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.

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.

Oh, no! Not George Tobias too!

[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.

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.

LOL! I haven't watched it yet, but I'll keep my eye out for that! Just haven't had time lately. But for that film, Claudette would've been Margo Channing! I can't picture anyone else but Bette playing that role now, but I'm sure Claudette would've been ok. Just a different Margo. I bet that really crushed her. Her career was winding down at that point and that film would've revived it for awhile. But I'm glad Bette got to play it!

[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.

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.

I think of that too, does Muller make the choices, and was thinking it this time as well. Noir Alley gets bumped for months at a time and when it is in its "glory" again we get the dregs.

George Tobias had good delivery, at least. And to have his effusions interspersed with the plotters was probably as inspired as this movie gets, it's a good idea in theory anyway.

Goff was not supposed to be a real human being, concur completely. He sure gets a lot of screen time for being a phony. Even guys like Goff ought to have a modicum of nuance somewhere in there. Oh wait, phonies aren't nuanced. Okay, how about toning down a notch.

[Andree]

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.

Yes, funny how the figure that represents fascism is a lot like your typical Warner Bros. hoodlum, with
some individual tics thrown in for good measure. I would add that the gloomy, watery atmosphere is
well done, but that only can get one so far.

I would guess that Eddie has a fair amount of input on which films are shown with the caveat of what
is available for TCM.

John Qualen, a very versatile actor. He could play a Swede, a Dane, a Finn, a Norwegian, maybe even
all at the same time. It sure kept him in demand.

[Hibi]

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.

Yes, funny how the figure that represents fascism is a lot like your typical Warner Bros. hoodlum, with
some individual tics thrown in for good measure. I would add that the gloomy, watery atmosphere is
well done, but that only can get one so far.

I would guess that Eddie has a fair amount of input on which films are shown with the caveat of what
is available for TCM.

John Qualen, a very versatile actor. He could play a Swede, a Dane, a Finn, a Norwegian, maybe even
all at the same time. It sure kept him in demand.

Yeah, he was the go-to Scandinavian immigrant!

[Dargo]

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

Yep, and as Eddie mentioned in his wraparound, primarly so by the film's screenwriter Robert Rossen, a member of the Communist Party at the time, and thus someone who would've have an extra incentive to write the Goff charter in a archetypal manner and devoid of any nuance.

And with this being said, this now brings me to what Andree has now just said...

Yes, funny how the figure that represents fascism is a lot like your typical Warner Bros. hoodlum, with
some individual tics thrown in for good measure.

Yep, I agree, and in fact the very reason I thought Rossen's heavy-handed script missed the mark he intended to make in this regard. My thinking as follows:

Considering that one of the premiere examples of Fascism during the 20th century, one Benito Mussolini, had little time for and in fact treated those involved in Italian organized crime very harshly, the whole idea that the hoodlum Goff in this film "represented Fascism" in any measurable way was and is quite a stretch in logic. And, which was something I kept thinking as I watched this film, a film btw I found myself thinking a bit less of during this my third viewing of it.

(...still though, I DO still think Eddie's description of it as being a "proto-noir" might be a valid one)

[Bronxgirl48]

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.

I used to confuse Arthur and Eduard (that's the way he spelled it) Franz -- not visually because Eduard had an old European professor/scientist look about him and Arthur was sort of an all-purpose American guy. (Eduard also btw co-starred in a few horror movies himself, including the wonderfully titled THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE)

[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.

Oh, no! Not George Tobias too!

Well, there's probably very few 1940's WB movies made without George Tobias, lol. He always pops up usually playing Greeks or Russians.

[Bronxgirl48]

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.

LOL! I haven't watched it yet, but I'll keep my eye out for that! Just haven't had time lately. But for that film, Claudette would've been Margo Channing! I can't picture anyone else but Bette playing that role now, but I'm sure Claudette would've been ok. Just a different Margo. I bet that really crushed her. Her career was winding down at that point and that film would've revived it for awhile. But I'm glad Bette got to play it!

I can believe Claudette got that back injury from THREE CAME HOME -- she probably had to do several takes in the scenes where she winds up on the floor after the guards beat her.

As for Margo Channing, I just cannot imagine anybody but Bette playing that role. Maybe Tallulah Bankhead (who Davis replaced in the film version of THE LITTLE FOXES. Bankhead played Regina on Broadway) They both shared larger-than-life screen personas. (check out Tallulah in DIE, DIE, MY DARLING! She is powerfully creepy)

[Dargo]

Well, there's probably very few 1940's WB movies made without George Tobias, lol. He always pops up usually playing Greeks or Russians.

Yep Bronxie, that's probably true, but I'll always first think of him as being the long suffering Abner Kravitz here...

[Andree]

Yeah, he was the go-to Scandinavian immigrant!

That's for sure. Qualen was in so many movies I wonder if he ever ventured outside Scandinavia, perhaps
playing an Italian or a Frenchman.

[Dargo]

Yeah, he was the go-to Scandinavian immigrant!

That's for sure. Qualen was in so many movies I wonder if he ever ventured outside Scandinavia, perhaps
playing an Italian or a Frenchman.

I believe that that was Irishman J. Carroll Naish's domain, sir!

(...along of course with playing Native-Americans and Latinos, AND the occasional Asian as I recall)

[Andree]

Yep, I agree, and in fact the very reason I thought Rossen's heavy-handed script missed the mark he intended to make in this regard. My thinking as follows:

Considering that one of the premiere examples of Fascism during the 20th century, one Benito Mussolini, had little time for and in fact treated those involved in Italian organized crime very harshly, the whole idea that the hoodlum Goff in this film "represented Fascism" in any measurable way was and is quite a stretch in logic. And, which was something I kept thinking as I watched this film, a film btw I found myself thinking a bit less of during this my third viewing of it.

(...still though, I DO still think Eddie's description of it as being a "proto-noir" might be a valid one)

I didn't think of Mussolini, but that's an interesting take. At least Garfield didn't do Il Duce's up and
down headshake. Usually in these proletarian flicks the workers are more conversant with at least
some of the tenants of communism. Mitchell and Qualen don't display anything like this. Perhaps
they were meant to be innocents on purpose. I guess it could be a proto-noir. Of course as soon as
that term comes up someone will claim there was a film that came out before that was proto-noir.

Poor Abner. All he wanted to do was lie on the couch and read his newspaper. But nooooo.

[Andree]

I believe that that was Irishman J. Carroll Naish's domain, sir!

(...along of course with playing Native-Americans and Latinos, AND the occasional Asian as I recall)

And Thomas Mitchell's too. Would ye be having a wee dram, just for the indigestion. And there was
also Nehemiah Persoff. I noticed him more in TV shows, though he played some of these roles
in movies too. The Eastern European guy with the thick accent, sometimes Jewish, sometimes not.
And usually a target for the small town bullies.