Saturday, May 16, 2015
Lesser-known film noir gems
Monday, April 27, 2015
Chicago Syndicate (1955)
In this movie, Chicago's criminal top dog is Arnie Valent (Paul Stewart). By setting up countless small legitimate outfits as fronts for his less legal activities, and by using strawmen in his books, he's virtually untouchable for law enforcement. His top accountant however is ready to spill the beans to a newspaper editor, only get get gunned down by Valent's men outside the newspaper office. The newspaper editor and several city officials convene and decide they need an inside man to find something they can use on Valent. That man is Barry Amsterdam (Dennis O'Keefe), an accountant with an army background. After dropping hints he saw the hit and a talk with Valent he lands himself a job as an accountant for one of Valent's legitimate insurance firms. By first saving the company money on some big claims, and then showing Valent his top men are holding out on him, he works himself up to Valent's personal accountant. But before he can get to Valent's books, the ones with his name in them, he has to deal with Valent's girlfriend Connie (Abbe Lane) and socialite and high stakes gambler Sue Morton (Allison Hayes) who has her own reasons for wanting to get close to Valent.
'Winters said you were a bright boy.'The movie's climax takes place in a tunnel system below Chicago, supposedly used for moving stock from a central warehouse to department stores around the city without having to deal with traffic. It's short but sweet, altho not coming close to similar and more memorable underground/tunnel scenes like those from 'He Walked By Night' and 'The Third Man'. But for a B-movie which this clearly is, it's really well-done.
'I'm bright enough to be a coward where the syndicate is concerned.'
Dennis O'Keefe is best known in noir circles for his lead roles in the Anthony Mann/John Alton noirs 'Raw Deal' & 'T-Men'. He appeared in a ton of noirs tho, mostly for B-studios. In some ways he always reminds me of a poor man's Alan Ladd, and like Ladd, he's perfect for film noir. He has the right look and stoic expressionless face. His Barry Amsterdam doesn't take the inside job out of a sense of duty or injustice, the only reason he's interested is the $60K reward that the group is offering him, so he can start up his own accounting firm. A nice touch, which helps set this movie apart from the usual breed of 'brave' men in these movies. His adversary here, Paul Stewart, was an accomplished actor, both on the screen and in radio, having paid his dues in Orson Welles's Mercury Group. Like O'Keefe he appeared in many noirs, such as 'Champion' and 'Kiss Me Deadly'. He is great here, giving a sophisticated edge to Valent, while also showing Valent to be from the streets when he visits his mother in one of Chicago's lower class districts with Amsterdam.
Allison Hayes plays a tricky role here, as Sue Morton is only an alias, she's really somebody else. That reveal comes at the halfway point of the movie, both for Barry Amsterdam and the viewer. It adds an extra plotline to the movie, and Hayes pulls it off well. I also liked that her character and Amsterdam have obvious chemistry, but don't really do anything about it, they're both 'all business' in a sense. Contrast that with Abbe Lane's Connie, who is only about one thing, her relationship with Valent and more importantly, everything that comes with it. She's jealous and suspicious, trusting nobody except Valent and her bandleader, played by Lane's husband Xavier Cugat. Cugat was a bandleader in real life, he and his orchestra appeared in several movies, primarily those with Lane in them. They also do a few musical numbers here, with Abbe Lane singing, she's not dubbed as was often the case in these noirs. Lane does an nice job of portraying a beautiful and jealous woman, including a scene where Connie and Sue exchange catty remarks back and forth before enaging in a catfight.
'Everything gets better with age... except women.'The names behind the camera are far more obscure. Director Fred F. Sears did direct several of the city noirs mentioned before, together with one half of this movie's duo of cinematographers, Henry Freulich. The other half, Fred Jackman Jr. lensed B-noirs like 'The Night Holds Terror' and 'They Made Me A Killer'. They managed to give the movie a decent, if unimaginative, look. The writers were also fairly undistinguished, Joseph Hoffman and William Sackheim. The crew does show what experience and workmanship can accomplish, as this is by no means a bad movie, it is well-paced and well-made.
