David Goodis…To A Pulp

David Goodis

David Goodis… To A Pulp, a film biography of noir writer David Goodis, premieres this Friday, March 5, in Philadelphia. For film-maker Larry Withers making the movie was a peak into the once-hidden life of his mother, Elaine Astor, who had previously been married to Goodis.  Read all about it at Mike Lipkin’s Noir Journal.

17 thoughts on “David Goodis…To A Pulp”

  1. Hi! Tony,
    What a very informative post and interesting link…about writer David Goodis. (The quote by author Allan Guthrie, about the “great” Lou Boxer, is “spot-on” too.)

    Personally, I wasn’t familiar with him (Goodis) and his writings…until I visited a film noir message board called The Blackboard. (Where the members, discussed his work, life, and death.)

    Nightfall and Dark Passage, but of course…are the only two films based on his novels that I have watched…Oh! yes, I almost forgot about The Burglar starring…D.Duryea and J.Man(s)field.(Sp)
    Thanks, for sharing!
    DeeDee 😉

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  4. Hi! Tony,
    This is my second comment…I’am afraid that my first comment may have been caught by your “Spam catcher”(Or I may have accidentally, deleted my comment)…Because this also happened when I left a couple of comments on writer R.L.Bourges’ blog too…fortunately she retrieved my comments.

    DeeDee 😉

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  5. DeeDee,
    Glad you liked the Noir Journal piece on the Goodis documentary.
    Hope you visit my site again.
    And thanks again to Tony for the mention and the link.
    filmsnoir.net is truly a great site.
    I didn’t know that there was a film of Nightfall. Will have to see it.
    Cheers,
    Mike L.

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  6. A synopsis from an Amazon.com reviewer…Nightfall (1957) – directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, and Anne Bancroft. A man falsely accused of robbery and murder goes on the run, persuading the woman he loves and an insurance investigator to help find the real culprits and clear his name. Great cinematography in this low budget thriller.

    Hi! Micheal Lipkin,
    A little bit of FYI…Columbia/Sony Pictures, plan to release the 1957 film NightFall as part of their Film noir 2(Two) boxset very soon…
    …but, if I were you, I would wait and purchase the boxset a little bit later…after the original
    “sticker”     price drop.

    Speaking of, the film NightFall I recently sent or donated a presskit from the film to the Film Noir Foundation archives.

    What a very interesting film and I must admit I have “lurked” on your blog…What a nice blog too!
    Thanks,
    DeeDee 😉

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  7. DeeDee,
    Go ahead and lurk. The blog is there for your entertainment and mental stimulation. Wow, Aldo Ray and Brian Keith–must admit I remember them both very well. Never could really figure out how Ray became a star. I did like him though.
    Will take your advice and wait on Nightfall–if I can’t get it on Netflix.
    What is on the film noir 1 box set?
    I actually do more noir fiction than film. But am learning a lot about film noir from Tony’s blog.
    Thanks for your comment.
    Mike Lipkin
    Noir Journal
    http://noirjournal.typepad.com/noir-journal/

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  9. How terrific to see comments here from such distinguished people like Mike Lipkin, whose link I will finally be checking out right now. I got sidetracked by the Oscars and the party preparation, but this stuff is far more meaningful in the grand scheme, that’s for sure. As always, Tony has been raising the bar as of late, taking film noir far past the level of a review, incorporating literature, politics, and setting to his ceaslessly engaging analytical essays and postings.

    And as usual, Dee Dee is invaluable, bless her soul, as she is again here with these great additions!

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  10. Well Mike, aas I expected, fascinating stuff here! I got a laugh when i read that he took after his mother as a legendary cheapskate, and how they “re-used” stamps. That reminded me of my now-deceased paternal grandfather, who lived till he was 96. He used to rub the black lines off the stamps, which of course is a federal offense if caught. He was also a notorious miser, thought my wife and I are the extreme opposite, which isn’t good either! Ha! But in a more serious vein, I wasn’t at all surpriased by this revelation:

    ****Goodis could never reconcile the different parts of his life. His writing is psychological therapy. It’s like sitting on a therapist’s couch. His way to resolve things was to write about them,” Withers said.

    “His stories and novels are about people coming to terms with their lives. They do not get out of their troubles, but they reconcile with them,” Withers said.

    Withers said that “Goodis played out his dark tendencies through his excursions.” Withers referred to Goodis’ legendary night time visits to ghetto clubs and dangerous sites in the netherworld of Philadelphia.****

    Of course this isn’t at all uncommon, and it’s a situation where the writing reveals the person. In th case of J.D. Salinger, who recently passed, there was little to go on, since he was an extreme recluse who never granted interviews. Hence his writing was a source of biographical info so to speak.

    I never knew he wrote SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, a Truffaut film I have adored throughout my life!

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  12. Hi Everyone,
    Great comments Tony, Sam, DeeDee.
    BTW: Sam, thanks, but I ain’t so distinguished. But it’s great that you have enjoyed my blog. Please take a look at some other postings, since the stuff about the Goodis documentary was sent to me straight from Lou Boxer, who is sort of the producer of the film. He let me reprint it word-for-word.
    And thanks to Tony for providing such a great forum. Myself, I’m mostly comfortable writing about noir fiction (being a literature editor for many years), but I’ve done some stuff on film on my blog and I participate in the great thread on Amazon’s Film Noir community–called Film Noir in Color? or something like that.
    Anyhow, great to be in touch.
    Mike L.

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  13. @Mike Lipkin,
    Mike Lipkin said,”What is on the film noir 1 box set?”

    Here goes the round-up of the usual suspects…that are featured on…
    Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1 (The Big Heat / 5 Against the House / The Lineup / Murder by Contract / The Sniper)

    @Sam Juliano, On the one hand, I think that is an amusing anecdote about your paternal grandfather, but on the other hand, I think that is nice that you and Mrs. Juliano, are so very generous when it comes to sharing too!
    Thanks, for sharing!
    DeeDee 😉

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  14. Oops! I meant to say that I donated a pressbook to the Film Noir Foundation archives…Believe me there is a different between a pressbook and a presskit.

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  15. Hi Everyone:

    I appreciate your comments and interest in our documentary. I’ve always been a fan of film noir long before I knew the term. I’ve been bitten by the noir bug. Now it’s become infected. So much so that Lou Boxer and I are developing a script and planning to produce “Behold This Woman” (another Goodis novel). Hope you don’t mind if we keep you posted.

    Thanks, Larry Withers

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