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| Where would 'film noir' be without cigarrettes?! |
You can't get more film noir-ish than this classic. Absolutely quintesential stuff. All the traits of film noir can be found here. Top notch! If you are studying genres start here for film noir. Even if you just want to enjoy a forties' film this should keep you happy and maybe set you off searching for other similar ones. Great moody music. A plot with twists and turns and a long confessional flashback. Perfect casting of the laconic hero or is that anti-hero in Robert Mitchum? The nasty character played by Kirk Douglas always on edge; and the hard to read triple-crossing vixen played by Jane Greer almost great. Everyone is good. Excellent tight script with great lines like this from Jeff Bailey to Kathie: 'You can never help anything, can you? You're like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another'. Or still this: 'It was the bottom of the barrel, and I was scraping it'. All without a single swear word or gross scene, can be watched at any level and by any family member and yet very much a film for adults. Never a dull scene in the whole movie.
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1 comment:
I wish I could share your enthusiasm. I found the first third of the film quite okay - it was the only part of the film that contained any sense of tension. In particular, when Whit and Joe make an unexpected visit to Jeff down in Acapulco. The plot plods along and gets a little convoluted from there on, without any real sense of focused direction or conviction. I found the often quick geographical switching quite disorientating, and added to the lack of focus and grounding.
Kirk Douglas's acting was good, but he's looming threats seemed to be only ever hinted at and never really displayed - maybe this was intended to create a very subtle tension. The other performances were quite lacklustre and passionless. Jane Greer was not (intentionally?) convincing as the token 'femme fatale', we never really get a sense of who she is, or what drives her. Mitchum lacked a stronger emotional response at those times when it was required.
Probably my least favourite of Jacques Tourneur's films. His trademark shadowy night scenes were well shot and atmospheric - but otherwise the camera work was quite conservative for a 'film noir' category.
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