WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[MikeBSG]

As for "gaslight noir," I count the following films: "Gaslight" (British and American), "The Lodger," "Hangover Square," "Bluebeard," "Experiment Perilous," "The Suspect," "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," "House by the River," "The Spiral Staircase," "House of Wax," "So Long at the Fair," "Picture of Dorian Gray," "The Body Snatcher," and "Dragonwyck." No doubt I'm forgetting a couple of obvious ones along the way, such as the Spencer Tracy "Jekyll/Hyde."

[ChiO]

My Top 10 Lang (post-Germany) in chronological order:

FURY
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE
HANGMEN ALSO DIE!
MINISTRY OF FEAR
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
SCARLET STREET
SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR
RANCHO NOTORIOUS
CLASH BY NIGHT
THE BIG HEAT

But M tops them all.

As for Gaslight Noir, I'd offer LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (Love is murdered and the Love is madness).

[RedRiver]

Get me her autograph.

It sure sounds like Ms. Lawrence is destined for big things. I've never even seen the girl. But I keep hearing about her!

[CineMaven]

Dude, get to the movies. See "Silver Linings Playbook" or go to Netflix and get "Winter's Bone."

* * * *

Mike / ChiO - I'm liking your Lang and Gaslight Noir lists. These are the films I'm fond of from your lists:

M
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
SCARLET STREET
SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR
THE BIG HEAT

GASLIGHT
HANGOVER SQUARE
THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE
HOUSE BY THE RIVER
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN ( I love your description ChiO. ) Ha...

[RedRiver]

Dude, get to the movies

I am so stuck in the past. I'll watch Charles Laughton turning monkeys into bus boys, yet I only saw one movie last year! I hear the publicity, the story synopsis, and think, "Ah...whatever!" I'm sure some of them are good. I just don't get excited. I don't hear anything that makes me want to go out and buy a ticket. It must be my frame of mind!

[JackFavell]

This year was actually a really good movie year. Last year I swear there were only 2 decent movies out.

Lang (in order of preference):

M
Scarlet Street
Secret Beyond the Door
Liliom
Man Hunt
Fury
Hangmen Also Die
House by the River
Clash By Night
Human Desire

Gaslight Noir as I see it (some of which isn't really noir. These are the ones I can think of that haven't been mentioned already):

Footsteps in the Fog
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
All This and Heaven Too (though not noir, it does have dark underpinnings and deals with madness)
The Innocents
A Double Life
The Light That Failed (I think, it's hard to remember this one from so long ago)
The Heiress
The Little Foxes
The Seventh Veil

[Rita Hayworth]

TCM should do a month of gaslight noir. Has anyone mentioned SO EVIL MY LOVE or CAST A DARK SHADOW (not Victorian, but similar in feeling)? Both are favorites.

I totally agree with you kingrat ... I would love to see that happening sometimes this year or next. I love CAST A DARK SHADOW ... I haven't seen SO EVIL MY LOVE yet.

[CineMaven]

I am so stuck in the past. I'll watch Charles Laughton turning monkeys into bus boys, yet I only saw one movie last year! I hear the publicity, the story synopsis, and think, "Ah...whatever!" I'm sure some of them are good. I just don't get excited. I don't hear anything that makes me want to go out and buy a ticket. It must be my frame of mind!

Get out of that ol' Kentucky home of yours. See things. Stay current. I know...easier said than done. If you don't feel it...don't force it. I still like movies of today.

This year was actually a really good movie year. Last year I swear there were only 2 decent movies out.

There's something in what you say here. You know I actually read ( somewhere ) that 2012 was a really good year for film.

Gaslight Noir as I see it ( some of which isn't really noir. ) These are the ones I can think of that haven't been mentioned already):

Footsteps in the Fog
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
All This and Heaven Too (though not noir, it does have dark underpinnings and deals with madness)
The Innocents
A Double Life
The Light That Failed (I think, it's hard to remember this one from so long ago)
The Heiress
The Little Foxes
The Seventh Veil

I like your list Wendy. These films definitely have the sensibility even if they're in modern dress ( "The Seventh Veil" "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry." "A Double Life." ) I see damsels ( or dudes ) in distress...and deep unholy secrets.