As per usual, the movie ends with voice-over narration. But unlike most of these crime-busting noirs, the words spoken are not of the patronizing 'The brave government agents saved the day, order has been restored, you can sleep safely at night again.' sort, but more cynical, as it also implies that everybody, not just law enforcement agents, but also the general public needs to stay on their toes to keep the syndicate from rising up again. A nice touch to an above-average movie. 'Chicago Syndicate' is no classic by any standard, but it's well worth the effort.
7/10
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Fall Guy (1947)
Director Reginald Le Borg and cinematographer Mack Stengler don't have a lot of noir credentials under their belt, they worked mainly on quick programmers for the lower end of a double bill. Stengler did work on another Woolrich adaptation tho, 1948's film noir 'I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes'. First time producer Walter Mirisch would later, together with his brothers, produce several classic movies like 'Some Like It Hot' and 'West Side Story'!
Tom Cochrane (Leo Penn, credited as Clifford Penn) is the 'fall guy' here. One night he passes out in a dark alley, with someone else's blood all over his clothes and his pocket knife. In hospital the next morning, police inspector Shannon (Douglas Fowley) is asking him what happened and who the victim is. Cochrane decides to escape rather than get arrested there and then. He manages to convince his fiancee Lois (Teala Loring) and his brother-in-law Mac McLaine (Robert Armstrong) that he's innocent even if he has only a vague recollection of what happened. He remembers getting dragged to a party by an elevator jockey called Joe (Elisha Cook Jr.), whom he just met that evening. At the party torch singer Marie (Virginia Dale) slipped him what must've been a spiked drink... After he woke up, he found the dead body of a girl in a closet in the apartment. Barely able to stand up, he managed to go outside before collapsing in the alley... Mac, who's a cop, decides he wants to help Cochrane find out the truth before turning him in. Together they go in search of the apartment, Joe, and Marie...
I was not really aware of Leo Penn (credited as 'Clifford Penn' here) before watching this movie, and I can't say I was impressed by his acting in this movie. 'Lightweight' seems to be the right word to describe him. At no point does he convince or seem terribly upset with the predicament he's supposed to face. Penn would quickly move on to work in TV, both as an actor as well as a director. As an interesting sidenote, he's the father of more famous actors Sean & Chris Penn.
Teala Loring comes off as a 'B' version of Rita Hayworth in the looks department, which is not a bad thing at all! She is also pretty decent in this movie acting-wise altho her part as Tom's fiancee is fairly limited. 'Fall Guy' was one of her final movies before retiring from acting, her credentials include such B's as 'Bluebeard' and the Charlie Chan vehicle 'Dark Alibi'. In 'Fall Guy' she lives in with her uncle Jim while waiting for Tom to make up his mind about their marriage and future life. Uncle Jim is played by Charles Arnt, a very familiar face in dozens of 40s movies including noirs like 'The Man Who Cheated Himself', 'Strange Illusion' and 'Hollow Triumph'.
- I take trips in my dreams too, but I don't call it killing!Robert Armstrong is good enough as the grumpy but steadfast brother-in-law. However, whoever cast Armstrong forgot that this 50-something year old actor, with his rugged face and grey hair that made him look even older, was supposed to play a 36-year old man, as shown in a newspaper article halfway through the movie! Not that I have a problem with Armstrong, he's fine, but it makes you wonder if the casting director even looked at the script. Also watch closely as Mac, with Cochrane and Lois, drive away from a cinema. The marquee of the theater shows it's playing a double bill consisting of 'Decoy' and an unnamed 2nd movie. 'Decoy' is a wacky, unique film noir from 1946, with Robert Armstrong as a criminal who dies in the gas chamber and is then brought back to life again!
- Yeah but you don't wake up with blood on your clothes... on your hands... on your knife.
Saving the best for last, noir favorite Elisha Cook Jr. is far and away the biggest name in this movie. He is his usual solid self, but he doesn't have to do a whole lot here. It's one of the unwritten laws of film noir that Elisha Cook Jr. does not make it to the end of a noir alive or victorious. This noir is no different! And that's not giving away too much. Either way, it's always a pleasure to see him turn up in a noir.
