Posted 12/05/2004 06:08:00 PM by Douglas

Two of the best things about watching all these old movies:

• Cars - Back in the day before cars were designed by Dr. MPG and the wind tunnel, they actually looked cool. Who could look at any car out of a movie from 1949 and compare it to today's ubiquitous Taurus/Camry/Accord and not want to puke in their own mouths?
• Hats - One of the reasons these movies look older than they actually are is because everyone is wearing a hat. How cool is that? Like most overwrought college students, I too was laughed at when I showed up on campus one day in a fedora, and that's just wrong. Thanks a lot for ruining hats for all of mankind, JFK.

But aside from all that, you've got the movies. I honestly don't think I could watch every noir movie from the late 40s/early 50s, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try, although I've canceled my Netflix subscription for December, but I'll probably fire it up early in the new year after Christmas. So let's get to the flicks!

Black Angel
June Vincent, Peter Lorre, and the gold standard of noir, Dan Duryea really just seem to be going through the motions in this one, but it was pretty interesting, anyway. Hey, we've gotta find the guy that framed my husband for murder. . . let's get a job in a night club, see if any clues turn up? Peter Lorre and Dan Duryea are great, as usual, but this one skimped on the writing.

Too Late for Tears (AKA Killer Bait)
Probably the poorest quality movie I've seen in a while, but the plot was there to keep me watching the sub-par production values. It was made in 1949, but looked like a movie from the early 30s. You've got the classics of noir in this one: The payoff finds the wrong person, the anxious housewife, and of course, Dan Duryea. Good flick, but it's painful to watch a movie this good when even an idiot like me can see that it wouldn't have taken much to make it a great flick.

Criss Cross
Dan Duryea, again (was there a movie in the late 40s he wasn't in?) with Burt Lancaster, cast against type as a guy with a shirt on. Got your standard armored car heist in this one, and not much else.

Out of the Past
Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas. What could possibly go wrong with this one? Nothing. Great flick all around, and one of the best lines I've ever heard in a movie:

Leonard Eels: All women are wonders, because they reduce all men to the obvious.

Meta Carson: So do Martinis

Damn straight on both accounts, Meta. At least I think it was Meta that said that. I really couldn't tell the two female leads apart in the 3rd act (more great [and I mean great] quotes here.) This one needs to be watched more than once.

Labels: film noir