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Author Topic: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017  (Read 18243 times)

pixote

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #40 on: November 11, 2017, 08:25:02 PM »
I wasn't planning on continuing the Nancy Drew series, but my wife was into it so I'll give this one a go. (It's on YouTube, even.) I liked Frankie Thomas in the first one, thought he brought out the best in Granville.

It's on Amazon Prime as well, if that's an option, though the quality might not necessarily be better, given the public domain status of the film.

I forgot to mention in my review that, deviant that I am, I was rooting hard for Nancy and Ted to lose their virginity to each other in the rumble seat of Nancy's car.

Quote from: Bonita Granville, circa 1972
I don't go to the movies. They're indecent. They appeal to the baser tendencies, to temptations. Young people aren't able to cope with them, all this sex starting too early. It's thrown at them under the guise of art. But it's really immoral, amoral stuff , made just for the money. More than that, it's done something to our generation. It's destroyed romance and imagination that goes along with sex. And that's pretty important because, otherwise, sex becomes mechanical. Don't get me wrong. I'm a great believer in sex. But that's not the way to go about it.

Well, damn. To each her own.

Why this and not The Saint, The Falcon or Mr. Moto? What about Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes? How many of those have you seen?

Like I said, the two Nancy Drew/Dick Tracy movies are in my lineup just because someone gave me a cheapy DVD containing the two of them, and I figured now was as good a time as any to watch them. I went through the Rathbone Holmes series shortly before joining the forum (I'm in the Scarlet Claw camp). The series I need to prioritize is The Thin Man, as I've only ever seen the first one.

I won't be in any rush to see the other three Nancy Drew films, but if I run across them on tv, I'm sure I'll tune in.

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« Last Edit: November 11, 2017, 08:26:51 PM by pixote »
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1SO

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #41 on: November 13, 2017, 06:15:22 AM »
I have watched but haven't felt like writing about...
The House on Telegraph Hill
Private Hell 36
Danger Signal
Ruthless
Shockproof
The Woman on Pier 13
A Lady Without Passport

Of those, the best is Private Hell 36, directed by Don Siegel and starring Ida Lupino. The rest are mediocre and forgettable. Up next is High Wall, Slightly Scarlet and The Captive City. I hope to find something worth writing about.

I'm also going to rewatch Blues in the Night, which I recently purchased.

Jared

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #42 on: November 13, 2017, 01:13:30 PM »
I remember really liking High Wall, but damned if I can remember who is in it or what its even about. This genre tends to blur together in my mind despite being one of my favorites.

1SO

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #43 on: November 14, 2017, 09:05:15 AM »

High Wall (1947)

From the title I was expecting a prison film, but this is a psychiatric frame job that kicks off with a great Noir image of a man driving recklessly down the road with a beautiful dead blonde in the passenger seat. (There are a number of beautiful images in this one, easily one of the best looking Noirs I hadn't seen yet.) The couple are a husband recently returned from the war and his wife, and things are not what they appear to be because of a head injury, a suspicious man played by Herbert Marshall (The Letter), and a helpful doctor played by Audrey Totter, and if you know Noir you know you can never trust Audrey Totter. The man is played by Robert Taylor, who is hit-and-miss with me, but this is right on the mark.
Rating: * * * - Okay
« Last Edit: November 14, 2017, 10:33:12 PM by 1SO »

1SO

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #44 on: November 14, 2017, 02:17:39 PM »
Nancy Drew... Reporter  (William Clemens, 1939)

Objectively, this isn't a very good movie, and yet—  I find so much comfort in its breezy, 1930s, juvenile charm. The disposable story is just an excuse for scenes of unabashed pleasantness as plucky Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) investigates a murder with the help of beleaguered, non-boyfriend neighbor Ted Nickerson (Frankie Thomas) and in spite of the pesky interference of his younger brother and sister (Mary Lee) and her non-boyfriend (Dickie Jones). The movie's insistent good nature caught me off-guard, and I even laughed out loud a few times — especially when Jones, the future voice of Pinocchio, breaks into a Donald Duck voice as a means of muttering obscenities under this breath. When the movie shoehorns in a random musical number right before the climax, I was helpless to resist it. The sloppiness of the filmmaking is largely offset by the effortless appeal of the character actors (Jack Perry excepted). I'm pretty sure James Cromwell even makes an appearance (the police office in drag above).