Despite the obvious low budget for the movie, production company Monogram Pictures wasn't one of the so-called Poverty Row film companies for no reason, the movie looks fairly decent, also by cleverly mixing in quite a bit of stock footage for the sequences showing Mac and Cochrane walking all over NYC to find clues. In an unintentionally funny instance tho, there's a birds eye view of a NYC street at night that clearly freezes for a second or so, cars stopping all at the exact same moment, before dissolving into the next shot. Sets are also recycled, interior sets doubling for several apartments and such. But this is most painfully obvious when several entrances to subway stations all look exactly the same, except for a banner hanging above the entrance with a different street number. Chances are all those scenes were shot in a single afternoon as well.
Then I saw the singer, she wasn't bad-looking. You might not give her a second thought, but you'd look twice.The movie starts out quite decent, with an intriguing set-up. But the middle part with Mac and Cochrane wandering around NYC and a too-long semi-comedic segment where they're questioning the owners of what they think is the apartment where the party was, almost feel like filler even if it's decently done. Things pick up again for the last third of the movie with a few minor twists. The final reveal however comes almost completely out of left-field, hats off to anyone who saw that one coming. I have no idea if this was also lifted from Woolrich's story, but it's more of a 'hmmm' ending than a real 'wowza' twist. So after the promising start, the movie doesn't quite live up to it afterwards. It also doesn't quite have the dark noir look either, apart from a few spots here and there. But at least it moves along at a fast pace, which is pretty much the main requirement for these types of cheap programmers. It's worthy of a watch if you're into these cheapo B's, it has its charms, but if you're looking for a good Woolrich adaptation, look elsewhere.
6/10
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Secret Beyond The Door... (1948)
In 1941, sultry Joan Bennett starred in his espionage thriller 'Man Hunt', the first of 4 collaborations. After their 2nd movie together, 1944's 'The Woman In The Window', they formed a production company, Diana Productions, named after her oldest daughter. The third party in this company was Joan's husband and successful independent movie producer Walter Wanger. The company's first movie was the classic noir 'Scarlet Street' from 1945, followed in 1948 by 'Secret Beyond The Door...', both directed by Fritz Lang and starring Joan Bennett. 'Secret Beyond The Door...' was based on the story 'Museum Piece No. 13' by Rufus King from 1946, and adapted into a screenplay by Silvia Richards ('Possessed'). Cinematography was handled by Stanley Cortez ('The Night Of The Hunter') and the dramatic score was composed by Miklós Rózsa ('The Killers').
Felicitous \fi-ˈli-sə-təs\In 'Secret Beyond The Door...', Joan plays wealthy socialite Celia Barrett, who is off on a vacation to Mexico, her final fling before settling down. There she meets mysterious architect Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave), and within days the two are married. However, Mark cuts short their honeymoon when he has to leave unexpectedly, leaving Celia to go to his mansion by herself. There she finds out she doesn't really know all that much about Mark or his past. Mark's overly protective sister Caroline (Anne Revere) meets her at the train station, but she is only the first of many surprises for Celia, and the only happy one. Mark is broke, and maybe out for her money. And that's only the beginning...
- well chosen or suited to the circumstances
- pleasing and fortunate
It turns out Mark is a widower with a son, David (Mark Dennis) who despises him and blames him for his mother's death. Then there's Mark's secretary Miss Robey (Barbara O'Neill) who always covers part of her face due to a burn scar. And the 'felicitous' rooms Mark collects that he told Celia about, turn out to be rooms showcasing rooms where historic murders took place. Not quite what Celia assumed... And there's one murder room that Mark keeps locked at all time, one she's not allowed to enter, ever...
The movie looks stunning, with exquisitely atmospheric cinematography and sets. If the plot might seem quirky and silly, and it certainly does at times when you are watching this, there are still the visuals to draw you in. The sets, the lighting, the direction, everything is top-notch. And Fritz Lang's Expressionist past even makes an appearance in the form of a strange dream-sequence where Mark is put on trial, with himself as the prosecutor as well as the accused, and the judge and jury all obscured by shadows. It is a very odd scene, but it helps in conveying Mark's unstable mental state of mind, as well as a more terrifying idea for the viewer, that of Celia's murder.
