Delmer Daves

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MikeBSG
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Delmer Daves

Post by MikeBSG »

I just saw "Dark Passage" last night on DVD and was very impressed. This became one of my favorite noirs.

I know Delmer Daves has/had a cult in France. What do you think about him. Previously, I knew him only for the interesting Westerns he made, such as "3:10 to Yuma" and "Broken Arrow." What other Daves films do you recommend?
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Dewey1960
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Delmer Daves' DARK PASSAGE

Post by Dewey1960 »

Hi Mike -
DARK PASSAGE has long been a personal favorite of mine, not just because of the interesting and provocative directorial choices Daves made, but also because of the original source material--the novel by David Goodis, who also wrote a number of other noirish novels that became fine films: SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (Francois Truffaut, 1960), NIGHTFALL (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) and THE BURGLAR (Paul Wendkos, 1957). He also wrote the original screenplay for THE UNFAITHFUL (1947), featuring one of the great Ann Sheridan's best performances. In DARK PASSAGE, Goodis set forth a stream of exciting elements that Daves was able to bring to life with startling freshness. It's really a great film. After THE BIG SLEEP, it's my favorite Bogart-Bacall team-up.
Other Daves films that I like quite a bit are: THE RED HOUSE (1947), a moody, somewhat supernatural thriller with Edward G. Robinson; DESTINATION TOKYO (43) and PRIDE OF THE MARINES (45) are both rousing, exciting war pictures. As for his westerns, apart from the excellent and aforementioned BROKEN ARROW (50) and 3:10 TO YUMA (57), you might also want to check out JUBAL (56) wtih Glen Ford and Ernest Borgnine--a taut, psychological film that turns up fairly often on the Western Channel. I'm not sure if it's on DVD yet; it should be, as it makes nice use of the widescreen format.
You have some terrific films to look forward to!
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Post by nightwalker »

Hi, Mike:

In no particular order, here's a list of some of my favorite Delmer Daves pictures.

DESTINATION TOKYO (1943), a fine WWII submarine battle drama starring Cary Grant & John Garfield. Nicely balances the battle action sequences with quieter moments among the crew. Standout scene: Alan Hale Sr.'s haircut.

THE RED HOUSE (1947) a quirky melodrama of madness and maybe murder starring Edward G. Robinson.

TASK FORCE (1949), the story of Navy man Gary Cooper's career from the 1920s through the end of World War II.

DRUM BEAT (1954) a pretty good Alan Ladd action-Western featuring an early performance by Charles Bronson

JUBAL (1956) Glenn Ford & Ernest Borgnine in what has been called Othello-in-the-Range, but (if even if you don't care for Shakespeare) don't let that stop you from seeing this one!
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Re: Delmer Daves' DARK PASSAGE

Post by feaito »

Dewey1960 wrote:Hi Mike -
DARK PASSAGE has long been a personal favorite of mine, not just because of the interesting and provocative directorial choices Daves made, but also because of the original source material--the novel by David Goodis, who also wrote a number of other noirish novels that became fine films: SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (Francois Truffaut, 1960), NIGHTFALL (Jacques Tourneur, 1957) and THE BURGLAR (Paul Wendkos, 1957). He also wrote the original screenplay for THE UNFAITHFUL (1947), featuring one of the great Ann Sheridan's best performances. In DARK PASSAGE, Goodis set forth a stream of exciting elements that Daves was able to bring to life with startling freshness. It's really a great film. After THE BIG SLEEP, it's my favorite Bogart-Bacall team-up.
Other Daves films that I like quite a bit are: THE RED HOUSE (1947), a moody, somewhat supernatural thriller with Edward G. Robinson; DESTINATION TOKYO (43) and PRIDE OF THE MARINES (45) are both rousing, exciting war pictures. As for his westerns, apart from the excellent and aforementioned BROKEN ARROW (50) and 3:10 TO YUMA (57), you might also want to check out JUBAL (56) wtih Glen Ford and Ernest Borgnine--a taut, psychological film that turns up fairly often on the Western Channel. I'm not sure if it's on DVD yet; it should be, as it makes nice use of the widescreen format.
You have some terrific films to look forward to!
When I watched this film I loved it too. A very interesting approach to the material by director Daves. And it also contains one of Agnes Moorehead's best bit**y roles.... she's at her nastiest here!!!

One film of Daves I'd like to see again is the 1951 remake of "Bird of Paradise" he directed. It's one of those films I only saw as child and that has lingered in my mind forever (just like "I'll Never Forget You", the 1951 remake of "Berkeley Square").
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Post by moira finnie »

Mike,
I'm so glad that you enjoyed the stylish and moving Dark Passage (1947). The dark look of the film is captivating, but I love some small touches in the film as well, such as the near monologue that the lonely cabdriver (Tom D'Andrea) engages in while driving a desperate Bogie around San Francisco. There's also the brief sequence in the bus station when Bogart overhears the conversation of the two lonely souls in the bus station. The scene that invariably stays with me, however, is the last, when a melancholy Bogart waits by the sea while nursing a drink, somewhere in South America, only to hear the strains of a romantic tune, looks up & sees--who else?--Lauren Bacall.

