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Pristine Film Noir Trailers

I have prepared a compilation of high quality film noir trailers available on-line at TCM:

Ace in the Hole
Act Of Violence
Angels With Dirty Faces
Asphalt Jungle, The
Big Steal, The
Chinatown
Clash by Night
Criss Cross
Crossfire
Dark Passage
Detective Story
Dial M For Murder
Double Indemnity
Gaslight
Gilda
High Sierra
His Kind Of Woman
I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
Johnny Angel
Johnny Eager
Key Largo
Lady Without Passport, A
Macao
Maltese Falcon, The
Mildred Pierce
Ministry Of Fear
Mystery Street
Narrow Margin, The
Night of the Iguana, The
Nora Prentiss
Notorious
On Dangerous Ground
Petrified Forest, The
Postman Always Rings Twice, The (1946)
Private Detective (1939)
Public Enemy, The
Point Blank
Racket, The
Scarface
Scene of the Crime
Second Chance
The Seventh Victim
Shadow Of Doubt
Shadow On The Wall
Side Street
Split Second
Stranger, The
Strip, The
Sunset Blvd
Suspicion
Tension
Thin Man, The
Touch of Evil
Two Mrs. Carrolls, The
Vertigo
Where Danger Lives
Whiplash
White Heat
Woman On Pier 13, The
Wrong Man, The

MIA Films Noir

The Glass Web

The jackal’s film corner blog has posted the jackal’s favorite films noir yet to be released on DVD. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but “the tip of the iceberg”. The jackal also notes that Ministry of Fear (1944) is due for release in September, while Dangerous Crossing (1953) has been flagged by Fox for future release. Read the jackal’s post for the fully annotated list.

99 River Street (1953)
Conflict (1945)
Cornered (1945)
Cry Danger (1951)
Human Desire (1954)
Johnny Angel (1945)
Johnny O-Clock (1947)
My Name is Julia Ross (1945)
Nocturne (1946)
Phantom Lady (1944)
Pitfall (1948)
Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
Saigon (1948)
Stranger on the 3rFloor (1940)
The Brasher Doubloon (1947)
The Breaking Point (1950)
The Bribe (1949)
The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
The Glass Web (1953)
The Sleeping City (1950)
The Web (1947)
The Window (1949)
They Won’t Believe Me (1947)
To the Ends of the Earth (1948)

The Web

I confess…

I Wake Up ScreamingMy apologies to all who have posted comments. There have been delays in moderation – I forgot… Comments now appear in posts! I am a novice at CSS and it has taken me a while to change the comments font-color back from black to white, after some inept attempts at changing certain style elements. Btw, any feedback on the site theme is welcome. Tks.

Pithy Definition of Film Noir

Night in the City…

Geoff Pevere has today coined a nice expression of the film noir genre in his Toronto Star review of the just released Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 DVD set (see my post of yesterday):

… a genre defined by shadows, of harsh, sharp contrasts of light and dark: at any moment, those clouds of fate could pass right over your head.

Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman

A few of the obits on the passing of the great European director, Ingmar Bergman, refer to the influence of film noir on his ouvre. Personally, I don’t see it, unless perhaps you refer to the significant influence of 40’s Hollywood on all film-makers of his generation. His films were mostly dark intellectual ruminations on life and death, and appealed only to narrow audiences. Film noir is a genre that talks to everyman. The interesting thing for me is the realisation that he was at his peak when aged in his 40s and 50s. In today’s ageist realm, most of us in that age groove are considered history. The Financial Times obit on Bergman is recommended.

Jail Bait (1954): Schlock Noir on RetroTV.com

Jail Bait (1954)

Have some fun and enjoy this public domain copy on RetroTV.com of the 50’s schlock noir Jail Bait from the legendary Ed Wood.

Rated 2.2/10.0 on IMDB (so bad it’s good):

“She’s A Good Girl… To Leave Alone!”

Vic Brady draws young Don Gregor into a life of crime. He then blackmails Gregor’s plastic surgeon father…

‘Jail Bait’, directed by the legendary Ed Wood, is an enjoyably bad attempt at Film Noir on a shoestring budget. The cast includes Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller and Timothy Farrell from Wood’s classic ‘Glen Or Glenda’, as well as a very early appearance by Steve Reeves. Talbot once again plays a kindly cop, but this time Farrell is on the other side of the law, the nasty Vic Brady. Brady has corrupted Fuller’s brother Don (Clancy Malone) the middle class son of a world renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Boris Gregor (Herbert Rawlinson). We first see Don being bailed out by his sister Marilyn (Dolores Fuller) after being caught carrying an unlicensed firearm. Despite his sister’s concern and a stern lecture from Ins. Johns (Talbot), he continues to associate with small time crook Vic Brady. A robbery gone wrong results in the death of a Night Watchman. Don’s conscience gets the better of him and he intends to give himself up, but Brady has other ideas… ideas which involve Dr. Gregor’s skills as a plastic surgeon. The combination of Wood’s trademark lousy dialogue and the stilted performances of the actors (especially Malone and Fuller) with Farrell’s hammy Vic Brady and the nutty denouement make ‘Jail Bait’ a lot of fun to watch.

If you install UnPlug for Firefox you can download the movie. And don’t forget the pop-corn…

Crime Scenes: Movie Poster Art of the Film Noir

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I just came across this book of film noir posters from the classic period of film noir: Crime Scenes: Movie Poster Art of the Film Noir : The Classic Period : 1941-1959 by Lawrence Bassoff (Paperback).

Available from Amazon from US$20.

Blade Runner (1982): The Final Cut

Blade Runner (1982)

On December 18, Warner will release a definitive version of director Ridley Scott’s cult classic Blade Runner: The Final Cut, a fusion of film noir and science fiction The DVD set will also feature four other versions of the movie. The film will be available in both HD formats and in three different DVD editions, with the final cut also receiving select theatrical releases in New York, Los Angeles and the Venice Film Festival.  More from Variety.

Update 31 July 2007: Hollywood.com Interview with Ridley Scott on his memories of making Blade Runner.

Stop Press: Original Poster for 20,000 Years In Sing Sing (1932) Located

I have been searching for ages for a thumbnail of a poster for 20,000 Years In Sing Sing (1932) for that film’s entry in the FilmsNoir.Net Films Noir Catalog, and I know from my search stats that many visitors have been looking too.

I have finally located an original poster, which looks in excellent condition, for sale for US$600 from FilmPosters.com.

Item #: 11425 Mini Window Card. 8in x 12in, FINE, U.S.

Be quick if you have the cash, as I don’t. I will have to settle for this image:

20,000 Years In Sing Sing (1932)

Brick (2005) – Disappointing

Brick (2005)

First time independent director, Rian Johnson, shot the alleged neo-noir Brick after raising $500,000 from friends and relatives. The film received the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

After all the hype, I was disappointed. Though technically competent and with clever allusions to the film noir genre, I found the story distasteful and with little real meaning or social value. The plot is confusing and the mumbled dialog of tribal argot generally unintelligible. An obvious influence is Tarantino, and this is also a negative.

The film may have some meaning for local audiences, but outside CA you can give it a miss. Or maybe, I am just too old…