Raw Deal

When I think of Noir, I think of John Huston

Not this time though, now I'm thinking Anthony Mann.

Raw Deal is Noir.

There is a jail break, two women fighting for the affection of a tough-guy, police chases, gun fights with bad guys, cigarettes, booze and seedy hotel rooms. I think that is every item on the Noir checklist.

Raw Deal is realistic black & white action/adventure in the hard boiled streets of 1940's San Francisco. The film, while focusing on the flight to freedom for Joe Sullivan (a recent escapee from prison) is truly telling the sad love story of his long-suffering and devoted girlfriend Pat.

Pat is played by Claire Trevor.

Claire Trevor

...right, never heard of her.
In fact, I had never run across any of the cast - Denise O'Keefe, Marsha Hunt...

Oh wait

I have heard of the dude that played the bad guy - Raymond Burr
Seeing him in a role other than Perry Mason or Ironside was fantastic.
He was not a good guy. Raymond Burr added a dimension to Raw Deal
by portraying the villain with real depth. He was tough, merciless and cowardly. It was enjoyable to see him get his desserts.

But back to Claire - this is her story, and in keeping with the tradition of Noir, she is jealous of the other woman (this time played by Marsha Hunt). She watches the man she has invested so much of her life into fall little by little for the woman that they both need to ensure their escape. It is an unmanageable position and she can only continue to fight her way to safety while hoping for the best.
It isn't until later that she seizes the opportunity to "solve" her problem at the expense of the other woman.

The peak comes as Claire realizes that she'll never have Joe's heart and sends him to save the woman that is competing for his love. This finale is a master class for Noir with as much heartbreak as there is action. 

SPOILER BELOW

It ended with Claire watching the man she loved die in the arms of the woman he loved.
Poignant, hard and gritty. The only end possible in this King of Noirs.

The Long Hot Summer

I don't know very much about Paul Newman

I've seen Butch Cassidy and I've seen Cool Hand Luke - loved both those movies, but for some reason, I've never given Newman much thought. So it really didn't cross my mind to check out The Long Hot Summer, and honestly, I have no recollection as to why I decided to watch it this weekend. But I suppose Malcolm Gladwell would say I've hit the tipping point, because now I'm a real fan.

So the specifics:
The Long Hot Summer is a 1958 melodrama directed by Martin Ritt
It stars not only Paul Newman, but also Joanne Woodward and Orsen Wells. <in fact, Ritt became known as "the Orson tamer" due to his diplomatic handling of the emotional star>.

IMDB has a 7.4 rating and Rottentomatoes says 88% fresh - not bad

This is a well established classic and you can find lots of details online if you like.
I really just want to comment on how much I enjoyed this film.

At first, I didn't know how to categorize this film. Usually I'm watching Noir or Horror. So this is the first time that I've identified "melodrama" as a style that I enjoy.

But now as I mull it over a bit, I put The African Queen at the top of my favorite movies list, so I suppose it makes sense.

Here was a movie where the heat and grittiness of the weather combined with the story to immerse me as a viewer.

The story line was involved and engaging. Newman was a newbie to town and as a smart "quick" guy, he in short time, ingratiated himself with the leading business man. Now the fun starts as the family responds to an outsider that is on such good terms with the father that none of them can please.

Acting: 
This is an A List cast. Performers at the top of their art - and so many names!

First of all, who can resist Lee Remick as Eula :)
She was a fantastic party girl with nowhere to party.
 
Eula's husband Jody was played by Anthony Franciosa. He nailed the 1950's angst as young Varner (reminded me of Sal Mineo's performance in Rebel without a Cause. 

Orson Wells was a surprise as well - what a powerful portrayal of a hard headed , self-made business man.

And Angela Lansbury was there too - giving life to her tough, seen-a-lot-of-life character.

Music: 
The soundtrack fit the picture well and the opening tune with Jimmy Rogers set the tone

I certainly recommend this film - in fact, I did recommend it over lunch today.
You can find it on Netflix right now.

The Kennel Murder Case - Noir?

I'm not sure what made me think that this Philo Vance adventure was billed as a noir, but it isn't.

First the facts:
This is a 1933 mystery drama that runs 1:33.
It stars William Powell (later to do the Thin Man series)

It is entertaining, but being so early, the production values are not what they were even for the Thin Man series. Even this digitally remastered version had some challenges.

