Noir Alley

[Hibi]

It was funny that the title character disappears for the middle third of the movie. Did anyone watch Storm Warning. Cleaned up print (restored) Hadn't seen this one in many years! My only complaint is the whipmaster was a little too gentle with Ginger!

[Dargo]

...Did anyone watch Storm Warning. Cleaned up print (restored) Hadn't seen this one in many years! My only complaint is the whipmaster was a little too gentle with Ginger!

LOL

So Hibi, might this be because it didn't seem to inflict enough damage to her body in order to seem realistic, or is just that you're not a big fan of hers?


Yep, I watched it again and after many years since my last viewing of this film.

Hadn't remembered that not a soul who lived in this supposedly sleepy little southern town had a southern accent, and with a few of them such as the owner of the bowling alley (played by Ned Glass, and who I saw again last night on my TV while watching TCM's showing of 'Charade') sounding like a native NewYorker.

(...and also for some supposedly small little town, the nightlife there sure was jumpin', wasn't it?!)

[jamesjazzguitar]

Flaxy Martin has, as Eddie Muller promised in his intro, one of the craziest, most jaw-dropping twists you're ever likely to see in a movie. "They wouldn't go there!" I thought, as the moment approached--but they do, they do. He also noted that the script borrows from many other films. But "Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream," and you might find that Flaxy Martin is a lot of fun. Zachary Scott and Virginia Mayo are appropriately cast (she can't handle her big dramatic moment toward the end but what the hey), you get a brunette Dorothy Malone as the good girl (yay), and Elisha Cook, Jr. gets more screen time than usual as the Elisha Cook, Jr. character (double yay). You'll see lots of pulled punches in the big fight scene, complete with big sounds on the soundtrack.

Nice write-up! Flaxy Martin was a good film for Muller to feature as part of Noir Alley since it isn't very well known or shown often (as far as I can recall).

In addition to the actors mentioned the film also has WB contract player Tom D'Andrea and silent actor Monte Blue.

[Dargo]

One more note on 'Storm Warning' here:

The roving reporter in it and who is credited within the IMDb list of credits as being an actor named "John Alban", was a near doppelganger of an actual television news reporter who I remember as a kid being a mainstay in the local Los Angeles TV news market by the name of Bill Welsh.

Heck, I thought it WAS Bill Welsh I was looking at. The reporter in this film even sounding just like I remember Bill Welsh's tone, tenor and cadence sounding back in the day.

I found it interesting that I could not find a single pic of "John Alban" on the internet, and with his IMDb bio page's only graphic in it being the original trailer for 1946's 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' in which he had an uncredited role as "Photographer", and with this being just one of the scores of uncredited roles in his filmography.

(...saaay...ya think I might have way too much free time on my hands lately?!!!)

LOL

[Dargo]

....In addition to the actors mentioned the film also has WB contract player Tom D'Andrea and silent actor Monte Blue.

(...using the above to grab your attention here...)

Hey James! Are you old enough to remember Bill Welsh?

(...per my previous posting up there)

[jamesjazzguitar]

....In addition to the actors mentioned the film also has WB contract player Tom D'Andrea and silent actor Monte Blue.

(...using the above to grab your attention here...)

Hey James! Are you old enough to remember Bill Welsh?

(...per my previous posting up there)

I had to look at Welsh's bio to refresh my memory: I believe I did watch him when he broadcast the Rose Bowl parade\.

[Andree]

Alternative title: Strom Warning ? I thought this was on TCM not that long ago in a non-Noir Alley showing.
It does often play like a poor man's version of Streetcar, with less sexual tension and no talk about that dull
Napoleonic Code, Blanche. Per Eduardo, the Klan seems to be a group of local businessmen and other citizens
who don't like outsiders more than the vicious racists they were. I'm guessing that by this time most people were
hip to what the Klan was really all about, which makes the flick a little silly. I liked that spooky beginning when
Ginger has to walk down the suddenly dark streets of the small town. Too bad she chickened out at the trial.
Nice to see Steve Cochran without his pinstripe suit.

I saw Ginger in a nice little comedy from this same period with Clifton Webb, Dreamboat. The dreamboat was
......Clifton Webb.

[Hibi]

Yeah, the film had some nice noir photography. It did play as a sort of Streetcar Light, with Ginger a bit more savvy than Blanche was. Everyone did a good job. And Ginger was in great shape. Was believable that she and Doris were sisters, though in reality she was more than 10 yrs older than Doris. Who was the guy who played Cochran's boss? A real slimeball. Cochran was a more like a mentally challenged Stanley. Pretty dumb!

[Dargo]

That was actor Hugh Sanders.

No relation to George, no doubt.

(...and usually much less sauve...George's Brit accent contributing to this, of course)

[Andree]

Yeah, the film had some nice noir photography. It did play as a sort of Streetcar Light, with Ginger a bit more savvy than Blanche was. Everyone did a good job. And Ginger was in great shape. Was believable that she and Doris were sisters, though in reality she was more than 10 yrs older than Doris. Who was the guy who played Cochran's boss? A real slimeball. Cochran was a more like a mentally challenged Stanley. Pretty dumb!

Blanche probably would have fainted when she found out she couldn't get a taxi. I liked the small town atmosphere too. Everybody
knows everybody. It's funny when Ronnie comes to the Klan meeting and greets everyone by their fist name. Oh hi John, robe getting
a bit tight? Yeah, you have to be pretty clueless to be dumber than Stanley, though he did have some practical knowledge. I took a
look at the Storm Warning Wiki page and Moira Finnie is briefly mentioned.

Speaking of age differences and those where the man is much older than the woman, there was an episode of Columbo titled
Forgotten Lady, starring Janet Leigh and John Payne. Maurice Evans and Linda Gaye Scott play Janet's butler and maid.
At first one assumes they are either father and daughter or friendly co-workers. Then not too long into the episode it turns out
they are married. Maurice Evan was 42 years older than Linda Gaye Scott. I wonder what the writers were thinking. Pretty weird.

[Dargo]

...there was an episode of Columbo titled Forgotten Lady, starring Janet Leigh and John Payne. Maurice Evans and Linda Gaye Scott play Janet's butler and maid. At first one assumes they are either father and daughter or friendly co-workers. Then not too long into the episode it turns out they are married. Maurice Evan was 42 years older than Linda Gaye Scott. I wonder what the writers were thinking. Pretty weird.

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)

[Hibi]

I was surprised Eddie didnt mention the fun fact that JOAN CRAWFORD was offered Ginger's part and turned it down telling Warner no one would believe She and Doris were sisters! LOL. Joan would've been old enough to be Doris' mother!!!

[jamesjazzguitar]

I was surprised Eddie didnt mention the fun fact that JOAN CRAWFORD was offered Ginger's part and turned it down telling Warner no one would believe She and Doris were sisters! LOL. Joan would've been old enough to be Doris' mother!!!

I had to look up when Crawford was born and it said 'unknown': Either way, Ginger was a much better fit than Joan would have been.

[Hibi]

Yes, unsure if anyone has pinned down the exact date. The studio one was 1908, but others say 1904 or 1906. I doubt 1908 is the correct one since studios often fudged birthdates for female stars. Doris herself did for years at 1924 when it was really 1922. Agree, Ginger was better casting in the role.