Author Topic: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films  (Read 11409 times)

MartinTeller

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2011, 12:41:02 AM »
Party Girl - Not a bad film by any definition, but a disappointment coming from Nicholas Ray.  While it has some great moments (including one that was almost certainly an influence on The Untouchables) it never seems to find its groove.  The romance between Cyd Charisse and John Ireland is believable, but uninspiring.  The gangster elements of the plot are done well enough, but a little too familiar.  The color photography is eye-popping, garish in a way that suits the film, but sometimes interferes with the noir mood, unlike Niagara or Leave Her to Heaven.  Because it stars Charisse, there's a pair of impressive dance numbers, but they definitely feel tacked on.  And that's a lot of "but"s.  In other words, the movie doesn't really get anything wrong, but it failed to grab hold of me the way Ray's better noirs do.  Rating: 6

MartinTeller

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2011, 03:11:01 AM »
Phantom Lady - When a man's wife is murdered, the woman who can provide his alibi seems to vanish.  There are some stunning sequences in this film, Elwood Bredell's cinematography once again complements Siodmak's style extremely well.  The scenes of Ella Raines stalking Andrew Tombes and seducing Elisha Cook, Jr. (the latter including what might be the only instance of a drum solo representing premature ejaculation) are textbook examples of noir photography.  Not every scene is a knockout, but there's some marvelous framing and lighting throughout.  And Raines is wonderful, supported by some great characters and faces.  However, the plot has some pretty sizable holes, and the psychology is overcooked.  Not a great noir, but a fun one with great moments.  Rating: 8


Pitfall - Subdued noir from De Toth that lacks stylization but sticks with you.  Although short on snappy dialogue and snazzy photography, the themes of modern ennui and the allure of nonconformity are strong.  At times it seems like De Toth might be setting up a cautionary fable about straying too far from the suburban nuclear family ideal, but by the ending there's some room for ambiguity.  You can't complain about Dick Powell or Lizabeth Scott, and you sure as hell can't complain about Raymond Burr, menacing and creepy as ever.  The score, however, is a mixed bag... when it's somber, it's great, but the lighter musical cues are groan-worthy.  Rating: 8


Plunder Road - An impressive low-budget heist film.  The names of the director, writers, cinematographer and composer are virtually unknown (Ernest Haller also shot Rebel Without a Cause and Man of the West) but they all do a fantastic job.  After the gripping opening titles, the film starts with the elaborate robbery, about 20 minutes almost entirely without dialogue, Rififi-style.  Just about the only words you hear are a few snippets of interior monologue at the beginning, introducing our five doomed protagonists.  After that, it's a tense slow burn as they gradually meet their inevitable undoing.  The biggest name onscreen is Elisha Cook, but these guys are all pretty good, with understated performances that give us a peek into their lives without heaps of exposition.  It's hard to say exactly why I liked this one so much, there's not much to set it apart from a dozen similar films.  It's just one of those movies that works in all the right ways.  Rating: 9

sdedalus

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2011, 03:20:19 AM »
Just saw Phantom Lady a little while ago as well.  Good stuff.
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Jared

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2011, 06:35:12 PM »
glad you like Plunder Road.

I finally got to halfway on the TSP noir list. Hell of a lot of them on youtube and short runtimes make it an easy list to pick up momentum on. Watched about 90 of them since our Noir-vember.

Martin, how many do you anticipate being unable to find?

MartinTeller

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2011, 06:53:47 PM »
Martin, how many do you anticipate being unable to find?

None.  I think I've got sources lined up for all of them.

Will have 2 or 3 more reviews up later tonight.

MartinTeller

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #15 on: April 25, 2011, 10:13:26 PM »
Ugh, I had the whole day off and watched less than 3 hours worth of movies.  I have got to manage my time better.

