Category: Films

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919): German Expressionism and Film Noir

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919)

Matt Holmes has posted an interesting article on the Obsessed With Film blog: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: Suffering creates art?, where he explores the historical context of the film, and the influence of adversity on creativity. He also says that German expressionism is a major influence on the film noir genre:

Like the great speech from Orson Welles in The Third Man, who said that times of war and suffering bring out the most creative and artistic periods in history, Caligari is a testament to the human spirit and a way of how expression through film was a way of venting your social state.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the precursor to the great Universal horror movies of the 30’s and influenced the whole genre of film noir. You can see elements of German Expressionism in every single one of Tim Burton’s movies, must explicitly in the character of Edward Scissorhands (a double for Cesare), The Penguin (a double for Caligari) and the whole of Sleepy Hollow, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Ed Wood (the painted sets).

Miklós Rózsa Centennial

On Aug. 17, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will kick off its Academy Centennial Salute to Miklós Rózsa at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Rózsa scored a number of films noir:

Double Indemnity (1944)
Ministry of Fear (1944)
Lady on a Train (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Killers (1946)
The Red House (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
The Naked City (1948)
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)
The Bribe (1949)
Criss Cross (1949)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

My favorite is the Asphalt Jungle (1950). From the opening shots, Rózsa’s dramatic almost post-modern score establishes the feel of the picture, and remains in the memory forever. More from the LA Times.

In A Lonely Place (1950): The “Creative” Outsider

In A Lonely Place (1950)

Steve-O of Noir of The Week blog has posted a good article on In A Lonely Place, from Barry Gifford’s book, Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir. Don‘t read the article if you haven’t seen the film, as it contains spoilers.

I always go to my falling-apart paperback copy of Steve Scheuer’s Movies On TV and Video 1993-94 for a razor-sharp plot summary: Gripping story of a Hollywood writer who is under suspicion of murder and his strange romance with his female alibi.

This picture is an atypical noir, where the psyche of a “creative” outsider is explored. Its stars an aging Humphrey Bogart, and Gloria Grahame: both are great in these against-type roles. I prefer it to Sunset Blvd.

This is a movie in which the title has a real deep meaning. In a lonely place: those of you who have suffered from or been close to someone who has suffered major depression, will also find this story a painfully accurate portrayal of how a depressed person battles with his demons. Many creative artists are linked with depression or bipolar disorder, where anger is at a trigger point. Director Nicholas Ray, deftly explores the effects of frustration and anxiety on the creative psyche within the grid-lines of the noir genre.

Glen or Glenda (1953): More Schlock Noir from Ed Wood

Glen or Glenda(1953)

This camp classic is available on YouTube. Feature Dolores Fuller and Bela Lugosi (as the shrink).

“Upon discovering the suicide of a known transvestite, the police inspector seeks enlightenment from a psychiatrist familiar with the phenomenom. The psychiatrist tells him two tales. Glen is to be married to Barbara, but must find a way to tell her of his desire to wear her angora sweater, and of his cross-dressing needs in general. Another is the story of Alan, who decides to physically become a female via surgery (based on the contemporary story of Christine Jorgensen). Throughout the film a scientist inanely babbles about life and death in order to somehow elucidate the story.”

Watch it

Alphaville (1965)

Alphaville 1965

Alphaville, a futuristic B&W noir from 60’s “enfant terrible” French director, Jean Luc Godard, can be viewed in widescreen on-line at Google Video. It is a weird homage to the genre with Lemmy Caution, an American private-eye, played by Eddie Constantine, arriving in Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet… The female lead is played by Godard’s then wife, the georgeous, Anna Karina. Watch it.

Anna Karina - Alphaville

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

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…