baddie" with John Hoyt in the "good" guy role. Role's reversal? It's been four years since I last viewed the Flicker Alley 2019 Blu-ray that Eddie's "Film Noir Foundation" funded for restoration. If I remember correctly there wasn't any OCN, so the video presentation isn't pristine like a Warner Archive BD release. The Blu-ray has an enjoyable and informative audio commentary with Eddie's "Film Noir Foundation" colleague Alan K. Rode and Julie Kirgo. Today I'll listen to that audio commentary again as well as watch a featurette that has Eddie talking about the film and his efforts to save it. I'll listen to his TCM comments tomorrow morning.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

67) 11-23-24: “The Conversation” (1974) (4K/UHD) 5/5 Stars
I think Gene Hackman's performance as Harry Caul is his best. It's amazing, he didn't even get a nomination for this film. A great film about surveillance expert that is haunted by a past assignment that resulted in murder and now is faced with his own conscience again because he thinks his most recent surveillance might lead to a murder plot. Caul is a loner that doesn't have any friends and is very secretive about himself and what makes him tick. Furthermore, he appears to be deeply religious, but his faith comes into conflict with his chosen profession. The one thing that gives him solace is listening to jazz music and playing along with his saxophone. One of the best neo-noirs of the 1970's that was written and directed by Frances Ford Coppola while in his prime directing years. The movie takes place and was filmed in San Francisco. My film grade is 5/5 stars. The StudioCanal 4K/UHD release offers an excellent video presentation with plenty of bonus material.

68) 11-23-24: “Trapped” (1949) (BD) 4/5 Stars
This 1949 film noir directed by Richard Fleischer was in PD hell for many years without a decent home video release until Eddie Muller's "The Film Noir Foundation" funded a restoration derived from a recently founded 35mm print. Scott MacQueen at UCLA oversaw the project and Flicker Alley in partnership with The Film Foundation released it on Blu-ray in 2019. The video presentation isn't pristine like a Warner Archive release because of available film elements limitation. However, it's still a good-looking video presentation with some bonus material including an audio commentary. This morning, I listened to the audio commentary again with Alan K. Rode and Julie Kirgo. IMO "Trapped" is a pretty good movie with some great on-location shooting around LA and Hollywood. The movie offers a perfect snapshot of what LA looked like in 1948/1949. The movie's plot is about a counterfeiter serving a federal prison term agrees to help the Secret Service track down a pair of counterfeit plates that is flooding the market with bad bills. He double-crosses the Feds and escapes from their custody. The rest of the movie is about the Secret Service attempts to capture him but also to confiscate those counterfeit plates. Lloyd Bridges is the star of the movie with 21-year-old Barbara Payton playing his "too hot to trot" girlfriend. John Hoyt has a rare role as the good guy, playing an undercover Secret Service agent. My film grade is 4/5 stars. My one misgiving about this movie is that Lloyd Bridges is last seen in the movie at about the one-hour mark. Eddie Muller thinks he became ill in real life and that the producer of this "B" film seemly changed the film's last 20 minutes without him in it.

69) 11-23-24: "The Driver" (1978) (4K/UHD) 3.5/5 Stars
Another neo-noir that was a box office failure in America and was trashed by film critics. However, over the years, this movie's reputation has been uplifted and is now considered a very influential film as well as a cult classic. Walter Hill wrote and directed this yarn about a getaway driver/Ryan O'Neal that is very good at his job and has never been caught by the police. Out to change that is an arrogant detective played by Bruce Dern, who leads a special LA police unit. The movie is unique because there are never any names attached to the roles in the movie. Not one name. The movie is rather brutal with some intense car chases and gunplay. It's influence on later films like Pulp Fiction, Drive (2011) and Baby Driver is rather obvious. The ending might not be satisfactory to some people, but I kind of liked it. My film grae is 3.5/5 stars. The 2022 StudioCanal 4K/UHD offers a noticeable improvement in video presentation over the 2013 Twilight Time Blu-ray. I had a great time revisiting this movie on Saturday afternoon.

70) 11-23-24: “Conflict” (1945) (BD) 3/5 Stars
A fairly entertaining film noir but not one of Bogart’s best movies. Frankly I could never accept that Bogart, seemingly a good man would all of a sudden decide to murder his wife then devise an intricate plan to do so and crack up later on when clues are left around him that suggests she’s still alive. I know it’s just a movie. An average one at that in my opinion but I liked the cast of actors so my film grade is 3/5 stars. A nice looking WA Blu-ray.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

November 23: Deadline - U.S.A. (1952; Richard Brooks): 4 out of 5 (Kino Blu-ray; 1st time viewing)

On the verge of being sold off and shut down, The Day is a New York City newspaper scrambling for one last big scoop. The paper's hard-bitten editor (Humphrey Bogart) may have just found it in the form of a much publicized mobster's (Martin Gabel) ties to a young woman's suspicious "suicide". In addition to chasing down the big story that might just save the paper, there's also the matter of the editor's ex-wife getting remarried.

