Posted 11/13/2004 02:38:00 PM by Douglas

More gems from my own personal noir-fest. I don't think I've seen a movie made past 1960 in several months. Really, what's the point? Here we go:

Scarlet Street
I don't really think of Edward G. Robinson as a noir-film actor, but he ran through the gamut of his two facial expressions in this one. As a pussy-whipped clerk that fell for young working-girl, he doesn't elicit much sympathy when she starts playing him like a two-bit piccolo. But it's an interesting ride, but a disappointing ending.

Touch of Evil
Has Orson Welles made a bad movie? I think Citizen Kane is vastly overrated, but the man knows what he's doing, on both sides of the camera. And maybe it's just me, but Charlton Heston is forever typecast in my mind as Moses, and doesn't really make a believable Mexican narcotics officer, but Janet Leigh carries the both of them effortlessly. And then you've got Marlene Dietrich showing up in a brothel. How could go wrong there? But the opening shot with the camera crossing the border backwards is reason enough to see this one.

Don't Bother to Knock
I was really hesitant to get this one, because I thought it was going to be a 90 minute excuse to watch Marilyn Monroe giggle. (Is there a downside to that I'm not envisioning?) But man, she could really act! At least she could in this one, but I know some will say that she wasn't acting in this one, either. That she's really was that crazy. Either case, it makes for an excellent film. Interesting to compare her performance in this film with the jiggly trollops we're presented with from today's Hollywood. There's just no comparison.

Asphalt Jungle
I'm hesitant to say any of these old movies are the best I've ever seen, but this one is right up there. It's got it all. A crooked cop getting heat from the commissioner, an ex-con with the perfect plan for that last big score, the short-order cook with a game leg and a hunch back, and mouthy dame that just starts crying for seemingly no reason, and Sterling Hayden (could anyone say no to that man?) as the hooligan so deep in debt from betting the ponies he's willing to do anything for a buck. You've got the score, the double-cross, the take-down, and the get-away, and even though everyone watching the movie knows what's going to happen, you can't take your eyes off of it 'till the final credits. Marilyn shows up radiantly in this one, too, for about three minutes of screen time.

Labels: film noir