Tag: noir

William Castle is largely remembered for the horror movies he directed in the 1950’s.  To be more accurate, he’s legendary for the gimmicks he employed in select theatres for some of his features.  Things like the buzzers under the seats for The Tingler, or a skeleton on a wire flying over viewers’ heads at a […]

As soon as I saw the title card for 1947’s Singapore, I had the same-titled opening track from the Tom Waits album Raindogs in my head.  I’ve always hoped I will someday see a noir with a vibe like that astounding track, but I only see ones that have traces of its greatness.  Unfortunately, what […]

Aldous Huxley must have led an interesting life.  I can’t believe the same guy who wrote Brave New World also scripted The Devils, a movie Warner Bros seems intent on burying since its release in 1971.  This is the same guy who wrote a book that provided the inspiration for the name of the band […]

When I tossed the disc for 1958’s Orders to Kill into the blu-ray player, I thought I was going to see a film noir.  Although the black-and-white photography makes excellent use of shadows, I ended up getting far more than I bargained for. The plot takes place in 1944.  Paul Massie plays a soldier who […]

I keep thinking I don’t like prison movies, and yet many of the best noirs are set in prison.  1956’s Behind the High Wall isn’t of the caliber of Brute Force, but there is still a lot I liked here. Tom Tully plays a prison warden who genuinely cares for the prisoners and wants to […]

I have seen a great many movies that start out strong, only to faceplant in the first act and never recover.  Then there’s the films that never really reach their potential until the third act.  1946’s Temptation is the only feature I can recall seeing which has a stellar second act bookended by subpar material.  […]

For those made curious by the title, the particular Street of Chance in this 1942 noir is Tillary Street.  That’s where Burgess Meredith comes close to getting pulverized by concrete falling from a building demolition.  When he comes to, he tells a policeman he is Frank Thompson.  And yet, he has a cigarette case in […]

1961’s Man-Trap is later than what is what is usually regarded as the prime era of film noir.  Something else which distinguishes it from most is it was made by one of the most major of the major studios.  When you have a noir made by Paramount, you know you’re going to have a bigger […]

1948’s Ruthless is often categorized as film noir, but I found it to be a more of a straight drama, albeit with a sharper edge to it that most of the similar fare at the time. It apes the structure of Citizen Kane, though this time the object of everybody’s obsession is still alive.  Those […]

In movies, people are always taking sanctuary in churches, monasteries and convents, but I do not recall ever hearing about somebody doing this in real life.  This is what residents of a flooded town do in 1951’s Thunder on the Hill, taking shelter in a hilltop convent.  As for me, I wasn’t taken in when […]

$2.49 a pound, but you’ll save more if you buy in bulk. 1956 noir The Price of Fear has an interesting premise.  Lex Barker plays a man on the hook for two crimes.  Given the timing of them, he could only have committed one or the other.  Fact is, he committed neither. Merle Oberon was […]

I just finished watching 1951’s Storm Warning, and I’m feeling a little punch drunk. Ginger Rogers plays a fashion model.  In a deceptively benign opening scene, she’s on a bus with her travelling companion, a co-worker who has a crush on her.  There’s a cute exchange between them, and an exposition dump where we learn […]

Hollywood sure does get some wood over movies about making movies.  1958’s The Female Animal opens on a wide shot of a movie shoot.  Our point of view is dead-on what appears to be beachside cliff.  There is a wood-and-rope bridge across a waterfall running over the edge of a cliff.  Hedy Lamarr is on […]

The actor Audie Murphy was the most decorated combat soldier of WWII, receiving the Medal of Honor and awards for bravery from France and Belgium. I mention this because I didn’t believe him as a boxer a single second of 1956’s World in my Corner.  This is the third and last movie in a Kino […]

1956’s The Weapon begins with a kid digging in rubble and finding a handgun somehow embedded in a block.  Kids in postwar English had it rough.  All I ever dug through to get to a toy was a box of cereal.  Then again, I never found a real gun in one. In a struggle with some […]