A hidden gem of a noir that takes us behind the scenes of the newspaper culture of the era and deals with a little of the office politics while also containing a solid crime thriller as well. Richard Brooks writes and directs with solid precision, while Bogey has another one of his more underrated performances coming off of The Enforcer.

 

[compson]

Forgotten Noir

54. Mr. District Attorney, 1947*
55. The Case of the Baby Sitter, 1947*
56. Ringside, 1949*
57. Hi-Jacked, 1950*
58. David Harding, Counterspy, 1950*
59. Danger Zone, 1951*
60. Pier 23, 1951*
61. Scotland Yard Inspector, 1952*
62. The Big Chase, 1954*

*first time viewing

VCI released “Forgotten Noir” DVDs with two or three titles. I watched Collection 3, which bundled three triple-feature discs, but I watched the nine movies in their order of release. Most are B movies and most are best forgotten. My comments:

Spoiler: Comments (minor spoilers)

Dennis O’Keefe is an assistant district attorney working under Adolphe Menjou, Mr. District Attorney (1947), and in love with a woman connected to a criminal enterprise. Complications both personal and professional come fast and furious in a routine crime drama released by Columbia.

At 41 minutes, The Case of the Baby Sitter (1947) was, I suppose, intended to be a humorous four-reeler in a crooks and detectives setting. Whatever its intention, it failed. Director Lambert Hillyer also directed the first Batman movie serial, which was comparable in quality but more entertaining.

In Ringside (1949), a middleweight fighter trains for a title fight while his brother dreams of being a concert pianist. Fate and romance intervene. Passable entertainment.

Hi-Jacked (1950) follows a gang hijacking trucks for their cargo, and one of the gang’s driver victims (Jim Davis, who, decades later, was Jock Ewing in Dallas). Much of the acting is weak, the effort to provide humor from one of the gang members is ham-fisted, and there are implausible elements, but the driver is a sympathetic character and there is decent suspense.

A U.S. intelligence group seeks to uncover an espionage ring operating inside a wartime torpedo factory, in David Harding, Counterspy (1950). The movie was made by Columbia, and the difference between this film and those made by low-budget studios is obvious. Grading on the curve of this set, the movie’s pretty good, with a credible plot, recognizable faces, and good performances.

Danger Zone (1951) stars Hugh Beaumont as a man who rents boats on Fisherman’s Wharf and gets into trouble. His sidekick is an alcoholic but resourceful former professor. The movie was a very low-budget production released to theaters but containing two independent stories so it could be split into half-hour episodes and sold to television. In the first story, a blonde stranger induces Beaumont to purchase a locked case at an auction for her. In the second, Beaumont is set up for an incriminating photograph kissing a man’s wife. The lawyer who takes the photograph is played by Tom Neal from Detour (1945). (Quite the bio that guy had.) The narration and dialogue try too hard to be pulp (or a parody of pulp), but the movie is fun for what it is.

The next installment in the series was Pier 23 (1951). A priest hires Beaumont to find a convict escaped from Alcatraz and take him to the priest for a good talking-to. Beaumont runs into a passel of characters, including the convict’s two sisters, one of whom is played by Ann Savage, again from Detour. In the second segment, Beaumont is hired to deliver a payoff to the referee of a wrestling match. At the match, one of the wrestlers is thrown from the ring and dies in Beaumont’s lap, and Beaumont later finds the referee dead. The movie provides a pleasant way to pass an hour.

Strangely, Cesar Romero, the star of Scotland Yard Inspector (1952), does not play a Scotland Yard inspector. Instead, he’s an American magazine writer in London helping a young woman whose brother was run down and killed in fog. The movie is a mediocre comedy-mystery. It feels like an unsold television pilot from 20 years later.

The Big Chase (1954) has a rookie policeman with a pregnant wife, and a convict planning a big score. The chase sequence was actually an earlier 3D short, Bandit Island, shot over four days. The movie is obviously a low-budget affair, but it has some recognizable faces (including Jim Davis and Lon Chaney, Jr.) and a fairly involving story.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

71) 11-24-24: “They Drive by Night” (1940) (BD) 4/5 Stars
IMO, this movie isn't a film noir until the last 30 minutes of the film with Ida Lupino giving one of her classic bitchy performances throughout the film. The Fabrini brothers played by George Raft and Humphrey Bogart are independent truck drivers trying to scrape out a living in California. After an accident that totals their rig and disables Bogart, Raft starts working for Alan Hale's trucking company as his traffic manager. Despite being involved with Ann Sheridan, Raft has to fight off the advances of Hale's young wife played by Lupino. The role of the femme fatale turns its ugly head, and we have Lupino giving a performance that uplifts the film in my opinion from a simple melodrama to film noir. My film grade is 4/5 stars. Another fine video presentation of a Warner Archive Blu-ray.

