Q & A with Alan K. Rode on Charles McGraw & Film Noir

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moira finnie
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Q & A with Alan K. Rode on Charles McGraw & Film Noir

Post by moira finnie »

To kick off our discussion with author Alan K. Rode, our weekend visitor this Saturday and Sunday, I'd like to thank Alan (who is a registered member on our site as Moxie) for joining us this weekend. We're enjoying an embarrassment of riches this week with your visit and David Shepard's stay with us as well!

First off, Alan, how did you became interested in film noir?

In a neat turn of phrase in your book, Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy, you describe some typical film noir bad guys as "cinematic blunt instruments". What was there about McGraw that made him stand out from this group and prompted your decision to write a biography of Charles McGraw? Thanks in advance for your reply.
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Post by Alan K. »

Moira,

Many thanks for the invite; it's great to be here.

My fascination with film noir is an enduring obsession. My interest was originally piqued while watching movies on television in the NY-NJ area during the 1960's. I grew up in a family of movie lovers; my grandparents worked on the fringes of "the biz"and Mother was born and raised Hollywood. Film talk and movie star stories were a common topic around the family dinner table.

I was drawn to noir before I even knew what it was. Suspensers, crime dramas and melodramas that eschewed the traditional happy ending occupied my attention.

I clearly recall watching D.O.A. on the family Philco and being transfixed by the notion of Edmond O'Brien seeking his murderer. I began to write about noir and eventually became more directly involved in film noir preservation and exhibition.

Charles McGraw was always a movie touchstone for me. As I note in the introduction to my book, his acting had a rugged authenticity that struck me as being unique.

When I discovered that McGraw died in a horrible accident, I was curious and subsequently obtained some documentation about what actually happened to him. I discovered that much of what had been written about his death was superficial and inaccurate. This discovery spurred a more vigorous effort in researching his life and work.

The decisive factor was a serendipitous meeting with McGraw's girl friend who had lived in Hollywood since 1942.and knew him for decades. After spending a good deal of time with her and then meeting McGraw's daughter, I knew I had a story to write about.
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Post by movieman1957 »

Would you give us kind of a small history of "noir?" What are its roots? Who are some of its early artists?

Thanks so much for being here.
Chris

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Post by MikeBSG »

There has been a "controversy" on this website as to which is the better film: the 1946 "The Killers" or the 1964 "The Killers."

Which one do you prefer and why?
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Post by ChiO »

Thank you for taking this on.

You referred to "Suspensers, crime dramas and melodramas that eschewed the traditional happy ending". What is your working definition of film noir?

Classic film noir seems to have made a great resurgence in popularity over the past 5-10 years. Has it, or have I just arrived late at the party? If the popularity has recently grown, what do you think are the major factors behind it?
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Post by Ollie »

Alan, thanks for such a great book on Charles McGraw. I'm only halfway thru it but after a few decades of rewatching movies, I've understood that most of my attraction for re-seeing films comes from the supporting actors, and Charles McGraw is one actor I try to 'collect'. His terrific films are my favorites, and his worst films are still better than most.

He and Steve Brodie occupy different 'character styles' in their films, but they both stand as distinctive hallmarks of excellence in their work.

Thanks for the book.

QUESTION 1: Are there tales or aspects of your McGraw book that were left out due to an editor's "space savings"?

QUESTION 2: Were there tales that you'd heard about but couldn't research to a conclusion worthy of you including them in this book?

And can you tell us some about them, and the factors that were considered before dropping them out of your book?

QUESTION 3: How in the WORLD did you and Jim Steranko get hooked up? As one of the most pioneering artists of the '60s comic boom, it's been wonderful to see him strike back across time and move from psychedelia into noir-dom, and yet keep his distinctive work alive at every age.
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Post by Dewey1960 »

Hi Alan - I've yet to read your book (but fully intend to) and don't know if anything is mentioned in it about McGraw's appearance in an episode of John Cassavetes' short-lived but brilliant private eye drama JOHNNY STACCATO. The episode is titled "Murder for Credit" and it's one of my favorites from that show and I was wondering if anything is known about McGraw's working relationship with Cassavetes or if he had any particular feelings about that performance. He was absolutely fantastic in it. Thanks in advance.
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Post by mongoII »

Moxie, thanks for taking the time to visit with us this weekend.

How would you rate the cheaply made "Detour" (1945) as far as 'noir' status.

Also what is your take on one of my favorite film-noir's "Born to Kill" (1947)?
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Post by Ann Harding »

Hi Mr Rode!

Nice to have you here! I have seen Charles McGraw in various films noirs (The Killers, His Kind of Woman) and western (like Saddle the Wind), but, I must admit I didn't notice him that much.... :oops: Next time, I'll pay attention when I watch these.

I am very much a Film Noir fan. To me, their origins seem to be to be traceable in European pictures made before WWII such as Carné's Port of Shadows (Quai des Brumes, 1938) and Daybreak (Le Jour se Lève, 1939). You already find there the doomed hero together with moody cinematography by some great German cinematographers (Eugen Schüfftan, Curt Courant). It's pretty obvious that the German 'expresionnist' like cinematography was directly imported in American film noir by several cinematographers.