The cast does well for the most part. The gorgeous Joan Bennett usually played the savvy femme fatale in her darker/noir movies, so this more passive and subdued part feels different. But she pulls it off well, aided by her very strong voice-over narration, which is often more whispered than spoken and adds a very spooky mood to the movie. It also helps in establishing Celia's internal insecurity and tendency to overthink things. The always dependable Anne Revere ('Fallen Angel', 'Body And Soul') is sympathetic but somehow secretive as Caroline, and Barbara O'Neil ('Whirlpool', 'Angel Face') is just plain creepy as Miss Robey who has a few secrets hidden behind her scarf.
- My main thesis is that the way a place is built determines what happens in it. [..] Certain rooms cause violence, even murders.The major letdowns acting-wise are Michael Redgrave as Mark and Mark Dennis as his son David. We'll let Mark Dennis off the hook because he was only 14/15 at the time of shooting and his character is rather silly. But Michael Redgrave is simply miscast in my opinion. The romance between him and Celia/Joan Bennett lacks chemistry of any sort, and he just never exhibits the dark emotional undercurrents that his character has. Redgrave was far from a bad actor, but he was just not the right choice here.
- Mark, my sweet lamb, you're tetched in the head.
- Yeah, maybe I am.
Director Fritz Lang and cinematographer Stanley Cortez fill the movie with beautiful dark shadows and striking shots, accentuated effectively by Rózsa's melodramatic score. The movie's tension builds up nicely throughout into a climactic finale. Unfortunately the final resolution is let down a bit by the old fashioned approach to psychoanalysis and who's to blame (hint: it's always the mother), but it's a minor gripe really. If you are willing to deal with the somewhat wacky ensemble gathered in the Lamphere mansion, a miscast male lead, and a plot that seems to borrow several elements from better movies (like 'Rebecca'), it's a pleasant viewing experience.
'Secret Beyond The Door...' was a commercial failure however, which together with marital issues (eventually leading to Wanger shooting Bennett's agent, and lover, a few years later) and a strained working relationship between Lang and Bennett, led to the end of Diana Productions, after only 2 motion pictures. Both Lang and Bennett later considered this movie a minor, even forgettable, effort but do not let that detract you from this movie. It's an entertaining movie that can even be watched purely for its visuals. An uneven movie, but worth checking out.
7/10
Sunday, September 14, 2014
New York Confidential (1955)
Despite sharing a title with one of the Lait & Mortimer books, 'New York Confidential' the film was only 'suggested by' the books. The screenplay was written by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, who worked together on a number of movies, including several other noirs such as 'D.O.A.', 'The Thief' and 'Wicked Woman'. They often wrote the screenplay together with Rouse then directing and Greene producing the film, as is the case here. Eddie Fitzgerald did the cinematography, having already worked with Rouse & Greene on 'Wicked Woman'. Joseph Mullendore wrote his first score for this movie. He then quickly moved on to scoring TV series like 'The Dick Powell Show' and 'Burke's Law'.
'New York Confidential' starts out in the semi-documentary style that was popular in the late 40s to mid 50s, where government agents would typically infiltrate some sort of criminal outfit to bust it from the inside. In these movies a voice-over usually starts the movie, explaining the racket that would be all but obliterated by the end of the movie. But after such an intro, 'New York Confidential' quickly shifts, focusing solely on the criminals. There is no infiltrator, no government agency, secretly fighting this organization. The main concern of the film is captured in one quote which would have served far better as the tagline instead of the essay sprawled on the poster seen above:
The organization comes firstThe organization is split up into territories, with a boss in every major city, each running their own territory. The New York boss is Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford), who is about to make a multi-million dollar deal. To carry it out he needs the support of corrupt politicians and lobbyists. What he does not need is publicity, which is exactly what he's getting when a local mobster shoots one of his men as well as some innocent bystanders. The law of the street demands he retaliate, so Lupo 'borrows' up and coming hitman Nick Magellan (Richard Conte) from the Chicago territory to try and keep his involvement out of the public and police eye. Magellan deals with the manner swiftly and deadly. Lupo is impressed, and arranges for Magellan to come work for him permanently.
In the end, the deal still goes sour due to a corrupt lobbyist talking a bit too freely in an interview. All the territory bosses gather and vote unanimously to bump off the guy. Lupo is chosen to take care of it. He orders his heavy, Wendler (Mike Mazurki), and his crew to make the hit. However, a cleaning lady messes things up and the men have to flee the scene, shooting a cop in the process. Lupo now has to do some major damage control before things really blow up in his face and he orders Magellan to get rid of Wendler and his men. Magellan kills two of them, but Wendler is on to Lupo and tries to cut a deal with the authorities to save his own skin. This could bring down the entire syndicate and Lupo is held responsible... The other bosses want blood and once again Magellan is asked to draw it for them.