72) 11-24-24: “Ladies in Retirement” (1941) (Criterion Channel) 4/5 Stars
After watching Lupino in "They Drive by Night", I decided to watch another of her films that I've never seen beforehand which is "Ladies in Retirement". This Columbia film was made in 1941 in which you have a 23-year-old Lupino playing a much older spinster trying to keep her two sisters from being institutionalized due to both of them suffering from mental illness. She brings them to live with her at an estate in which she's employed as a housekeeper/companion to a retired showgirl. After six weeks, the madam of the house had enough of those peculiar acting sisters and demands they leave her house. From there, Lupino turns to the dark side in order to keep her sisters there while at the same time being visited by her unscrupulous and thieving nephew played by Lupino's real husband at the time, Louis Hayward. This gothic film noir takes place in Victorian times. It has some great camera work throughout the film especially those that show Lupino's face in a frightening manner. My main criticism of the movie is that even with the fine camera work with limited lighting and makeup applied, you can tell Lupino's face is just too young for the role. One thing, I have noticed between this film and "They Drive by Night" is that Lupino had a facial scar on her forehead from a previous car accident. In most of her films, it's not as noticeable because she hides it with her hair or hair pieces. Anyhow, my film grade is 4/5 stars for this first time viewing. It's too bad this film hasn't been released on Blu-ray. I think it was released on DVD several years ago.

73) 11-24-24: “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” (1950) (BD) 3.5/5 Stars
In a role similar to Cody Jarrett of White Heat, filmed a year later, Cagney plays another ruthless hoodlum Ralph Cotter in this 1950 film noir. A great cast of actors, but it's Cagney's show all the way. A prison escapee, Cotter is a habitual criminal that has no redeeming values and that he might be a little touched in the head. Talk about one violent sociopath! Anyhow, one thing Cotter has is nerves, so much so, he even blackmails some high-ranking crooked cops that tried to shake him down. One big problem in this movie is that Cagney is just a little too old for this role in which two beautiful young women play by Barbara Payton and Helena Carter fall hard for him which eventually leads to his ultimate downfall. Like any Gordon Douglas directed movie, there are some brutal and violent sequences in this film. Douglas was an underrated director that made some really good westerns and crime dramas. This was my second viewing of this movie and the 2013 Olive Blu-ray. I liked it more this time than my previous viewing which was several years ago. Therefore, I'm giving it a 3.5/5 stars film grade. Luther Adler, Ward Bond, Barton MacLane, Steve Brodie and Rhys Williams fill out the rest of this excellent film cast. I just wish Cagney was ten years younger.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

November 24: They Made Me a Fugitive (1947; Alberto Cavalcanti): 5 out of 5 (Kino DVD - Film Noir: Five Classics from the Studio Vaults)

In the postwar London underworld, Clem Morgan (Trevor Howard) has become disillusioned by the black market when his narcissistic boss Narcy (a particularly slimy Griffith Jones) starts dealing in drugs. During a final run where a policeman is killed, Clem is set up for the fall and is sent to prison. When he escapes, Clem wants Narcy to pay for his double cross, but will it put him in further over his head?

Another quintessential British Noir - maybe even the greatest of them all - featuring striking cinematography by Otto Heller, an intelligent script by Noel Langley and documentary styled direction by Cavalcanti; it's also one of the most brutal (and disturbing) noirs of the era on either side of the Atlantic.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

74) 11-25-24: “The Devil Thumbs a Ride” (1947) (DVD-R) 2.5/5 Stars
I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in watching this RKO "B" movie for the first time. For several years, I heard Eddie Muller sang the praises for this movie. However, after finally watching my DVD-R that I recorded off of TCM, I didn't think it was much of a movie. Lawrence Tierney playing another murderous sociopath isn't groundbreaking nor is it thrilling in a movie devoid of good writing or acting. The best thing with watching this recorded TCM broadcast was watching and listening to Robert Osborne's comments along with those old TCM openings. The movie's storyline isn't much about a convicted forger and thief that graduates up to arm robbery and murder while running away from a police net by hitching a ride with an unsuspecting driver that showed poor judgment. Never pick up hitchhikers! IMO, this is a mediocre movie that I would grade 2.5/5 stars. However, I'm glad I can finally cross this title off my list of unseen film noirs.

