Noir Alley

[Hibi]

I bailed on Out of the Fog after 20 mins. Garfield seemed particularly loathsome. I hate bullies. Also a little John Qualen (By Yimminy!) goes a long way. Maybe I should've stuck it out to see Garfield get his just desserts.

[Hibi]

THE SECRET HEART I guess could be classified as family-noir. Claudette gives her usual fine performance but frankly nothing out of the ordinary is particularly demanded of her. June is creepier than I remember as the troubled step-daughter. "Highlight" is the usually stodgy old Walter Pidgeon kicking up his heels with Colbert. The movie has a moody look and tone but (and I think either Hibi or kingrat originally brought this up) this being an MGM production, the resolutions are annoyingly upbeat.

Did you see Claudette's right side as someone here mentioned? I recorded it, but haven't watched it yet.

[Hibi]

Knowles also played Lindsay Woolsey in the 1958 MAME. He was (very gentlemanly) "after" Mame Dennis although she, foolishly I thought, turned him down for oil man Forrest Tucker.

Forrest had the goods, or so they say!

Yeah, lol.

But he was ugly.

Yeah, I would've turned him down! LOL.

[Hibi]

Despite Doreen Lang's American accent I do believe she's actually British, which would give her even more of an edge with Hitch.

Actually, she was born in New Zealand! (according to imdb). And married to Arthur Franz (I didn't know that).

Oops, my mistake -- thanks for the correction! I didn't know about Arthur Franz either...(I always remember him as the good scientist from the supremely creepy 1953 INVADERS FROM MARS)

Yeah, he was in several Svengoolie type features in the 50s that I remember.

[Hibi]

So did anyone see Claudette's right side in The Secret Heart today????

I wonder if June favored her left side and was ticked she had to be photographed from her right side in their scenes together?

It's true about profiles though. Everyone has a good (and less than good) profile. Mine is my right!

Whoops! I got a day ahead of myself. CLAUDETTE DAY IS TODAY! (WED). I happened to turn TCM on today to escape cable news channel commercials and there was WITHOUT RESERVATIONS!!!!! And I DID see Claudette's right side!!!! (But it was in longshot crossing the street with John Wayne and Don DeFore!)

Hope someone reports on The Secret Heart today!

I forgot about WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, didn't catch it this time around. I only remember Cornel Wilde popping up as a Native American.

June had no good side. (All the young men in THE SECRET HEART call her "beautiful" -- are they blind?)

LMREO!!!!! (The backside? )

[Hibi]

Patrick Knowles (another of my under-the-radar screen dreamboats) plays Claudette's husband. Boy I'd hate to be away from him for so long....

I first became aware of Patrick Knowles in The Big Steal, probably my favorite Robert Mitchum movie. Although I did recall him in Mame when I watched it again later. Knowles played his role very well and made a major contribution to the movie. Although he had some stiff competition from Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix and Ramon Novarro.
Of course, Steal is not a Noir, but an amusing crime/mystery set in Mexico. Even if Mitchum was not available for all the Mexico scenes - that jail thing you know.

Hey, Cid, welcome back! I didn't write that though. I think Bronxie did (your quote).

[laffite]

Hard to get too excited about OOTF. Another off the rack Warner Bros. crime flick. Garfield is good, but
his character is just the usual smart mouth gangster. I had to wonder why anyone of Garfield' s apparent
affluence would be down on the pier getting five bucks a week for protection. One of the main reasons
to keep watching is to have the satisfaction of seeing the two fishermen bump off Goff and they just barely
manage to do that. But all's well that ends well. The other parts of the picture are rathe dull and unimpressive.
Ho-hum. Not one of Eddie's better picks.

I slogged my way through it. JohnG was "good" by a normal standard but I thought he was tedious and annoying. That relentless high-pitched demeanor, ugh. His character was intact I guess but his acting was preening (a turn off for me). One thing missing from the movie was Eddie Albert swatting JohnG across that smirk or even a good smash to the nose. Eddie Albert was probably disappointed with his thankless role but I thought he at least served to anchor the cast a little bit. He was the only one who acted like a real person and who wanted only one thing, a certain romantic notion. Ida was pretty normal but blind what with her Madam Bovary complex. The two simple and gentle ones seem like characters in a sitcom. A real mish mash. If it wasn't for Ida the movie will be best lost.

[Andree]

I slogged my way through it. JohnG was "good" by a normal standard but I thought he was tedious and annoying. That relentless high-pitched demeanor, ugh. His character was intact I guess but his acting was preening (a turn off for me). One thing missing from the movie was Eddie Albert swatting JohnG across that smirk or even a good smash to the nose. Eddie Albert was probably disappointed with his thankless role but I thought he at least served to anchor the cast a little bit. He was the only one who acted like a real person and who wanted only one thing, a certain romantic notion. Ida was pretty normal but blind what with her Madam Bovary complex. The two simple and gentle ones seem like characters in a sitcom. A real mish mash. If it wasn't for Ida the movie will be best lost.