In a way, 'New York Confidential' shows a more realistic version of the large crime syndicates than was common for the time. It would be impossible for a single man, or even a small team of people, to bring down this kind of organization, so this does not happen here, with the organization still firmly in its place at the end of the movie. What it shows, is how these outfits take care of their internal problems. Somebody wants to sell out, he dies, no matter how high up in the organisation he is. Loyalty to the organization outweighs everything. But that also means there's danger around every corner, and it comes in many disguises. The movie has elements of the 30s gangster movies as well as more modern movies like 'The Godfather' and 'Scarface' (both the 30s version and the more famous 80s version), by focusing only on the gritty, kill-or-be-killed lifestyle of the gangsters.
A meeting... From every territory in the country they answer the summons. Names you seldom hear, faces you rarely see. The high court of organized crime, sitting in judgement. A judgement which is final, from which there is no appeal.Richard Conte and Broderick Crawford play the two main characters in this movie, and they're both excellent. Crawford's Lupo is struggling with his health, clearly brought on by his immense responsibilities towards the organization, and certainly not helped by his temper, calling people pigs left and right, even slapping his daughter Kathy (Anne Bancroft) violently in a burst of outrage. He takes a shine to Conte's Magellan however, who is the son of someone he used to work with. He also sees in Magellan someone unlike his usual henchmen, smart, cunning, calculated and above all, extremely loyal.
Crawford is great here, throwing around his weight, both literally and figuratively, with ease and command. At times he speaks so fast you're left wondering if the movie is playing at the right speed. Conte is his usual intense self, restrained and graceful but with a malevolent menace brooding in his pitch-black eyes. Magellan experiences some inner conflict when he starts to have feelings for Kathy, but his loyalty to the organization and to Charlie prevent him from doing anything about it, and Conte manages to make this inner conflict seem real. Conte also played a criminal in the classic 1955 film 'The Big Combo', but with a much more violent and volatile personality. And he pulls off both characters so well. Seeing Conte in a noir is always a treat.
Bancroft's part is small, too small. Her Kathy loathes what her father does and what he stands for, and she despises Magellan for it as well; despite the obvious attraction between them. I wish more time had been given to her character, because Anne Bancroft is pretty good here, the way she both despises and is attracted to Magellan simultaneously is done really well. She makes only a few appearances throughout the movie, but her character adds depth to it, including a rather shocking and surprising appearance near the end, which had been alluded to earlier on. The other two female characters that inhabit the film are Mama Lupo (Celia Lovsky) who Charlie Lupo clings on to far too much, and Iris (Marilyn Maxwell), his girlfriend. I didn't much care for Mama Lupo, but Iris's character has more depth to it, played well by Maxwell. Iris comes off as a femme fatale in the movie until the final part where she shows she genuinely cares about Lupo. She may be a gold digger, and she certainly acts like it, but she's also human.
The movie is riddled with familiar faces, character actors that appeared in dozens of 40s & 50s movies, credited and uncredited. From Mike Mazurki ('Murder, My Sweet', 'Night And The City') to Nestor Paiva ('Alias Nick Beal', 'Rope Of Sand') to J. Carroll Naish ('Humoresque', 'Clash By Night'). More often than not as each new face appears you're left thinking 'Where have I seen this guy before?'
Visually the movie does not stand out and is shot in the flat style that was common in 50s noirs ('The Big Combo' was a notable exception). Still, the characters and the story are noir. Try and find a nice guy in this one. You'll come up empty handed. People get killed, left, right and center. And the people ordering the hits and executing them are the main characters here. Sure, Magellan has a soft spot for Lupo's daughter, and every noir-head has a soft spot for Richard Conte, but he's not sympathetic. His boss tells him someone has to die, he makes it happen. He doesn't question it, he simply does it. No matter what choices the characters make, they cannot control what happens to them, once the wheels are set in motion with the drive-by shooting of Lupo's guy, it's all just another ride on the downward spiral of doom.