75) 11-25-24: “Railroaded!” (1947) (DVD-R) 3/5 Stars
I liked this first time viewing of "Railroaded!" (1947) more than "The Devil Thumbs a Ride". Another DVD-R that I recorded off TCM several years ago. This movie was directed by Anthony Mann in 1947, the same year, two other film noirs he directed were released which were "T-Men" and "Desperate". Now, this movie isn't as good as those other two movies, but John Ireland playing a vicious killer that kills several people is really good as this movie's heavy. An innocent man is framed for a robbery of a beauty salon that was the front to an illegal gambling joint. While committing the crime, Ireland's partner was wounded in the robbery and Ireland kills a cop in their escape. They use a stolen laundry truck as their getaway vehicle and then frame the driver of that truck for being the second man in the robbery while the wounded crook is caught but later dies from his wound. The screenplay isn't that good, but Ireland's portrayal of an unredeemable criminal is what carries this movie. Leave it to Beaver's dad, Hugh Beaumont is the police detective trying to solve this crime because he doesn't quite believe that the laundry driver is guilty of this crime and suspects Ireland. It appears that Beaumont's character grew up in the same neighborhood as the laundry driver and his beautiful sister. This isn't a great film noir, but Mann again displays good directing skills on a cheapie movie filmed in ten days. My film grade is 3/5 stars mainly because of Ireland's performance. He's not quite Raymond Burr or even Lawrence Tierney as a heavy but he's pretty good in this movie.

 

[Malcolm R]

View attachment 238639
73) 11-24-24: “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” (1950) (BD) 3.5/5 Stars
In a role similar to Cody Jarrett of White Heat, filmed a year later, Cagney plays another ruthless hoodlum Ralph Cotter in this 1950 film noir. A great cast of actors, but it's Cagney's show all the way. A prison escapee, Cotter is a habitual criminal that has no redeeming values and that he might be a little touched in the head. Talk about one violent sociopath! Anyhow, one thing Cotter has is nerves, so much so, he even blackmails some high-ranking crooked cops that tried to shake him down. One big problem in this movie is that Cagney is just a little too old for this role in which two beautiful young women play by Barbara Payton and Helena Carter fall hard for him which eventually leads to his ultimate downfall. Like any Gordon Douglas directed movie, there are some brutal and violent sequences in this film. Douglas was an underrated director that made some really good westerns and crime dramas. This was my second viewing of this movie and the 2013 Olive Blu-ray. I liked it more this time than my previous viewing which was several years ago. Therefore, I'm giving it a 3.5/5 stars film grade. Luther Adler, Ward Bond, Barton MacLane, Steve Brodie and Rhys Williams fill out the rest of this excellent film cast. I just wish Cagney was ten years younger.

Just announced in the new Kino Noir Vol XXIII set.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Just announced in the new Kino Noir Vol XXIII set.

Yeah, another repeat title that I will be purchasing in the box along with Rope of Sand.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

76) 11-26-24: “The Chase” (1946) (BD) 3/5 Stars
A WWII veteran Chuck Scott/Robert Cummings down on his luck in Miami finds a wallet on the street. He takes the wallet to its owner, who proves to be a "narcissistic sociopath" hoodlum Eddy Roman nicely played by Steve Cochran. Roman hires Scott as a chauffeur. Soon, we're introduced to Roman's wife Lorna/Michele Morgan. To say the wife is being abused by her husband. The wife begs Scott to help her escape from her situation and he agrees. From there, the entire movie turns murky with reality and dream sequences mixed in that leads to a happy ending that I wasn't quite satisfied with. This was my second viewing of this movie. I liked it less this time than beforehand because there were too many coincidences moving the film to its final conclusion. Another part of the storyline I had trouble with was the amnesia that Chuck suddenly experienced in the movie. Peter Lorre has a significant role in the film as Roman's henchman. As always, he's very good. I think Morgan was kind of wasted in this film as the abused wife. Cummings was okay, but he's not a great actor and I think somebody like Robert Mitchum or Robert Ryan could have done a much better job as Chuck Scott. It's still a good film noir but my film grade is 3/5 this time which is a half star less than my previous film grade. This latest film viewing was courtesy of Kino's 2024 Blu-ray re-release.

77) 11-26-24: “The Iron Curtain” (1948) (BD) 3/5 Stars
Another WW II espionage/anti-Communism film noir that is actually based on a true story. The movie takes place in Canada during and right after WWII in which a Soviet coding expert played by Dana Andrews is transferred to the Russian Embassy in Toronto. After a number of years on assignment, Andrews and his wife/Gene Tierney become accustomed to the freedom and lifestyle they have experienced in Canada. Furthermore, they have a young son that was born in Canada. The couple become disillusioned with the Communist way of life as they worry about their son's future. When Andrews is ordered to return to Russia, he makes a decision to steal coded documents that details the Russian spy ring operating in Canada, particularly as it pertains to the Atomic Bomb secrets. The movie reminded me of the spying taking place in Oppenheimer. Anyhow, with the stolen spy documents, Andrews and Tierney attempt to defect to Canada by exposing the spy ring to Canadian authorities. Directed by William Wellman, much of the movie was actually filmed in Canada. It's entertaining enough but the anti-communist theme is rather obvious during the Red Scare era. With that said, I think Andrews gives one of his better film performances as the conflicted Igor Gouzenko. My film grade is 3/5 stars.