But if you are a fan of The Thin Man, then you will understand the feel of this film. It is light-hearted, while not as comedic as the Thin Man. What struck me as I expected a noir, was a total lack of grit or underworld culture. This was a foray into sophisticated society.

The action starts with very little per-amble. We jump right into the action. It is a bit of a jolt and it is very important to pay close attention as characters are being introduced left and right. I had a hard time keeping track of who is who (but not to worry, it eases up and all becomes clear later on).

Robert Barratt is the villain and does a fine job making himself a target by alienating everyone he comes into contact with and Mary Astor helps add to the intelligence of the plot. There is a good scene where she is alluding to a confession and recants when she learns more around the circumstances of the murder. It was worth-while to read between the lines and see how she was suspecting her boyfriend and covering for him and then backing out as she learned it was impossible for him to have committed the crime.

So as I was saying, this was more of a Holmesian adventure and they probably should have credited Arthur Conan Doyle. It had more in common with the Basil Rathbone Sherlock series (that would come later in the 1930's) than it did with the noir style that I think started in the mid 1940s.

But if you like little dogs running about discovering dead men (this foreshadowed Asta), and comedic police that depend on independent detectives to do their work, then this is a fun, enjoyable film.

On the minus side, there is some minor racist commentary - maybe to be expected in a film from the 30's. However, at least they hired an Italian and Asian actor to portray these characters.

So while I was disappointed that I didn't get the noir that I was hoping for, I did have a bit of fun.

1956's The Killer is Loose

It's for the love of the genre, the style, the nostalgia that keeps me watching noir. They are what makes watching enjoyable. Those elements combined make the experience worthwhile. Some films have these and more. They have amazing story lines, innovative production techniques and some of the best acting ever filmed. But when they don't, a noir is often times still time well-spent. And so it is with 1956's The Killer is Loose.

This was directed by Budd Boetticher. Budd isn't known to me outside of this film except for one episode of the Rifleman (great TV by the way). In this film he directed Rhonda Fleming and Joseph Cotton.

Now Joseph Cotten I don't get. He is passable. His best trait is that he reminds me of Hamilton Burger (William Talman) from Perry Mason.

William Talman

Joseph Cotten

Joe Cotten is about as dynamic as he looks. There really isn't any energy in his performance and his pairing as the husband of a devoted Rhonda Fleming is laughable

Rhonda Fleming

What was going through the minds of the casting directors for some of these 1950's releases. At least with Dear Murderer, it was plausible that Greta Gynt's character was gold digging while fooling around, but Rhonda Fleming's character was a devoted policeman's wife.

I don't think the chemistry was there and if I have to wonder "wait a minute, why is she with him?", then I know they could have done a better job.




Now, not all of this film was challenging. Wendall Corey did a fine job as the psychotic murderer. He was chilling enough with his cool, confused portrayal of Foggy, and the supporting cast was top notch (except for Allen Hale - sorry, but I always see the Skipper).

As a nostalgia film, this was kind of fun. The calender in the kitchen during a particularly tense scene was Dec., 1954, so I wonder why it took so long to be released ('56). It had the gritty taste that 1950's films usually depicted, and it gave us visibility into the expected gender role definitions that hollywood promoted. By this I mean, poor Lila Wagner was protected, lied to and shuttled around to keep the poor woman from hysterics. Finally, she is shamed for her "selfish" feelings and for not supporting her cop husband who was only doing his best to protect her. OMG, it was enough to puke on. Fortunately, this is not typical in all noirs as we often see strong female leads like Stanwick and Bacall. But with The Killer is Loose, it's best to look at it as a period piece and educate yourself on how the media tried to shape our culture.

Watch The Killer is Loose Now

Dear Murderer & Witness to Murder

This weekend I got to enjoy to noir films from different periods.

Dear Murderer is a 1947 movie from director Arthur Crabtree.
It stars Eric Portman and Greta Gynt.

Watch Dear Murderer Now

All and all, this was a fun movie. Greta Gynt character (Vivian Warren) immediately inspired dislike. But it didn't take long for Eric Portman's character (Lee - Vivian's husband) to become distasteful either. It was fun to be routing for no one.

This movie almost lost me at the outset.
I understand that sometimes we must "suspend disbelief", but to have to do so in the first 10 minutes of the film is a hard pill to swallow. I give it the benefit of the doubt though, because the scene is between two 1940's era proper English gentlemen. So lets say I talked myself into believing (at least for 90 minutes) that people would be that kind or non-confrontative with each other. Problem: to believe otherwise ruins the bedrock of this film.

