Welcome to Shannon Clute, Our Guest Star for September

Past chats with our guests.
User avatar
JackFavell
Posts: 11926
Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am

Re: Welcome to Shannon Clute, Our Guest Star for September

Post by JackFavell »

Hi, Mr. Clute! Welcome to the SSO. We are so happy to have you here. I can't tell you how much we all love TCM and your contributions to movie analysis.

In listening to your podcast of 2005, you suggest that The Third Man is not film noir, at least if we think of noir as a genre. Do you still feel that way? I was unsure if you liked the film or not, or if it was just that it doesn't fit into your definition of noir.

You mentioned that one of the reasons TTM is not in the noir category is that you need that American pulp background thrown into the mix. Do you think that there are any British films noir?

If The Third Man is not noir because it ends with justice being carried out, then why do you consider The Maltese Falcon to be a film noir?

Gun Crazy is one of my favorite films. Can you discuss this film?

I am really glad you like the combination of women's films and noir. I enjoy strong women in film, and noir really brings a lot of bang for the buck that way. Another film popular here at the SSO is The Reckless Moment. Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks again for visiting! I hope you will come back and chat with us again. It seems to have gone by so quickly! :D

Wendy/aka JackFavell
User avatar
Sue Sue Applegate
Administrator
Posts: 3404
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 8:47 pm
Location: Texas

Re: Welcome to Shannon Clute, Our Guest Star for September

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Dear Shannon,

Thank you for your lovely response earlier in this thread. One of my truly guilty pleasures as far as romantic comedies is The Major and The Minor. Would you consider it an official screwball comedy, or does it's unorthodox nature send it into a different pantheon? And do you like it?

I appreciate your visit here so much, and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and expertise here on the SSO. Thank you!
Blog: http://suesueapplegate.wordpress.com/
Twitter:@suesueapplegate
TCM Message Boards: http://forums.tcm.com/index.php?/topic/ ... ue-sue-ii/
Sue Sue : https://www.facebook.com/groups/611323215621862/
Thelma Ritter: Hollywood's Favorite New Yorker, University Press of Mississippi-2023
Avatar: Ginger Rogers, The Major and The Minor
The Swede
Posts: 0
Joined: September 28th, 2012, 5:59 am

Re: Welcome to Shannon Clute, Our Guest Star for September

Post by The Swede »

JackFavell wrote:Hi, Mr. Clute! Welcome to the SSO. We are so happy to have you here. I can't tell you how much we all love TCM and your contributions to movie analysis.

In listening to your podcast of 2005, you suggest that The Third Man is not film noir, at least if we think of noir as a genre. Do you still feel that way? I was unsure if you liked the film or not, or if it was just that it doesn't fit into your definition of noir.

You mentioned that one of the reasons TTM is not in the noir category is that you need that American pulp background thrown into the mix. Do you think that there are any British films noir?

If The Third Man is not noir because it ends with justice being carried out, then why do you consider The Maltese Falcon to be a film noir?

Gun Crazy is one of my favorite films. Can you discuss this film?

I am really glad you like the combination of women's films and noir. I enjoy strong women in film, and noir really brings a lot of bang for the buck that way. Another film popular here at the SSO is The Reckless Moment. Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks again for visiting! I hope you will come back and chat with us again. It seems to have gone by so quickly! :D

Wendy/aka JackFavell
Thanks for the great questions Jack.

I'm afraid that episode of the podcast on THE THIRD MAN will haunt me forever! It has certainly not be a very popular contention with many noir fans (especially British ones), but for the most part I still stick by it, for all of the reasons I outlined in one of my posts yesterday on the underlying philosophy of noir and how that relates to the question of justice.

I should say, I actually really like the film. I just don't enjoy it nearly as much when the claim is made that it's noir. I think it's a great movie, with beautiful cinematography by Robert Krasker. But the ending, with one man deciding to personally right the scales of justice, has always felt much more like a war film or a western, when that sort of order needs to be reestablished (and I don't think it's an accident that the Holly Martins character (Cotten) is a writer of westerns).

On the other hand, I have now seen many fine films noir without definite connections to American hard-boiled literature, so my opinion on that topic has evolved a bit. There are domestic melodrama noir films that are not hard-boiled, though they may be hard-edged (but not so terse in their dialogue or their plotting as hard-boiled). And there are many fine foreign noir films that have only a second or third generation indebtedness to hard-boiled (as it has filtered through local culture). Here I would point to RIFIFI, BOB LE FLAMBEUR, LE SAMOURAI and eventually BREATHLESS.

I think GUN CRAZY is a good film to mention in the context of these French films noir. It's a wonderful movie, and so quirky in so many ways. In its ceaseless kinetic energy and its odd campy touches (robberies in cowboy getups, and prooving ones toughness by shooting a gum ball machine) it was a clear model for the French New Wave (as it sampled American noir). I can't imagine a film like BREATHLESS without a predecessor like GUN CRAZY.
The Swede
Posts: 0
Joined: September 28th, 2012, 5:59 am

Re: Welcome to Shannon Clute, Our Guest Star for September

Post by The Swede »

Sue Sue Applegate wrote:Dear Shannon,

Thank you for your lovely response earlier in this thread. One of my truly guilty pleasures as far as romantic comedies is The Major and The Minor. Would you consider it an official screwball comedy, or does it's unorthodox nature send it into a different pantheon? And do you like it?

I appreciate your visit here so much, and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and expertise here on the SSO. Thank you!

Another great questions Sue Sue. I'm not quite sure what to call it, but I don't think I'd call it a Screwball. I often find Ginger Rogers's comedic performances tough to classify, and the more I watch of her work the more I'm convinced that's because she's one of the most talented comedic actresses I've ever seen (I don't know if I've ever laughed as hard as I did when she and Frances Mercer brawl in VIVACIOUS LADY). She can be slapstick, she can have a cunning humor, she can have a mature and rather racy edge--you name it. And she always seemed incredibly modern in every roll. I think that's part of what makes THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR so odd. She was a mature actress playing a kid. On top of that, she was paired with Ray Milland (hardly a leading man of Screwball). Add to that the production date (wartime), and none of it quite adds up to Screwball. But it is lots of fun, regardless.
The Swede
Posts: 0
Joined: September 28th, 2012, 5:59 am

Re: Welcome to Shannon Clute, Our Guest Star for September

Post by The Swede »

THANK YOU ALL!

It has been a wonderful weekend chatting with you, and I appreciate all the great questions. I hope we'll have other opportunities to chat, on this forum or in person at a TCM event. Until then, I hope you'll keep up all the insightful and passionate film discussion. It's always a pleasure to drop by and see what's on your minds.

Shannon
Locked