78) 11-26-24: “Hell’s Half Acre” (1954) (BD) 2.5/5 Stars
This Republic Pictures film noir takes place in Hawaii. A man is arrested for a murder he didn't commit, after his partner tries to blackmail him but his girlfriend shoots the blackmailer dead right in the head. The man takes the blame for the killing because he thinks he'll be able to beat the murder rap. However, complicating the situation is that the man has been living under an alias since Pearl Harbor. Living under that new name, his wife back in the mainland, thought he was dead on the Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack. She comes to Hawaii after hearing his voice on a record in a record store and then finds out he's accused of murder. The whole film premise is unbelievable and the screenplay on the whole isn't good. The acting isn't that good either but it's one of those bad movies that I found entertaining despite its obvious shortcomings. This was my first viewing of this mediocre film which gets 2.5/5 stars, mainly because I found the movie kind of amusing with certain actors playing characters they don't usually play in films.

 

[compson]

World noir

63. I Am Waiting, Japan 1957*
64. The Facts of Murder, Italy 1959*
65. Black Gravel, Germany 1961*
66. Symphony for a Massacre, France 1963*
67. Cruel Gun Story, 1964*

Radiance, a high-quality Blu-ray label based in the UK, has released two volumes of “World Noir.” The first volume also includes Witness in the City (France 1959), which I watched last year as part of Kino Lorber’s “French Noir” set. As to these five films, my comments:

Spoiler: Comments (minor spoilers)

In I Am Waiting (Japan, 1957), boy meets girl. The young man owns a bar and is a former boxer. The young woman has fled the criminal group that runs a cabaret where she was under contract. After a mating dance, the woman largely disappears from the movie, and the man searches for his lost brother. The movie was directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara (his first film) and starred Yûjirô Ishihara, both prominent figures in Japan. Nonetheless, I struggled to maintain interest.

In The Facts of Murder (Italy, 1959), a wealthy woman is murdered in her apartment, and we’re presented with a large and colorful cast of investigators and suspects. It’s enjoyable, though the final moments seem over the top.

A German contractor, part of a theft ring stealing gravel from an American air force base to sell on the black market, tries to rekindle romance with a woman now married to an American major, in Black Gravel (Germany, 1961). In time, the two are involved in terrible trouble and try to avoid the consequences. It’s a believable and compelling story. German critics hated it. I have misgivings about the ending, which asks us to believe perhaps too much. After its premiere, the movie’s ending was changed by the studio, and but for the crude edits, I might prefer the revised ending. Both versions are available on the disc.

In Symphony for a Massacre (France, 1963), five men each contributes 100,000 USD ($1 million today) for the purchase of unnamed illicit goods. Alas, there’s no honor among thieves. One man pays with counterfeit bills, and another plans to make a switch of bags with the man carrying the cash. Nothing goes according to plan. It’s great fun. And they drive such great cars.

A bickering group plans a heist of an armored car carrying money from a racetrack, in Cruel Gun Story (Japan 1964). The heist occurs at the movie’s midpoint, and the movie is really about the fallout. It explores dynamics between various characters and is well done. There’s an especially nice sequence in the climax when the protagonist confronts the head of a criminal organization.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

November 25: Odds Against Tomorrow (1959; Robert Wise): 4.5 out of 5 (Kino Blu-ray)

When disgraced police officer David Burke (Ed Begley) recruits ex-con Earl Slater (Robert Ryan) and indebted nightclub singer Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) for a bank heist in New York City, it will be a spark that ignites a powder keg of tension. That's because Earl is bigoted towards Johnny - who is Black - and the underlying racial tension between them could completely derail the heist before it even begins.

One of the most potent noirs of its - or any other - era, the movie benefits from a crackling screenplay by Abraham Polonsky (originally credited to John O. Killens, a front for Polonsky), taut direction by Robert Wise and superb performances by Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte. If Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones) and Jules Dassin (Rififi) had co-directed a combination of Crossfire (1947) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950), it might look like something that this gem of a noir.

