March 07, 2017, 08:30 PM
FishOnBest Film Noir
Years ago I looked up Mitchum's bio. Amazing how many films he was in!
March 08, 2017, 09:07 AM
YooperSigsI have always felt that "Night of the Hunter" was more horror than Noir. One of Mitchums best roles. And very Noir but outside the 2 decade time frame: "Cape Fear". Another very dark role for Mitchum.
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March 08, 2017, 10:12 AM
FishOnquote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
Understanding film noir takes a long time, because there is lot of misinformation out there, and it takes years to find and be able to watch the films in the canon of film noir (by some estimates, 800 or so films in that two decade period).
If you're really serious about the subject, you will eventually get to a point where you know what a film buff knows and doesn't know about the subject when it comes up.
In addition to watching the films, reading is required. You can start with the Ursini/Silver Film Noir Reader series of books, but you may want to start with my favorite- James Naremore's More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts.
I ordered the Naremore book. Won't get here for a week since I wanted the actual book. Thanks for the recommendation Para. Looks like a serious text. I know next to nothing about the subject, but I really enjoy those films.
March 08, 2017, 10:46 AM
parabellumThe Ursini/Silver books are a collection of essays on film noir, that go back all the way to the 1940s. Number 3 in the series is a series of interviews with actors, directors and writers who are associated with film noir. At the very least, read the first volume of the series.
Ursini/Silver also issued the
Gangster Film Reader, again a collection of essays and chapter excerpts from books on the subject of the gangster film, and I think this is a valuable adjunct to the study of film noir.
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March 08, 2017, 11:31 AM
jhe888"Night of the Hunter" has the look of Noir, but the subject does not fit the usual mold. The themes are subject matter are different.
Whatever it is, it is a great movie. Perhaps we worry too much about classifying it.
The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. March 08, 2017, 12:39 PM
Chancequote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
quote:
Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
...but you may want to start with my favorite- James Naremore's More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts.
I just downloaded this to my Kindle and have started reading it.
Then, you can help answer some of these questions, Jim. What's the very first sentence of Chapter 1 in that book?
Just briefly, but I'll answer in detail later- noir or not?:
Sunset Boulevard - Absolutely, positively yes
Notorious- No, this is not film noir. It is
HitchcockCat People- I know it may surprise some people, but, yes, this is film noir
The Killers- This film shares a key structural element with
Sunset Boulevard and yes, it's film noir in a big way.
White Heat- An argument can be made for this being film noir, but, to me, it's Cagney and Warner Brothers and a great crime film and IMO, no, it's not film noir.
If there is any essential element to film noir, it is a thing no one here would ever guess. This is the thing that makes film noir so nebulous- how do you define it? We sit down to watch a film and a guy appears on horseback, wearing a stetson and a Peacemaker. He rides into town, where there are more guys with horses, stetsons and Peacemakers. This is a Western film. Very simple. Film noir? Not simple. That's why I love it. More on all that later.
Thanks for taking the time to answer Para. Interesting stuff. I too have ordered More than Night
March 08, 2017, 01:07 PM
fpuhanWhen I hear the term "film noir," I almost always include Ingmar Bergman's
The Seventh Seal and
Wild Strawberries. However, Bergman is never among directors mentioned, nor are his films. Maybe I've just missed the whole point of film noir.
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NRA Benefactor/Patriot Member March 08, 2017, 07:22 PM
John in San DiegoI always Laughton got a raw deal. Night of the Hunter is a great film.
Big fan of Treasure of Sierra madre, though not really flim noir.
Gotta say Asphalt Jungle is as good a caper movie as any made today.
March 09, 2017, 08:20 PM
zoom6zoomI always learn so much from these threads. And now I have an even longer watch list. Was inspired to build a "Film Noir" library folder on my Plex server to keep them at the forefront.
I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm. March 10, 2017, 11:13 AM
satch"Murder,My Sweet, with Dick Powell. It was on TCM this Morning 3/10/17.
March 14, 2017, 06:43 PM
parabellumTomorrow morning you'll have a chance to see
Out of the Past. 9:15 AM EST on TCM, and just before that, at 7:30, you can catch a rarely seen film noir,
Too Late for Tears.
At 3 PM, another great one- Fritz Lang's
Scarlet Street with Eddie G. If
Scarlet Street doesn't qualify as film noir, then no film does.
At 6:15 PM, it's Otto Preminger's
Angel Face, and once again, Robert Mitchum shows up in a film noir.
____________________________________________________
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March 14, 2017, 10:22 PM
Jim ShugartCrap.
I'm going to be gone with the
Virginia Historical Society tomorrow touring Yorktown and Jamestown, freezing my nuts off. I coulda been here curled up with my pooch watching cool flicks. But Nooooo.....
I'm currently reading
More Than Night. This is a long and complex book, but it's much longer and more complex because I've gotta stop and watch a lotta movies that I haven't seen for it to make sense.
Damn you, para, for complicating my life!
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March 14, 2017, 10:32 PM
cjevans... a couple of good Mitchum flicks mentioned here.
Some titles I've never seen or heard of and shortly will be.
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SIGForum: the island of reality in an ocean of diarrhoea. March 14, 2017, 10:34 PM
germandogsBorn to Kill
Lawerence Tierney is disliked by many and while a first class drunk/badass/criminal in real life some of his stuff leaves me a little shaken even now.
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March 14, 2017, 10:38 PM
Sgt NeutronFor me:
Double Indemnity
Detour
The Blue Dahlia
I really like the short, poverty row numbers from the late 40's/early 50's.
March 15, 2017, 04:50 PM
EchtermetzgerYes,
Night of the Hunter is a great movie, but not noir.
It takes more than just expressionistic use of shadows and light to be noir, otherwise you could include
The Third Man or even
Cabinet of Dr Caligari
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