Most of these scenes might be considered unnecessary tangents by many, and might've been cut, but they really help to make this movie memorable for me. Interestingly, shortly before making Dark Passage, Bogart's contract stipulated that Daves was one director/writer he could always choose for his subsequent Warner Brothers' movies, the two were good friends, with their relationship going back to the making of The Petrified Forest, when Daves worked on the adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood's play. (Despite their mutual respect for one another, Humphrey Bogart was reportedly so stressed during the filming he lost handfuls of hair and much sleep).

Some other Delmer Daves movies in which his interesting writing and directing touch is noteworthy, distinctive & might be worth your time are listed below. The ones with the asterisks are the films that he worked on only as a credited writer. There are probably more that I'm not aware of, which I hope other people might point out.

For a fan of film noir, The Pride of the Marines (with brilliant & touching work by John Garfield & Eleanor Parker and another interesting technical experiment in POV representing Garfield's psychological state), and The Red House (with fine performances from Edward G. Robinson & Judith Anderson) would probably be good jumping off points for exploring Delmer Daves work.
A Summer Place (1959)
Kings Go Forth (1958)
Bird of Paradise (1951)
A Kiss in the Dark (1949)
The Red House (1947)
Pride of the Marines (1945)
The Very Thought of You (1944)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)*
Love Affair (1939)*
The Petrified Forest (1936)*
Page Miss Glory (1935)*

I didn't know that there was a Delmer Daves cult in France, but there should be at least a small one here in the states! Before you go in pursuit of Daves' interesting non-Westerns, I hope that you've had a chance to see Broken Arrow (1950) and The Hanging Tree (1959). Both films catch that "Davesian" quality of disparate people finding themselves in close quarters and, out of an instinct for survival and, sometimes ultimately, respect, compassion and love, discovering that the world is a far more complex place than the characters knew by the final reel.

While easy to dismiss as soap opera twaddle, you might wish to see A Summer Place, with its noteworthy supporting cast of adults, including an outstanding Arthur Kennedy, Constance Ford, Dorothy McGuire, Beulah Bondi, and even Richard Egan, (though I'd fast forward through the scenes with the youngsters.) In a similar but much better vein, Bird of Paradise is probably my favorite Daves movie for the dreamlike beauty of the island where it is set, the pairing of Debra Paget & Jeff Chandler as siblings, Louis Jourdan as Paget's suitor, and especially the appearances of Jack Elam & Everett Sloane as snakes in the garden. As you can see from this list, Daves never stuck to just one genre or mood in his movies!

I've long thought that Delmer Daves deserves a nod on TCM as a featured director.

Wow, as I was typing this post, I didn't realize that several other people were also responding. Maybe we do have a small, but growing appreciation for Daves in this country!
Last edited by moira finnie on September 23rd, 2007, 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
nightwalker
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Post by nightwalker »

I agree about THE HANGING TREE.

Don't know how I omitted it from my list!

And of course, these are in addition to DARK PASSAGE.
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Post by Bogie »

I've seen some of Daves' works but the movie that automatically earns him my utmost respect is Jubal. It was a beautifully filmed piece of cinema and he did a great job of directing two very good actors and keeping the more predictable aspects (Othello in Western setting) fresh and entertaining.

I also enjoyed Dark Passage and think it's probably one of the better "lesser known" Bogie Films. The direction is tight and I love the first person perspective throughout the first part of the movie. It gave the viewer a sense of what Bogie's character was going through.
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Post by benwhowell »

Thanks for creating this thread, Mike. I recently watched "The Red House" on The Internet Archive and LOVED it! Another great performance from Edward G. Robinson. A very spooky atmospheric movie about secrets and lies...and repression- with a terrific Miklos Rozsa score.
I was most familiar with "A Summer Place-"which is one of my favorite "guilty pleasures." (More secrets and lies...and repression-with a terrific Max Steiner score.)
I did some research to discover Daves wrote and or directed many of my faves...including "Dames," "Love Affair," "A Kiss In The Dark" and, of course "Dark Passage." I agree with you Fernando-LOVED Agnes Moorehead!
Daves also worked on the screenplay for the notorious "Queen Kelly" with Gloria Swanson and acted in quite a few films-including "Good News" as "Beef Saunders."
I would welcome a day of Daves on TCM...
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Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Dark Passage is definitely a personal favorite of mine.

I loved how the clothes flowed on this one. Bernard Newman is credited with wardrobe on Dark Passage, and he also worked on Vivacious Lady, Follow the Fleet, and Top Hat. Madge Rapf's horizontally-striped number in her last scene is one of the most stunning outfits anyone ever wore to a window-ledge sprint scene. I also adore all Bacall's outfits because her raiment made her look fabulous throughout.