Private Hell 36 - First off, great title.  You don't learn the meaning of it until about halfway through, and until then you're wondering "Is it an address? A cellblock? Is there a private hell 1 through 35?".  The film, about a pair of cops investigating a robbery and tempted by corruption, is not the greatest but it's solid.  Rather slim on action, it's more of a character piece, and the pacing can be drag at times.  Easily the highlight is Ida Lupino (wrote co-wrote the movie with her ex-husband) as the world-weary but smouldering lounge singer who helps with the investigation, and gets involved with Steve Cochran.  As a whole the film is rather uneven, but there are some pretty good moments, especially during the key turning points in the story.  Rating: 7


Raw Deal - An escaped convict on the lam, and torn between two women.  Anthony Mann's done some great noirs, but none of them are top-tier for me.  This one might be.  The thick atmosphere is the product of several factors. John Alton's cinematography is masterful as always, with almost every scene a visual treat.  The climax looks like a descent into hell.  Paul Satwell's score is excellent as well, especially the moments laced with eerie theremin, heightening the tension.  Claire Trevor's narration seals the deal, her tone becoming more and more doomed.  Her onscreen work is wonderful as well, and she steals the show from Dennis O'Keefe and Marsha Hunt.  The look on her face speaks volumes, especially when she makes a crucial decision.  Raymond Burr is here too, menacing as ever... under-utilized in this film, but he gets one of the most shocking moments.  The movie moves along briskly for the most part, has some gripping tension and interesting plays on the good girl/bad girl theme.  Mighty fine stuff.  Rating: 9

smirnoff

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #16 on: April 26, 2011, 08:17:06 AM »
Raw Deal! Oh wait... that's not the one I was thinking of.


MartinTeller

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2011, 11:07:21 PM »
The Red House - Creepy noir that slowly works its way under your skin.  At first it seems rather plain and wholesome, but the repeated mysterious references to "the red house", uncovering of dark secrets and disturbing (nearly incestuous) sexual undertones build a hypnotic tension.  Lon McCallister comes off as too earnest, but the other performances are very strong, particularly Edward G. Robinson and the sizzling Julie London.  The Miklos Rozsa score is often lovely, but far too prominent... there where several points where I just wanted the orchestra to shut the hell up.  The visuals aren't flashy, but serviceable, with a few nice shots especially near the end (including a chilling death image).  Overall, a really strong film that I intend to add to my collection.  Rating: 8


Red Light - Half great noir, half bad noir.  There are some really awesome moments, including three over-the-top death scenes (one pretty much stolen from a much more famous movie).  But a lot of the non-action scenes are drab, routine and sometimes poorly shot.  Our bad guys (Raymond Burr and Harry Morgan) are terrific and menacing, but Virginia Mayo is a dud and George Raft is not at his best.  Some of the dialogue is snappy, but then some lines are a swing and a miss.  Worst of all is the ham-fisted religious message.  Something like Edge of Doom can get away with this because the rest of the movie is so great.  Not so in this case.  It's not a total loss, but I would hardly recommend it.  Rating: 6

MartinTeller

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #18 on: May 11, 2011, 12:15:37 AM »
Ride the Pink Horse - After Lady in the Lake -- one of the worst noirs I've ever seen, with a lame gimmick and lame everything else -- I had little faith in Robert Montgomery, either as an actor or a director.  Color me shocked when this film, from the same year even, turned out to be so great.  Originality was the one thing Lady had going for it, but it blew the execution.  Ride the Pink Horse has originality in spades, and pulls it off beautifully.  This film takes film noir characters and plops them into another world, with strange and haunting results.  Oh, there have been other noirs set in Mexico, but none have such an off-kilter vibe to them (to a certain degree, One Way Street does, but in a different sort of way).  Montgomery takes things casually, starting the story with a number of mysteries and supplying answers in due time.  The Ben Hecht script is loaded with hard-boiled dialogue, but there also these leisurely diversions as the protagonist develops friendships with Pancho and Pilar (two memorable performances by Thomas Gomez and Wanda Hendrix, amidst an already strong cast).   There is an air of mysticism and fate hanging over the picture, and it goes to a lot of places that are very unusual.  The climax is unlike any I've seen before, and even more unusual is the lengthy, but fully earned, epilogue.  The film also addresses postwar disillusionment very directly, and there are layered themes of innocence lost.  Startlingly original and captivating work.  Rating: 9

1SO

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Re: Martin polishes off the TSPDT 250 Quintessential Noir Films
« Reply #19 on: May 11, 2011, 12:50:18 AM »
adding to my queue.