What is your definition of film noir? Is it always a picture with a 'criminal' element? or more a film dealing with mood and atmosphere?
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RKO Radio Pictures

Post by ken123 »

Dear Mr.Rode,
Thank you for taking time and joining us here at Silver Screen Oasis. IMHO RKO Radio Pictures was the premiere Hollywood Studio for producing film noir, though Mark Hellinger releasing thru Universal - International was the the greatest individual producer in that genre.

My question is was RKO deliberately destroyed and it so why ? The studio was a hotbed of leftist producers, directers, sceenwriters, and actors.
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Post by klondike »

Hey, Mr. R;

Thanks so much for taking time from your busy schedule to drop-by & chat here at the SSO; I sincerely hope you choose to check back in with us on a regular basis, as time allows.
For we be Folks who Love Movies!!
My question has to do with another "Alan" - namely Mr. Ladd, who, after getting his early big "legs-up" with roles in This Gun for Hire, The Glass Key, & The Blue Dahlia, seemed to drift right out of noir films at a pretty quick rate . . was that his desire, or an indication of the studio desiring a new direction for Hollywood's "shortest giant"?
He was so darn good in those early noirs, and so (for me) awkward feeling afterward as a soldier, a reporter, a spy, a frontier dad, or a challenged husband, it all just strikes one as bad career management; proven out, I think, by his oddly strong performance in '55's Hell on Frisco Bay, as the framed ex-cop opposing Eddie Robinson's waterfront mob boss.
Agree or disagree?
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Post by Jezebel38 »

Dewey1960 wrote:Hi Alan - I've yet to read your book (but fully intend to) and don't know if anything is mentioned in it about McGraw's appearance in an episode of John Cassavetes' short-lived but brilliant private eye drama JOHNNY STACCATO. The episode is titled "Murder for Credit" and it's one of my favorites from that show and I was wondering if anything is known about McGraw's working relationship with Cassavetes or if he had any particular feelings about that performance. He was absolutely fantastic in it. Thanks in advance.
Alan - Dewey beat me to it! I saw this series and episode also, on a defunct cable channel called TRIO. Very cool series - and McGraw gave an arresting performance - too bad he got knocked off after the first 30 minutes! Were you able to do much research of McGraw's television work in the 50's?

Also, I have not read your book as yet; McGraw was buddies with Robert Mitchum, right? Any choice tales to tell of that relationship?
drednm

Post by drednm »

film noir is such a tough genre to categorize.... are there "key" ingredients that a noir film must have?

what about Joan Crawford classics like HUMORESQUE and MILDRED PIERCE?

Ed
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Film Noir Defined

Post by Alan K. »

Film Noir is not readily identifiable as a conventional genre such as Westerns, comedies, musicals etc. The word "noir" has become a marketing cachet to sell movies,plays, books, perfume and music. Just Google the term, "film noir". There are such an increasing number of films being labeled as noir, it almost seems that every black and white movie that doesn't star Bob Hope or Judy Canova is now a film noir!

I believe this elusiveness of definition and elasticity of application is one of the key factors that makes noir so popular. The debate and analysis of film noir has spurred many a book and Internet discussion board!

For my money, film noir is not a genre but a style. This style permeates some films to a greater degree than others. Certainly Born to Kill is pure film noir, where as Reign of Terror, set in France just after the Revolution, is a historical picture that is nonetheless noir-stained. The noir style has its antecedal roots derived from a number of different sources. Some of the significant include:

1. The Germanic Expressionism of cinema characterized by the staging of Max Reinhardt and the chiaroscuro lighting and melodramatic narratives of directors such as Murnau, Pabst, and Lang. This period developed a bumper crop of future film noir directors including Wilder, Siodmak, Ophuls, Preminger, Dieterle and Sirk. The pioneering deep focus, backlit work of cinemathographers such as John Alton, Gregg Toland and Nicholas Musaraca was also an important influence

2. The pulp novelists and purveyors of detective crime fiction including Chandler, Hammett, Woolrich, Cain, W.R. Burnett, McCoy and others whose stories gained popularity beginning in the 1930's.

3. The conventions of noir that flowed from the stories of the time. The mostly impersonal mileau of the mid 20th century city, the commission of a crime that was usually at the crux of the story, the principal protaganists, including the femme fatale, the star-crossed fatalistic male lead, who were both caught up in varying degrees in violence, obsession, and existentialistic destinies.

In a style laden with irony, it is germane to remember that the French initially identified a new style of films after viewing pictures such as Laura, The Woman in the Window and Double Indemnity after World War II.

I think one essential attribute of film noir is the realism and frankness of post war pictures. World War II changed the maturity and world view of Americans. I can't imagine an exercise in perversity like Born to Kill being made before V-J day.
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The Killers which version?

Post by Alan K. »

I have to say that I am personally partial to the 1946 version of The Killers. It is such a seminal film that made so many careers and still holds up beautifully. I did quite a bit of research on it and really love the movie.

The 1964 version is a fascinating work that stands on its own merits. Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson are extraordinary. Sidebar trivia: I've chatted
with Clu Gulager several times and he told me that he was honored to reprise Charlie's role in the '64 version and hoped he did the part justice- nice man.
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