November 26: The Unholy Wife (1957; John Farrow): 2.5 out of 5 (TCM broadcast; 1st time viewing)

One of the last films made by RKO Radio Pictures, the tale of the deceitful wife of a California vintner is one of the more disappointing entries in the career of the usually reliable director John Farrow. An awkward editing and narrative style, coupled with a cast of familiar faces largely sleepwalking through their parts - save for Rod Steiger - really smashes this one like a grape.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

79) 11-27-24: "Play Misty for Me" (1971) (4K/UHD) 4/5 Stars
Edit: As soon as my mailman delivered it on Wednesday afternoon, I watched 2024 Kino 4K/UHD. The first movie directed by Clint Eastwood in 1970 about a radio disc jockey that slept with a strange woman on a one-night stand that comes to regret it because the woman is not only psychotic but extremely violent. Needless to say, murder comes into play. Filmed in and around Carmel California. Jessica Walters plays the troubled woman and gives an outstanding performance while Donna Mills plays Eastwood's true love in the film. Also, in the movie cast was director Don Siegel as a local bartender and friend of Eastwood's character. As many people know, Siegel was Eastwood's mentor so I'm sure he helped Eastwood out during his first directorial effort. I always liked the movie quite a lot because it has one of my all-time favorite songs in it, "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" sung by the great Roberta Flack. The movie also had the song "Misty" which is in the film's title. There are some great jazz sequences are also in the film including the Monterey Jazz Festival. A good thriller that likely inspired some later films like "Fatal Attraction". My film grade is 4/5 stars.

80) 11-27-24: "The Sniper" (1952) (BD) 4/5 Stars
Edit: On Wednesday morning, I watched 2021 Indicator Blu-ray with Eddie Muller's audio commentary. The Blu-ray is part of Indicator's Columbia Noir #3 box set. One of the first movies in which a serial killer is using a rifle to kill women across a large city. The city is never named but they filmed this movie in San Francisco. Anyhow, the killer's motivation for his killing spree was due to his hatred towards women mostly cause by being rejected by them. Arthur Franz, who is usually a supporting actor plays the lead in this film as the psychotic sniper. A damn fine acting performance. Among the cast playing the police pursuing Franz are Adolphe Menjou, Gerald Mohr and Frank Faylen. One of the leading film noir actresses, Marie Windsor plays a key role in this film as an object of Franz's affections but becomes one of his victims. What I really love about this movie is the film's ending. It was totally unexpected the first time I watched this movie several years ago. One thing about the director Edward Dmytryk, this was his first Hollywood directing job since being black-listed and then naming names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Eddie Muller's audio commentary is not only informative but very entertaining as he talks about the film and his hometown of San Francisco. My film grade is 4/5 stars.

81) 11-27-24: "Odds Against Tomorrow" (1959) (BD) 4.5/5 Stars
Edit: On Wednesday morning, I next watched one of the best film noirs made at the end of the film noir movement. The movie was actually produced by the lead actor Harry Belafonte. He hired Robert Wise to direct it and blacklisted filmmaker Abraham Polonsky to write it under another writer's name. This groundbreaking film noir is not just another heist movie because it touches on the subject matter of racism which plays a major part in this movie. A disgraced former cop/Ed Begley plans a bank robbery with a racist ex-con played by the great Robert Ryan and a badly in-debt lounge singer played by Belafonte. Like all heist movies from this time period, the heist isn't successful as two of the three crooks forget their stealing the money mission and are intent of killing each other. A classic film ending. I would be amiss if I didn't mention the two actresses that appeared in this film which were Shelley Winters as Ryan's girlfriend and Gloria Grahame as Winter's friend that is attracted to Ryan. Grahame's acting career was on the skids at this time so Wise gave her break by hiring her for that role. The cast has several other actors that would become more famous later in their acting careers. The movie was filmed in and around NYC with some great camera work and jazz score. Like Eddie Muller, I really enjoy Alan K. Rode's audio commentaries because they're informative and entertaining with a sense of humor. This commentary is not the only bonus material on this 2024 Kino Blu-ray. My film grade for this outstanding movie is 4.5/5 stars.

 

[compson]

Director Samuel Fuller

68. Pickup on South Street, 1953
69. House of Bamboo, 1955*
70. The Crimson Kimono, 1959*
71. Underworld U.S.A., 1961*
72. The Naked Kiss, 1964*

*first time viewing

I watched all on Blu-ray. My comments:

Spoiler: Comments (minor spoilers)

Pickup on South Street (1953) opens, famously, aboard a subway, as Richard Widmark gets more than he expects when he picks a purse and ends up with microfilm containing state secrets. The movie revolves around characters on the bottom rung of the social ladder, just trying to get by: a pickpocket who lives in a shack, a woman who sells ties and information to police and is saving money for burial expenses so she can avoid burial in a potter’s field (Thelma Ritter, earning an Oscar nomination), and a ne’er-do-well woman (impliedly a former sex worker) making deliveries at her former boyfriend’s insistence while oblivious to what she’s carrying. It’s a terrific movie, a must-see for any noir fan who has yet to see it. One of Thelma Ritter’s scenes is unforgettable.