There are some flaws in this one. It was shot on a tight budget, so most scenes take place on sets, making it feel static and even slow at times. It also has the unimaginative flat 50s look I mentioned before, I am not a fan. And to top it off there are a few plotholes that make little sense other than putting the right person, in the right place, at the right time. But oh well, nothing new. I'd still say not to pass up on this one. It not only has a great cast with equally great performances, but is also one of the bleaker noirs with some great assassination scenes to boot. Not a classic, but nowhere near a dud either...
7/10
Thursday, August 14, 2014
The Mask Of Dimitrios (1944)
The titular Dimitrios is Dimitrios Makropoulos, an infamous jack-of-all-trades criminal mastermind whose dead body washes ashore near Istanbul, Turkey. Dutch detective writer Cornelius Leyden (Lorre) is in Istanbul at that time and police official colonel Haki (Kurt Katch), an avid reader of detective novels, is eager to tell Leyden about Dimitrios, and even shows him the body before its cremation. Haki explains that Dimitrios managed to escape the law for a long time, so much so that the only way they know the body is Dimitrios is because of a name tag and papers found in its clothes. Leyden's interest in this mysterious character is piqued, he sees a possible angle for a new novel. He starts to retrace the history of Dimitrios by talking to people who knew Dimitrios, such as nightclub owner Irana (Faye Emerson) and wealthy socialite Grudek (Vincent Francen), while travelling all over Europe following leads and clues. Along the way he comes into contact with a Mr. Peters (Greenstreet), who is also interested in Dimitrios, but for reasons shrouded in mystery. Leyden is puzzled by the elusive Dimitrios as well as Mr. Peters, but also intrigued, and before he knows it he is in Paris where Mr. Peters finally explains his intentions, which involves one million francs, blackmail and Dimitrios...
To me the most important thing to know about an assassination is not who fired the shot, but who paid for the bullet.In typical noir fashion, the movie has a number of flashbacks, in which people recount their memories of Dimitrios, played by Zachary Scott. Through these flashbacks Leyden, and the viewer, gets a better idea of Dimitrios and his cunning, but dangerous and lethal, intellect. He is both charming and ruthless, suave and threatening, but always calculated and one step ahead of everybody else. Whether it involves, murder, smuggling drugs or blackmail, and being hired as a spy to steal military plans for a European country, Dimitrios rises to the occasion every single time. As long as there is a profit to be made.
The movie is a fairly faithful adaptation of Eric Ambler's spy novel 'A Coffin For Dimitrios' from 1939, the movie's title taken from the title of a chapter in the book. I read the book recently and it is a clever and fun read. Prolific pulp author Frank Gruber took a few liberties to turn the source material into a slightly more movie-like screenplay, but nothing that really alters the plot. Most notably the name and nationality of its protagonist was changed from the British Charles Latimer to the Dutch Cornelius Leyden, possibly because of Peter Lorre's accent which nobody can mistake for a British one. Not that he has a Dutch accent either, but I digress. The other big difference, but still not really changing the flow of the movie, is the story recounted by Grudek (Victor Francen). In the novel Latimer learns of this story from a letter sent by Marukakis, who is one of the first people Latimer/Leyden meets on his journey. In the novel Grudek is only addressed as G., a masterspy who employs Dimitrios to steal some military plans. The contents of this letter takes up an entire chapter in the book. Probably in an effort to make it more cinematic, this story is told by Grudek when Leyden visits him (Latimer never meets G. in the novel). But the story, both in the novel and in the book, plays out almost the same, except the roles of Grudek/G. and Dimitrios in it are reversed. While it may sound like a big change, in actuality it serves the exact same purpose in both cases without changing the course of the plot, while making Dimitrios seem like an even more cunning criminal in the movie. As a small note of interest, Colonel Haki also makes an appearance in the Eric Ambler novel 'Journey Into Fear' from 1940, which was turned into a movie in 1943, where he is played by none other than Orson Welles.
