Noir Alley

[Andree]

Maybe they were big fans of 'Funny Face' or maybe 'Ten North Frederick' or 'Love in the Afternoon', and so didn't think a thing was wrong with it?

(...hey, just a guess here, dude)

Maybe, though I don't think any of those movies broke the 40 year older than barrier. It's just funny that Hollywood does
it and no one is supposed to notice it. Hey, that guy is older enough to be here father. Hey, it's Gary Cooper, never mind.
Not that it doesn't happen IRL on occasion. Okay gramps, go for it.

[ziggy6708a]

I'm interested to hear what Eddie Muller has to say about Deep Valley. It has elements of noir along with elements of The Glass Menagerie and Romeo and Juliet. This is my favorite Ida Lupino performance. Fay Bainter and Henry Hull are also outstanding as her parents. It's an unusual film, very well directed by Jean Negulesco and (for my taste) overscored by Max Steiner.

[Dargo]

Good observations here, KR.

I really liked this film and thought it one of Eddie's better recent picks.

However, I did notice two things in it which lessened my total enjoyment of it, and the first being that I found the idea of Libby's mother having that sudden and extreme and positive change in her attitude about her relationship with her husband as being a bit hard to believe. And in addition, that her husband would almost immediately take it in such stride and without offering up resistence to it and without questioning her motives for it and because of a disbelief of such a thing happening, as from the very outset of the film their resentment toward each other is presented as being almost insurmountable.

The second thought here being that I think the film would've been better if had had ended with Barry's death by the pond and so not have included that final scene in which Libby is peering down on the construction of the road from up on the hill and with Jeff Barker by her side. I think this softened the impact of the film and then gave it more a classic Hollywood happy ending feel.

(...and one final note here...I don't think I've ever seen a movie in which Ida Lupino ever looked more fetching than in this one)

[jamesjazzguitar]

Good observations here, KR.

I really liked this film and thought it one of Eddie's better recent picks.

However, I did notice two things in it which lessened my total enjoyment of it, and the first being that I found the idea of Libby's mother having that sudden and extreme and positive change in her attitude about her relationship with her husband as being a bit hard to believe. And in addition, that her husband would almost immediately take it in such stride and without offering up resistence to it and because of a disbelief of such a thing happening, as from the very outset of the film, their resentment toward each other is presented as being almost insurmountable.

The second thought here being that I think the film would've been better if had had ended with Barry's death by the pond and so not have included that final scene in which Libby is peering down on the construction of the road from up on the hill and with Jeff Barker by her side. I think this softened the impact of the film and then gave it more a classic Hollywood happy ending feel.

(...and one final note here...I don't think I've ever seen a movie in which Ida Lupino ever looked more fetching than in this one)

Have you seen Road House? Ida is very fetching in the film as well, made a year after Deep Valley. Road House is the first film Ida made after not renewing with Warner Bros. Ida sings One For My Baby.

Good comments all around on Deep Valley: I think the film would have benefited from tighter editing. E.g., something like 90 minutes instead of 104.

[Dargo]

(...and one final note here...I don't think I've ever seen a movie in which Ida Lupino ever looked more fetching than in this one)

Have you seen Road House? Ida is very fetching in the film as well, made a year after Deep Valley. Road House is the first film Ida made after not renewing with Warner Bros. Ida sings One For My Baby.

Good comments all around on Deep Valley: I think the film would have benefited from tighter editing. E.g., something like 90 minutes instead of 104.

Yep, I watched 'Road House' last year (I think) and when Eddie presented that film.

Yes, Ida is indeed very fetching in that one as well, however as I recall, in almost all her scenes in that one she's all dolled-up, and as compared to the more natural look she has in 'Deep Valley'.

And even though of course in 'Deep Valley' and as Eddie even mentioned in his intro about her "porcelain features", she's never shown without makeup (I especially noticed the lipstick applied to those bee-stung lips of hers) and even during the first part of this film and when she's supposed to be some sort of backwoods waif.

[jamesjazzguitar]

[Belle]

Ida Lupino was a superb actress and director; not enough has been made of the fact that she was a pioneering figure in the film industry.

[Andree]

I had never seen Deep Valley before. A nice change of pace from more typical noirs. I see it more as the story of
star crossed lovers, one of whom is a convict, than a noir, with a bit of the spooky old dark house, rural style thrown in.
The code ruined any suspense as to whether the two lovers would have a happy ending, as it was 99.9% sure that Clark
wouldn't make it out alive. The ending reminded me of Out of the Past. Just as Virginia Huston lost the love of life
when Bob died and had to put up with the boring forest ranger or whatever he was, so Ida lost the love of her life Dane
Clark and had to put up with somewhat less boring engineer Wayne Morris. Tough breaks for the ladies.

[Dargo]

...The ending reminded me of Out of the Past. Just as Virginia Huston lost the love of life
when Bob died and had to put up with the boring forest ranger or whatever he was, so Ida lost the love of her life Dane
Clark and had to put up with somewhat less boring engineer Wayne Morris. Tough breaks for the ladies.

Yep, this correlation between the endings of these two films crossed my mind as well.

(...good point, and probably why I earlier said I thought Deep Valley's ending might have been better if it had ended with Dane Clark's death scene)

[Thompson]

I just love that word — fetching — Ida did some Gunsmokes too.

[Andree]

Yep, this correlation between the endings of these two films crossed my mind as well.

(...good point, and probably why I earlier said I thought Deep Valley's ending might have been better if it had ended with Dane Clark's death scene)

I suppose they tacked that finale on to give it the ol' Hollywood happy ending, and I guess the audience is supposed to think
that Ida will be perfectly fine with Wayne, but I wonder about that.

[jamesjazzguitar]

Watched Noir Alley last night and the film Impact (1949). The film has a fine cast, but would have benefited by some editing, running at 111 minutes instead of 90. Helen Walker looks really good as the cold-hearted femme fatale. Ella Raines has a unique screen persona, as well as overall look.

The film also has Anna May Wong but she isn't featured until the end. Charles Coburn is the detective and Brian Donleavy the noir protagonist.