Noir Films

[CineMaven]

Just make sure you report what you thought of the film. I think O'Brien and Raines have great chemistry. O'Brien is really an unsung late 1940's actor. He's a got pep in his step!

[RedRiver]

This discussion has turned to some fine crime films. Even the quick mention of THE NARROW MARGIN, which is my favorite of the three. THE WEB was one of the first movies I saw on commercial free TV. I assume it was AMC. I was in a hotel in Atlantic City! It's atmospheric, intriguing, well acted. VIOLENT SATURDAY will surprise you. Colorful and Hollywood-ish, yet dark and suspenseful. The small town atmosphere is my favorite part of the story too, Wendy. The various story elements and character nuances set up some thrilling conflicts and deliver them handsomely.

********SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!*************

Something about the climax bothers me a little. I like the movie, but it feels like we're supposed to cheer when the pacifist farmer resorts to violence. "Way to go! It's about time you came to your senses." That left me with a creepy feeling. Another ending, or at least a more somber mood, might have served the story better. Still, this is fine filmmaking, and a movie that deserves to be better known. Outside of classic film circles, I imagine it's completely obscure!

[JackFavell]

Yay! I'll try to watch THE WEB real soon. That photo of Ella is .....aaaaahhhhhhhh. Makes me actually want to negotiate the TCM website and go look at the pics posted in the Brunettes thread way back when.

Red, I really like your analysis of Violent Saturday. It's nice and bright, colorful but with that dark character development that you mentioned. I did feel the ending was just a bit lacking, because you knew it was going to turn out OK. I took the ending a different way than you did. I did not feel like it was rah rah, lets get the Amish guy to kill and everything will be alright. In fact I took it as just the opposite.... that he is scarred by it for the rest of his life - he even has a line to that effect. But it was the hoodlums or his family, and when it came down to it, he had to make that decision to save his family. I liked that they left his story up in the air at the end, as well as Sylvia Sydney's. Neither is going to have a happy ending....

I should go back and watch THE NARROW MARGIN again, to see if I like it better this time. The only thing I really loved about it was Marie Windsor.

[RedRiver]

To me, NARROW MARGIN is one of those ultimate low, LOW budget crime films. They barely even needed a set. It takes place on a train! I like everything about it, but you're right. It's Ms. Windsor's movie.

[CineMaven]

Looks like I've got to re-visit "The Narrow Margin" and the olde Brunettes thread over at TCM-City, along with "Violent Saturday." And again my apologies for such large-sized fotos. I just can't make heads or tails of Photobucket's new format where all of my pictures are stored.

[RedRiver]

No need to apologize for legs like that!

[JackFavell]

Ah!

marie, the dawn is breaking,
marie, you'll soon be waking
to find, your heart is breaking
and tears, will fall, as you recall
the moon, in all its splendor,
the kiss, so very tender,
the words "will you surrender"
to me, my marie

[ChiO]

Marie don't surrender to nobody, no how.

[knitwit45]

[movieman1957]

The Bride and I watched "The Blue Gardenia." I didn't think it was high end Fritz Lang. More of a straight murder mystery with Anne Baxter convinced she killed a man on a date. The catch is she can't really remember because she was so drunk most of the night is a blur.

The bulk of the story is newspaper columnist Richard Conte trying to do the police's job for them.

A rather straight forward telling of the story follows. There didn't seem to be a great deal of noir to it. At times it was even a bit slow. There is a little surprise of an ending (which seems a popular thing with some of Lang's films.)

I think The Bride liked it better than I did which is fine as I hadn't planned on us watching it together. Good performances by Baxter and Sothern.

[JackFavell]

I'm with you on this one, Chris. I don't really like it much, though the performances are good. It doesn't really grab me in any way.

[feaito]

The Bride and I watched "The Blue Gardenia." I didn't think it was high end Fritz Lang. More of a straight murder mystery with Anne Baxter convinced she killed a man on a date. The catch is she can't really remember because she was so drunk most of the night is a blur.

The bulk of the story is newspaper columnist Richard Conte trying to do the police's job for them.

A rather straight forward telling of the story follows. There didn't seem to be a great deal of noir to it. At times it was even a bit slow. There is a little surprise of an ending (which seems a popular thing with some of Lang's films.)

I think The Bride liked it better than I did which is fine as I hadn't planned on us watching it together. Good performances by Baxter and Sothern.

I watched it some years ago and I liked it, but the problem was that I did not care much for Conte's character or performance. I have never liked him. Baxter & Sothern caught all my attention and they give good performances. Raymond Burr gives an impressive performance as well.

[Robert Regan]

One of the "tragedies" was that so many of the great heavies of the fifties became leading men! I'm thinking of Raymond Burr, Lee Marvin, James Coburn, et al.

[CineMaven]

How rare and unusual is that, raising their "station."

[RedRiver]

BLUE GARDENIA is not great noir, but it's worth watching. The story moves well, if nothing else. There's good acting. It's more a "fun movie" than a memorable one. I had no idea Mr. Lang directed it.

The catch is she can't really remember because she was so drunk

Calling Cornell Woolrich! Mr. Cornell Woolrich!