Zachary Scott made his film debut in this movie, and he is perfectly cast with his unique lizard-like look that made him perfect for this role. He would become a household name a year later in the classic noir 'Mildred Pierce' where his slimy traits are also used to maximum effect. He is solid here, and plays all sides of Dimitrios's character to a tee, making him really seem like an almost superhuman villain, but who still ends up a mere mortal in his final moments. He would appear in several more noirs, including 1950's 'Guilty Bystander' where he played opposite Faye Emerson again, who is quite the cheap-looking nightclub owner here. But despite being billed third, her role is remarkably small and one-dimensional.
Peter Lorre, oddly enough billed fourth despite being the movie's protagonist and central character, and Sydney Greenstreet are both simply great here. The two had a lot of chemistry together and this is exploited to the fullest here. Both actors also had distinct ways of speaking that, combined with their non-average physical appearances, made them in a sense character actors rather than leading actors, despite both being very good at their trade. Lorre plays Leyden the way Latimer is described in the book, as someone who might know how to write about a murder but who is quite naive when it comes to criminal reality. Conversely, Greenstreet embodied Mr. Peters perfectly with a tone of voice and glint in his eye that always makes everything he says seem somehow suspect.
Murder, treason, and betrayal... that's the finishing touch.Jean Negulesco directed the movie, which was his first of several noirs, which also included 'Three Strangers', again with Lorre and Greenstreet, and 'Nobody Lives Forever', both from 1946. For all these movies, Arthur Edeson was behind the camera. Edeson had already worked as a cinematographer with Lorre and Greenstreet on the classics-among-classics 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'Casablanca', as did composer Adolph Deutsch. They all deliver solid work here, turning an intriguing but fairly static and dialogue-heavy novel/screenplay into a brisk-moving and exciting thriller which feels more action-filled than it really is, and it has some beautifully shot scenes as well. It is a really good and fun movie that will no doubt please any lover of film noir and black & white spy/crime thrillers in general. Recommended, as is the novel!
8/10
Notice how in the trailer Lorre and Greenstreet are referred to as 'The Little Man' and 'The Fat Man'.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Lady In The Lake (1947)
Robert Montgomery, who both directed this movie and played the lead, decided to take a radically different approach to Chandler's novel of the same name; a novel first published in 1943, but which itself was based on several earlier short stories, including one also entitled 'Lady In The Lake'. MGM got Chandler to write a screenplay for it, but Steve Fisher (author of 'I Wake Up Screaming') also wrote one, possibly at Montgomery's request, which is what ended up being used. One of the ways the screenplay strays from the original is in turning several smaller characters into much more important ones.
You'll see it just as I saw it. You'll meet the people, you'll find the clues... And maybe you'll solve it quick, and maybe you won't.As with another Chandler novel/adaptation, 'The Big Sleep,' the plot is full of turns and twists and no one is who they appear to be. Phillip Marlowe (yes, with 2 l's) is trying to get some extra money by submitting a story to a pulp magazine. He's invited to the publisher's office to discuss terms, meeting with Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter). There, she persuades him to look into the disappearance of her boss's wife, Chrystal Kingsby. Derace Kingsby (Leon Ames), the boss, is amidst divorce proceedings and needs his wife present to sign documents. Marlowe accepts and before he knows it he's in over his head in a big way. The twisting plot where people and things are not what they seem, and a new clue means nothing is not important. Like all good noirs with labyrinthian plots, think 'The Big Sleep,' it's all about slipping into the right mood and feeling the atmosphere, the psychological make-up of the characters and what drives them, discovering their real motives, hearing the crackling dialog. 'Lady In The Lake' has it all, in spades.
The movie plays out in one long flashback, told from the perspective of Marlowe. In the most literal way, the entire movie, save for a few short scenes where Marlowe addresses the viewer directly to summarize details, is seen through his eyes. Marlowe himself is never seen except reflected in mirrors. This wasn't the first movie to use the subjective camera point of view but it most likely is the first major studio movie to use it as such. Not even 'Dark Passage,' another noir released a year before, and famous for using this technique, used it to this extent. As Marlowe/Robert Montgomery explains at the start of the movie, this gives the viewer a chance to see the case through his eyes, to see if they can crack the case and pick up on the same clues that Marlowe had to go on. An interesting idea, but it failed to connect with audiences at the time. It is also one of several things that are commonly seen as negative about this movie in noir circles.