House of Bamboo (1955) is my first color Noirvember selection, and it was good to see color again, and a really widescreen image (original Cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.55:1). Robert Stack, doing his best Robert Stack imitation, goes to Tokyo and to work for Robert Ryan’s criminal gang, which raided a military supply train and killed an American. A third of the way in, we learn that Stack is operating undercover for the U.S. Army, and he tries to avoid detection while developing a romance with a Japanese woman. The movie supplies tension and romance, and we get the color and beauty of Tokyo thrown into the bargain. Another first-rate film.

Investigating the murder of a burlesque dancer, two Los Angeles homicide detectives become involved with a key witness, a female college student, in The Crimson Kimono (1959). One of the detectives is the son of Japanese immigrants, and the cross-cultural aspects seemed to offer great potential, but the movie is a disappointment. The romantic scenes don’t feel genuine, and the score is overwrought, loudly punctuating the action, much like the movie itself. It appears to have been made quickly: there are numerous instances where a portion of an image was enlarged and one very awkward insertion of looped dialogue.

A teenaged hoodlum sees mobsters kill his father, grows up to be Cliff Robertson, and plans to exact revenge, in Underworld U.S.A. (1961). Robertson is an unlikable protagonist; we don’t feel sympathy towards him even as we pull for him to succeed. The movie was released by Columbia, but it’s a tough picture for 1961. The mob targets teenagers for narcotics and “prostitution,” people are treated brutally, and I’m pretty sure what Dolores Dorn does to a chunk of ice was illegal in many states at the time. The climax is a crescendo and a perfect resolution.

It took me quite some time to figure out what The Naked Kiss (1964) is. After beating a man in the movie’s explosive opening, a well-read sex worker (Constance Towers) moves to a new town, immediately beds down a police captain, resolves to turn over a new leaf, and begins working at a pediatric orthopedics hospital. In time, there’s romance, a full musical number, and the movie feels like a 1960s soap opera. Then, in the final half hour, the movie takes a dramatic turn, and it is a melodrama, like Samuel Fuller channeling Douglas Sirk in black and white. I don’t think it’s a great movie, but it’s an interesting exercise. Stanley Cortez was the DP.

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

82) 11-28-24: "The Night Runner" (1957) (BD) 3/5 Stars
(First Viewing) I liked this "B" film noir starring Ray Danton as a mental patient released from a state hospital due to overcrowding. However, he still experiences violent impulses whenever his overcome with anxiety. After leaving LA, he settles in a small California coastal community. He finds a job as a draftsman and even romance with the daughter of a small hotel owner. Unfortunately, the father doesn't approve of their romance and once he finds out that Danton is a former mental hospital patient, he kicks him out which leads to Danton having another violent episode that dooms the young couple as well as the father. I thought Danton was pretty good in this movie and the film's subject matter is still relevant today in which we have too many people walking the streets with obvious mental health issues. My film grade is 3/5 stars. The Blu-ray is part of Kino's "Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII" box set.

83) 11-28-24: "Spy Hunt" (1950) (BD) 2.5/5 Stars
(First Viewing) Another espionage film noir in which British agents and agents from an unnamed European country are fighting over some missing microfilm that will cause the United Nations to get involved in an "undemocratic" election scandal in that European country. The microfilm is hidden by a female British agent in the collar of a black panther being transported by an American from Europe to America. Their transport train car is sabotage to crash and the panther and its mate escape into the Swiss countryside but not before killing one of the saboteurs. The Swiss army searches the woods for the two panthers. Joining the search is a number of people that include the American transporting the panthers, the British agent that hid the microfilm in the panther's collar as well as 3-4 other individuals that might be agents trying to recover that missing microfilm. IMO, the script is weak with some obvious plot holes. It's an okay film that keeps you guessing as to who's the "bad" guys/agents in disguise. It has a solid cast with Howard Duff playing the American trying to retrieve his escaped panthers and Marta Toren as the British agent. Also, in the cast is Walter Slezak, Robert Douglas, Philip Dorn and Kurt Kreuger. My film grade is 2.5/5 stars. The Blu-ray is also, part of Kino's "Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII" box set.