A cozy pair of old slippers.

Maybe it's because I already had my expectations re-calibrated by Nancy Drew... Detective, but I thought this was a major step up in quality. The first film was so infused with stupidity and aimed at an audience much younger than Drew herself that it was barely tolerable. This one still dips into stupid, but is much more charming and Bonita Granville has a better grasp on how to play the character. I like watching a mystery where the lead's main attribute is teenage pluck and the only thing approaching feminine wiles is in some of Drew's interaction with Ted Nickerson, and even that is more tenacious encouragement from the friend zone. It's the team of Nancy and Ted that yield the best moments, and I also liked that gleeful musical number quite a bit. I'm now okay with moving onto Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter.


There is probably no other film in any Noirvember least deserving of being in this thread. It's only slightly more Noir than High School Musical.

pixote

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #45 on: November 14, 2017, 02:29:36 PM »
Ha, yeah, it's totally anti-noir ... though, made in 1939, it perhaps makes an interesting point of comparison for that reason.

Did Mrs. 1SO watch as well?

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #46 on: November 14, 2017, 10:28:33 PM »
She did. This is more her kind of movie than it is mine, though I like that they don't make Nancy out to be some kind of super-sleuth. She just has natural instincts for spotting clues and following leads.

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #47 on: November 16, 2017, 01:58:18 PM »
Neo-Noir Triple Feature



Mickey One (1965)

Starting at the bottom, this Arthur Penn film is made in the style of Jean-Luc Godard, using Breathless as a roadmap and spinning off to all manner of remake, rip-off and loving tribute to the French New Wave. Warren Beatty is game for doing a riff on Jean-Paul Belmondo, but as a non-fan of Godard I wanted to punch this movie in the face.
RATING: * ˝



The Outfit (1973)

I'm okay with 70s neo-noir, but with the restraints lifted the manly posturing takes on a primitive cruelty. Even in a less violent film like The Friends of Eddie Coyle, the style snuffs out the humanity. Here, every man exists just to kill, talk tough or protect their trophy women. The female characters - both trophy and sleazy - just want to have sex, if not with their own man than with anyone who comes along. Their lifestyle is worth the occasional sock in the jaw to them, but they really only exist to give the men something to lose. The director's next film was Rolling Thunder, which is closer in tone to this one than Noir.
RATING: * * ˝




The Nickel Ride (1974)

Everything I said about The Outfit applies here too, but director Robert Mulligan makes the interesting choice of giving the lead role to Jason Miller (The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration), who brings an unusual balance of street hustler grit and Sam Shepherd laconic swagger to the part. Mulligan also does the impossible by making a dream sequence one of the best scenes in the film. It also has a great final scene, one of the most perfectly Noir endings in the genre. Love the title too.
RATING: * * ˝

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #48 on: November 16, 2017, 08:32:47 PM »

Loan Shark (1952)

My 3rd George Raft film this month and I have more on deck. This one is a by-the-numbers infiltrate the mob plot with some good bits of dialogue and some bad bits of fight choreography. (You know the punches are coming when the actors enter the shadowy part of the set.) Raft is like those crime serial films of the 30s, he's never going to surprise you but he'll rarely let you down.
RATING: * * ˝


The Thief (1952)

This is a re-watch because since my first viewing I've become a huge fan of Ray Milland, and Mrs. 1SO (also a big fan) has never seen it. I didn't tell her about the gimmick of the film having no dialogue, and she didn't see it as a gimmick because the plot was about people in situations that don't require talking, much like the opening to Bridge of Spies (which had to be influenced by this.) With no dialogue, there's an emphasis on the espionage, with puzzle clues that reminded me of the current Escape Room trend, and the acting. Milland displays major post-Oscar chops while we read his reactions to information we never receive. I always walk away from Ray Milland films (pre 1960s) wanting to watch more Milland and this is no exception.
RATING: * * * - Good

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Noirvember Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #49 on: November 17, 2017, 04:33:22 AM »
I saw Wind River in your watchlist 1SO. It is not the most obvious movie to call noir, I will be looking for your review.
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