Using this technique also meant that the actors who did appear in front of the camera needed to be comfortable looking directly into the lens. This was no problem for Audrey Totter ('Tension', 'The Set-Up') whose Adrienne Fromsett is the real star player of the movie, who drives the plot forward. Totter seems completely at ease with this unusual way of acting and gives an amazing performance. With her expressive face and big eyes, she makes use of it all to great effect. The way she flirts with and talks to the camera is incredible. She's a natural and her take on this role is one of the reasons she's one of my favorite ladies of noir. The other main female character, played by Jayne Meadows ('Song Of The Thin Man', 'Undercurrent'), also gives a strong performance. She starts out as Mrs.Fallbrook, Lavery's supposed landlady, but as the movie progresses she turns out to be somebody else, complete with different personalities and manners of speaking. Both Totter's and Meadows' characters are minor and relatively irrelevant in the original novel, but are given a much more important role in this adaptation. To some this deviation from the original, is a source of criticism.
We have a nasty little motto around here: "Every man has his price."Robert Montgomery plays Marlowe as cynically and verbally abusive as can be. It also doesn't help that you hardly ever see him, leaving little ambiguity about his words. This is a Marlowe that isn't likable, he's mean, never a nice thing to say, and seems to generally dislike people and life. Add that to the list of gripes about this movie too. Of all the actors in this movie, Lloyd Nolan ('The Street With No Name', 'The House On 92nd Street') seemed the least comfortable addressing the camera directly; he is fidgety at times and looks away from the lens too often. But all in all, they both do an admirable job, considering they had to unlearn some common acting lessons such as no looking straight into the camera.
There's a few other ways in which this movie stands out: it uses a lot of long takes, even if there are quite a few cheat-cuts to make it seem like it's an even longer continuous take. Because the movie has very little action, it is full of dialogues. There are many scenes in which an actor is essentially doing a monologue facing the lens with Montgomery/Marlowe responding off-camera. There's also no real soundtrack, apart from a choir providing occasional, rather eery, background music in theme with the Christmas season the movie takes place in. It's certainly a different viewing experience.
There are several scenes where the first person view really works in ways that would be much harder to accomplish if filmed the traditional way. The scene where Marlowe finds Lavery's dead body in the shower cabin is incredibly creepy and quite graphic considering the era, with the choir music adding to the suspense and tension. Later on, when Marlowe's car is pushed off the road and he is stumbling out, he crawls on hands and knees to a phone booth, badly hurt and barely conscious, with the camera going in and out of focus. This crawling alone takes over a minute and all that is shown during this time are his hands as he slowly moves. It's a very effective way of showing his condition without showing Marlowe himself.
- Stop getting involved in other people's murders. Why be a private detective at all?Aesthetically, the movie does not have the noir look but everything else about it: the story, the characters, the twists and turns, the ambiguity, the psychology and morality, it's all noir. While it may not work for some, the first person view can really draw you in, giving it a different kind of noir aesthetic that relies a lot more on combining what you see with the atmosphere of the scene rather than on chiaroscuro lighting.
- Why eat? You only get hungry again.
There are other unusual touches to the movie, including a Christmas-y credit roll making it seem as if you were watching something like 'It's A Wonderful Life', until it ends with the image of a gun. It also includes a credit for Crystal Kingsby, who is supposedly played by Ellay Mort. Except she never appears in the movie, it's a phony credit, Ellay Mort when spoken out loud means 'she is dead' in French. There are even scenes where the viewer/Marlowe is on the phone and, as one tends to do whilst on the phone, looking at nothing in particular. And so, during the entire conversation you're staring at a piece of furniture! Also watch out for some funny phone calls.
As you may have gathered, there is a decently long list of gripes that are commonly brought up about this movie. As you may also have gathered, I don't agree with any of them. I love it! What others see as working against it, I see the other way around. Robert Montgomery clearly went out on a limb with this movie, and I applaud him for it. The only other noir that he directed and starred in, 'Ride The Pink Horse', is also rather atypical. The man simply didn't want to walk the beaten path, and that is never a bad thing. 'Lady In The Lake' is a movie I can watch over and over again. It's a one-of-a-kind noir experience. Most hate it, some love it, like I do.
Besides, what's not to love about a movie where you're the person being kissed by Audrey Totter?!
9/10
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