84) 11-28-24: "Step Down to Terror" (1958) (BD) 2/5 Stars
(First Viewing) I didn't even know somebody had the nerve to make a remake of Hitchcock's great film noir "Shadow of a Doubt" (1942). Yet here we are with this weak effort "B" movie from Universal-International. The basic plot is the same about a serial killer that preys on rich widows by murdering them so he can steal their cash money and jewelry. Knowing the police are closing in on him, he retreats to his unsuspecting family home in an unknown California town. There are changes in the script as far as the family and friend characters in this movie compared to the 1942 film. Also, a major change in how the killer tries to kill the family member that knows the truth about him and threatens to expose him if he doesn't leave town. Overall, the film is much weaker than Hitchcock's film and also devoid of any of the black comedy humor in the original film. Furthermore, this 1958 film has lesser actors in it. Charles Drake isn't Joseph Cotten nor is Collen Miller comparable to Teresa Wright. Also, don't get me started about the supporting actors in this film compared to the 1942 film. It's like comparing apples to oranges. My film grade is 2/5 stars as this is a below average film. The Blu-ray is the third disc part of Kino's "Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII" box set.

85) 11-28-24: "The Thirteenth Hour" (1947) (BD) 2.5/5 Stars
(First Viewing) The seventh of the eight "Whistler" movies and the last one in which Richard Dix appears in. He died two years after this film's release. He plays a sympathetic character in this movie in which he plays a truck driver framed for a murder he didn't commit by unknown parties. On the run, he tries to prove his innocence with the help of his fiancée, her son and supposedly a friend. Knowing the supporting actor playing Dix's friend, it was easy to guess what type of friend he really is to him. The actor is known for playing crime villains. One of the weaker films in this series, the movie just has too many convenient coincidences for me to appreciate this movie more than I actually do. My film grade is 2.5/5 stars.

86) 11-28-24: "The Return of the Whistler" (1948) (BD) 2.5/5 Stars
The last of the "Whistler" movies doesn't have Richard Dix in the cast. The movie is derived from a Cornell Woolrich story in which a man is trying to get married to a woman he recently met two weeks earlier. After the justice of the peace is not available to perform their wedding ceremony, and their car breaks down. He gets a hotel room for his intended bride, but she disappears from the hotel when he returns the next day. The movie has an intricate plot involving the bride, who recently came to America from France along with some far-fetch circumstances involving her in-laws from a previous marriage. A mediocre movie at best which is why I'm giving it a 2.5/5 film grade.

 

[dana martin]

The reads for the past 6 days have all been great, as for the past couple of years the only time the wife and I have to get away is the week of Thanksgiving. It is cutting into participation.

Next year i will be able to participate the full month. But the write ups a always a great direction to focus my future viewings.

Wow, just wow im seeing numbers like this was the Annual Scary Movie Challenge. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving

 

[Robert Crawford]

See my summary for film grades with the movies in "Bold" being first time viewings:

87) 11-29-24: "Counter-Espionage" (1942) (iTunes) 2.5/5 Stars
(First Viewing) This movie is one of a series of Lone Wolf movies. Warren William plays Michael Lanyard/Lone Wolf in most of these movies but there were other actors like Melvyn Douglas and Francis Lederer that has played him in movies. Lanyard is a former jewel thief that works as a private investigator. In this movie, he's in London during WWII battling a German spy ring while secretly working undercover to expose the gang. Of course, Scotland Yard and some American police detectives think Lanyard is the spy, so he has to elude the police while proving his innocence to them. A so-so movie with a pretty good cast of actors including a young Forrest Tucker as a German spy. This movie was directed by Edward Dmytryk. Dmytryk cut his teeth directing some of these Lone Wolf movies along with Boston Blackie movies. My film grade is 2.5/5 stars. I purchased this Vudu HD digital earlier this year for $5.00.

88) 11-29-24: "Naked Alibi" (1954) (BD) 3/5 Stars
This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Naked Alibi" starring Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Gene Barry, Marcia Henderson and a young Chuck Connors is also in the cast. Cop/Hayden is after a cop killer played by Gene Barry, who retreats to another city to hide from the cops looking for him. Helping Hayden in his pursuit is Grahame. She's Barry's girlfriend on the side and works as a singer in a bar. A pretty violent movie for its time. Despite some problems I have with the screenplay, I liked the movie slightly better this time than I did five years ago when the Kino Blu-ray was first released. My film grade is 3/5 stars.

89) 11-29-24: "A Simple Plan" (1998) (4K/UHD) 4.5/5 Stars
Just a wonderful film about people making bad decisions that corrupts them and changes their lives forever. Three men find an airplane that crashed in remote Minnesota. Nobody survived the crash, and the three men discover over 4 million dollars in cash. Soon the bad decision to keep the money thrusts the men into a game of deceit, mistrust and murder. Further complicating their situation is the appearance of an FBI man that might not be who he says he is. Sam Raimi directed this neo-noir. Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton play brothers and are two of the three men that found the plane. Bridget Fonda plays Paxton's wife with Gary Cole as the alleged FBI man. A really good movie about personal corruption and how it can lead you down a path of no return. My film grade is 4.5/5 stars. An outstanding 4K/UHD release from Arrow.

I'm going to watch one more movie tonight but I'm still deciding which one.