"You're Just Too Marvelous" is a song I used to play on the piano for my parents, and they loved to dance to it while I played the song, so I am always mesmerized when Lauren walks in as the bartender is pouring out another creme de menthe and the band just stops playing one tune, and spins out "Marvelous."

Inanimate objects also play almost like characters in this film.

The blanket hanging over the back of the convertible seat seems to haunt Vincent as a harbinger of doom. But Irene's apartment, and it's a great art deco pad unfortunately demolished in the 90's with great difficulty as reported on the imdb, is an oasis of peace and comfort.

The anxious dream sequence before Parry's transformation has always reminded me of some dreams I've had the night before a major test or event that I've feared. All the elements of the anxiety seem to free-float around the main concerns Parry is feeling at the time of the operation.
And the first-person point-of-view is crucial to the initial plot advancement.
It creates tension (When will we really see what he looks like? Will he survive the surgery? If he survives, will he find help? )

I've enjoyed this movie many times and always see something else or understand something more on a repeat viewing....

Trivia: Delmer Daves is the man featured in the newspaper clipping about
Irene Jansen's father.
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Post by MissGoddess »

>>>Madge Rapf's horizontally-striped number in her last scene is one of the most stunning outfits anyone ever wore to a window-ledge sprint scene<<<

LOL!!!

I noticed the "look" and mood of this film, too. The song, "Too Marvelous for Words" is a big part of that. Thank you for putting it all into words, Sue Sue.

Everyone: I want to recommend, since it's yet to be mentioned, Delmer Daves' KINGS GO FORTH, with Sinatra in the lead, Natalie Wood as the young woman he and Tony Curtis become involved with when they come to occupy the French Riviera in WWII (Leora Dana also has a remarkable part as Natalie's mother---the kind of Mother Ann Revere sometimes played, but Dana has more warmth, I think). This movie is not really a war movie and I don't see it as strictly a movie about racism, though perhaps it is about all kinds of prejudice. It's a character study, to be sure, and I think a very dignified one that allows the audience to come to its own conclusions about who is who and what really is what. Natalie is perhaps a wee bit over her head, but her innate sweetness and innocence is all that is really required and she possesses those qualities in spades. It's on dvd and I hope you all will give it a chance. And please note, if you only think of Sinatra as a brash swinger, this movie might surprise you.

In thinking last nigth about the few Delmer Daves movies I've seen (they are: Kings Go Forth, The Hanging Tree, Pride of the Marines, A Summer Place, Dark Passage, 3:10 to Yuma, Task Force, Broken Arrow, Never Let Me Go, The Last Wagon, Cowboy, Rome Adventure and Spencer's Mountain---this last is really an underrated family movie, by the way), I think they frequently seem to have in common a character that is a misfit in "normal" society---and "normal" society is usually depicted as pretty phoney and screwed up. So he IS my kind of director!
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Post by benwhowell »

I totally agree with you MissG-his movies do feature "misfits" attempting to fit into "normal" society...
And you took the words right out of my mouth, Chris, with much more eloquence-the surroundings and "inanimate objects" in his movies "play almost like characters." Actually, the scores too...
Check out these clips from "A Summer Place-"
I love the way that the window shades and drapes and the telephone become sensuous objects in the hands of Sandra Dee-who is harboring so much repression from "normal" society, but you get the sense she's getting fed up with it...suggesting they meet in a "dark" church! Tsk tsk...
You can't blame her...Troy Donahue never looked better!
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Post by MissGoddess »

Poor Sandra Dee, who wouldn't be "repressed" with a mother-from-heck like Constance Ford! Dee is seldom given much credit as an actress but I think she's excellent at wringing a lot of sympathy from the audience through her torments with her mother. Thanks for the clip.

Actually, my favorite scenes in the movie belong to the adults, especially when Arhtur Kennedy makes lascivious remarks to disconcert Constance Ford. Ha!
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Re: "I'll knock you so flat, they could play you on a V

Post by knitwit45 »

benwhowell wrote:!
Daves also worked on the screenplay for the notorious "Queen Kelly" with Gloria Swanson and acted in quite a few films-including "Good News" as "Beef Saunders."
I just watched "Good News" last night, and armed with the above new knowledge, checked out Beef...His name in the credits was listed as Loren Tindall.

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Where's The "Beef?"

Post by benwhowell »

Nancy, that was the '47 version...Daves played Beef in the '30 version-which also included Cliff "Jiminy Cricket" Edwards, Penny "Blondie"/"Jane Jetson"Singleton and the notorious Bessie Love in the cast.
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Post by knitwit45 »

I'm sure glad you cleared that one up! I kept thinking, "This guy????"

:lol: :lol:
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