Once I got past that little speed bump, the film carried itself along nicely.
Greta Gynt was perfectly cast and performed well. Not only was her hair perfect and her costuming capturing, but she oozed femme fetale. Of course, no matter how good a job Eric Portman did (and he was good), it was hard to believe the two of them as a match i.e. Greta is out of his league. This worked for the film though, because it made sense with her characters choices.

Get Witness to Murder

Now, Witness to Murder is a whole 'nother class of noir.

Let me say that this film shows why I believe that Barbara Stanwyck embodies 1950's noir.

This is a psychologically tense film that plays with desperation by alienating a otherwise upstanding citizen.

This movie was directed by Roy Rowland for a 1954 release. What was fun was to watch it so closely after Dear Murderer. The contrast between the British film from a decade earlier showed the surprising change in the noir genre over time and across the continents. While the noir elements of shadow and suspense were present in Crabtree's Dear Murderer, the darkness was turned up several notches by Rowland's film from '54. Mainly, the introduction of the asylum scenes demonstrated the loss of innocence that film goers were expecting just 8 years later.

Now not perfect, Witness to Murder had a shabby Nazi theme underlying the main storyline. I cannot know how this felt to an audience that was so much closer to WWII as a current event, but in 2014 it seems forced or even pandering. But much like the allowed "suspended belief" in Dear Murderer, it was a forgiven for "Witness to Murder".

Craven / Raimi Poster Tieback

 The Evil Dead

Sometimes I am years/decades behind. Actually, based on my Dvorak discovery, sometimes I'm centuries behind. But these discoveries are all new (news) to me. One example is my recent deep-dive into The Evil Dead series.

I am happy to say that I had the chance to watch the original back in 1982 on VHS. I scared the crap out of me. Honestly, I remember thinking "how can this movie be so friggin' scary?!" But that was the last of it until this year (2014) when my 13 year old son started looking into the whole Ash mythos. That's when I discovered the cult status of the series and the superhuman Ash personality. [Bruce Campbell is The Man]. What I saw was the progressive shift from high-quality horror in the Evil Dead to comedy in Army of Darkness. I didn't quite understand what was happening and so I watched the series a few times to see if I could figure it out.

Watching a movie under a microscope is different than just enjoying a movie. It helps bring out a new level of detail. It was when I realized that everything in each shot was intentionally put there by the director. Maybe elementary to you, but new to me. And these are the eyes I used watching Evil Dead for the 3rd time.

Scene: Ash and his friend are in the basement of the cabin for the first time
This is a tense scene. We don't know what is going on yet and anything could happen. So after the jump scare Ash is introduced to the tape recorder and Necronomicon. But...what is the torn poster in the background?

I didn't notice it the first few times.
This time however I wondered "what is a movie poster doing in this basement in the middle of the woods?" Then I recognized it as a poster for The Hills Have Eyes.

I asked my son (who I was watching it with) if he had a clue. Nope. So I was on to something and immediately knew that The Hills Have Eyes would be the next showing. What was going on?

Watch Evil Dead Now

So, Saturday evening we ended up with Wes Craven and The Hills Have Eyes.
Now this is a neat film - from a kitsch perspective.
You probably won't be scared, the gore is super low...and I don't remember an over abundance of swearing. Also to a minimum is story, quality acting and budget. It was fun, the kind of fun you have seeing a cheesy movie at an old cinema. But I had already forgotten why I was watching it in the first place, until my son pointed out "oh, look at the torn Jaws poster".

Yes!

It went by quickly.
I would have missed it if he hadn't pointed it out.
Remember, I'm new at watching for this level of detail
So there it was!
Raimi in '79 was referencing Craven from '77 that was referencing Jaws from '75.

Now why?

Watch the Hills Have Eyes Now 

Though I had the threads, I now wanted to figure out what the message was.
My guess was that since I thought The Hills Have Eyes was a bit silly, that Raimi was poking fun.
From what I found online, that is wrong.

Sam Raimi is said to have really liked Craven's movie, and the torn poster wasn't a shot at him, but a tip of his hat. Ok...it was '79, I can believe it. But there was more:

In Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street, he continued the admiration by having a scene in which the kids were watching Evil Dead. Cool [I have to verify this for myself]. And then even more, after that Raimi admired Craven yet again by placing Freddie's glove into the tool shed that Ash uses in Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn.

This was a really fun Easter Egg to decipher.
I encourage all of you to check it out for yourselves.