He was playing your usual wise aleck, a bit meaner than most, gangster. Not much one can do with the role.
And the 30s/40s social justice theme doesn't resonate today as it might have back in the day. Eddie was
stuck with the nice boyfriend role. It would have been fun to see him take a poke at the arrogant Goff,
but I'm afraid Eddie would have gotten the worst of that encounter, even if he was wearing a leather
jacket. It has its moments, but it's a rather listless flick.

[ElCid]

Patrick Knowles (another of my under-the-radar screen dreamboats) plays Claudette's husband. Boy I'd hate to be away from him for so long....

I first became aware of Patrick Knowles in The Big Steal, probably my favorite Robert Mitchum movie. Although I did recall him in Mame when I watched it again later. Knowles played his role very well and made a major contribution to the movie. Although he had some stiff competition from Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix and Ramon Novarro.
Of course, Steal is not a Noir, but an amusing crime/mystery set in Mexico. Even if Mitchum was not available for all the Mexico scenes - that jail thing you know.

Hey, Cid, welcome back! I didn't write that though. I think Bronxie did (your quote).

Thanks!

[Bronxgirl48]

Hard to get too excited about OOTF. Another off the rack Warner Bros. crime flick. Garfield is good, but
his character is just the usual smart mouth gangster. I had to wonder why anyone of Garfield' s apparent
affluence would be down on the pier getting five bucks a week for protection. One of the main reasons
to keep watching is to have the satisfaction of seeing the two fishermen bump off Goff and they just barely
manage to do that. But all's well that ends well. The other parts of the picture are rathe dull and unimpressive.
Ho-hum. Not one of Eddie's better picks.

Well, Goff wasn't supposed to be an authentic human being -- he represents fascism, Group Theatre style, lol.

Does Muller really personally choose each and every film shown on Noir Alley? I wonder sometimes.

[Bronxgirl48]

THE SECRET HEART I guess could be classified as family-noir. Claudette gives her usual fine performance but frankly nothing out of the ordinary is particularly demanded of her. June is creepier than I remember as the troubled step-daughter. "Highlight" is the usually stodgy old Walter Pidgeon kicking up his heels with Colbert. The movie has a moody look and tone but (and I think either Hibi or kingrat originally brought this up) this being an MGM production, the resolutions are annoyingly upbeat.

Did you see Claudette's right side as someone here mentioned? I recorded it, but haven't watched it yet.

It does seem like her left side is always favored, even in THREE CAME HOME where you'd think that wouldn't matter with such a harrowing story but even there I saw mascara on Claudette's lashes! And that was in the prison camp where they were all starving and beaten.

[Bronxgirl48]

So did anyone see Claudette's right side in The Secret Heart today????

I wonder if June favored her left side and was ticked she had to be photographed from her right side in their scenes together?

It's true about profiles though. Everyone has a good (and less than good) profile. Mine is my right!

Whoops! I got a day ahead of myself. CLAUDETTE DAY IS TODAY! (WED). I happened to turn TCM on today to escape cable news channel commercials and there was WITHOUT RESERVATIONS!!!!! And I DID see Claudette's right side!!!! (But it was in longshot crossing the street with John Wayne and Don DeFore!)

Hope someone reports on The Secret Heart today!

I forgot about WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, didn't catch it this time around. I only remember Cornel Wilde popping up as a Native American.

June had no good side. (All the young men in THE SECRET HEART call her "beautiful" -- are they blind?)

LMREO!!!!! (The backside? )

I guess the only men who thought Allyson had any good sides at all were Dick Powell and Alan Ladd.

[Bronxgirl48]

I'm on the same page as you guys about the general flatness and non-noirness of OUT OF THE FOG. One of Anatole Litvak's weaker films and very stagy. I also agree completely with Bronxie that THE SEA WOLF is much more noirish than this film.

Thanks, kingrat. I wonder if OOTF was picked by default because for whatever reason they weren't able to obtain a copy of THE SEA WOLF. I'm still not sure Muller is the final arbiter of what gets shown on NOIR ALLEY.

[Bronxgirl48]

I bailed on Out of the Fog after 20 mins. Garfield seemed particularly loathsome. I hate bullies. Also a little John Qualen (By Yimminy!) goes a long way. Maybe I should've stuck it out to see Garfield get his just desserts.

Aww, John Qualen, lol. But believe me, you didn't miss anything, including George Tobias making with Billy Wilder-style wisecracks in the steam room.