Hey guys, would "Kings Row" go under the banner of Gaslight Noir?

...Moira and I have the same view of CLASH BY NIGHT--good actors vs. bad Clifford Odets dialogue, with Odets trumping all the good actors and a good director.

D'0h!!! Ha..

What sort of creeps me out about RANCHO NOTORIOUS is that the film can't decide if it wants to imply romantic possibilities between Marlene Dietrich and Arthur Kennedy; Marlene looks, and probably is, old enough to be his mother, but the structure of the plot needs the love interest.

There...there...be nice.

TCM should do a month of gaslight noir. Has anyone mentioned SO EVIL MY LOVE or CAST A DARK SHADOW (not Victorian, but similar in feeling)? Both are favorites.

You have clout and pull Brother Rat; at the very least you're one degree of separation from those that have TCM's ear. Make a suggestion to the TCM higher-ups! Get her done!

"CAST A DARK SHADOW"? Now you're talking. I love that film, and instantly fell in love at first sight with Kay Walsh.

[ChiO]

For those into the nomenclature (and, golly, gee, this should move to the Noir arena & threads), how would Gaslight Noir differ from that Noir (or movies that are close enough to Noir for government work) that has elements of the Gothic -- Gothic Noir (e.g., THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE) (not Goth Noir, which would have a Joy Division soundtrack)?

Sirk, us, in the Gaslight: A SCANDAL IN PARIS, LURED, SLEEP, MY LOVE.

[JackFavell]

Pretty much any George Sanders film from the forties, excepting Foreign Correspondent and the Saint and Falcon series. Vincent Price too.

I'd love to see those Joy Division/Depeche Mode noirs.

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "Hustle" (1975) directed by Robert Aldrich.

I guess "Hustle" was intended as a "liberal" answer to "Dirty Harry." There is a "cop confronts a crazy guy holding a hostage" scene in the middle of "Hustle," but the film makes clear that this is peripheral to the real problems of the city and the film's protagonist. Burt Reynolds plays an L. A. cop who is rather complacent and pays scant attention to the death of Ben Johnson's 20-something daughter until he is compelled to, largely to prevent Johnson from creating too much damage with his own one-man investigation.

The movie meandered along until its 2 hour running time was up. I couldn't detect any narrative urgency here, but maybe my problem was that I couldn't buy Reynolds as a cop with a moral crisis. I found Ben Johnson far more interesting and found myself wishing that "Hustle" had been about his efforts to find out where his daughter had gone wrong. (Wasn't that what Paul Schrader's "Hardcore" tried to do several years after this film?) Also, Ernest Borgnine dominated the too-few scenes he had as Reynold's unlikeable boss. Still, the supporting characters couldn't push the film over the top for me.

Speaking of supporting players, I thought the guy in the liquor store robbery looked familiar. He turned out to be Robert Englund, ten years before he took up residence on Elm Street as Freddie Kruger. That reminded me of Sylvester Stallone's and Jeff Goldblum's brief turns as robbers in "Bananas" and "Death Wish".

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I love Kay Walsh!

And "Footsteps in the Fog" is definitely a Gaslight Noir.....

[ChiO]

To be categorized under "Timing Is Everything" or "Serendipity":

I am a passive member of a Noir Forum and just today a member asked assistance in developing a list of "Gothic Noirs". To which a respondent said he categorized them as "Victorian or costume era Noir". To which another responded,in effect, "Gaslight Noir or Gaslight melodrama".

Some of the better-known titles offered:

GASLIGHT
HANGOVER SQUARE
THE LODGER
THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE
BLUEBEARD
HOUSE BY THE RIVER
DRAGONWYCK
SECRET BEYOND THE DORR
THE VERDICT
THE SUSPECT

And if "costume era noir" is within the scope, the obvious addition I'd make: REIGN OF TERROR.

[JackFavell]

Oh that's a perfect one!

I went to see Gangster Squad.

hilarious.