Film noir: my favorites
Submitted by Eve on Fri, 10/01/2004 - 09:33
Tags:
- PICK-UP ON SOUTH STREET (Samuel Fuller)
- THE KILLING (Stanley Kubrick)
- THIS GUN FOR HIRE (Frank Tuttle)
- SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (Alexander Mackendrick)
- DETOUR (Egdar G. Ulmer)
- OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur)
- LAURA (Otto Preminger)
- NIGHT AND THE CITY (Jules Dassin)
- KISS ME DEADLY (Richard Aldrich)
Author Comments:
All of these are available on DVD and except for DETOUR (which is quite scratchy and jumpy), are all of good to great quality.
Isn't Detour awesome? I saw it again for the first time in 10+ years, and it was better than I remembered. Ann Savage gives one of the most alive performances I've ever seen.
Don't know if I'd consider Sweet Smell of Success a noir, but it's certainly noir-inflected. But it's also an incredible movie, so I'll stop being pedantic.
Have you seen Out of the Past?
I agree with you regarding Sweet Smell of Success; I put it there because lots of reference books regarding noir list it and it's such a cool movie. It has a noir feel, but the style of the story itself doesn't as much.
Ann Savage... Just great! I once read a critic that said her performance in Detour "makes you feel like you just had a night of rough sex." Yowzy!
I own Out Of The Past but haven't got around to watching it yet (too many DVD purchased since august, too little time) but I'm really looking forward to it.
Ann Savage... Just great! I once read a critic that said her performance in Detour "makes you feel like you just had a night of rough sex." Yowzy!
Heh, heh, that was me, actually. Unless someone else said it and I somehow plagiarized it from the ether. If so, it's fair to say that it's a cosmic truth :-)
Have you seen Jules Dassin's BRUTE FORCE, the prison drama? Not exactly noir, but shockingly brutal for its time. Hence the title, I guess.
I haven't but I've only read good thing about that one. Is it available on DVD? It looks very gritty and sadistic. Me likey!
Yup, it's on DVD and it is very gritty, almost shockingly so for 1947. The ending is particularly violent.
Kza: I finally watched OUT OF THE PAST and it was really great! I'm adding it to my list for sure.
Thought you'd like it! It really is a prime example of a well-written, well-directed movie, I think.
Nice list. It's been awhile since I've seen most of these. I really should see Detour again. I'm planning on making a films noir list when I get around to it.
The Alpha DVD is a bit skippy with some flecks and damage, but it's still waaay worth it.
I love Pick-Up on South Street; have you seen the Criterion edition? Samuel Fuller was certainly an interesting director.
Any neo-noirs that you consider on a par with these?
Johnny Waco
It's one of my all-time favorite, bar none. The Criterion edition is great! I don't know any neo-noir (i.e. recent "noirish" films) that gives me as much pleasure as this one. Gritty goodness!
I strongly recommend that you check out the recent edition of Jules Dassin's Night and the City (Criterion), also featuring the great Richard Widmark in what may be the role of his career. If you speak French, you can read the DVD review I did here: http://www.uneporte.net/index.php3?action=page&id_art=85095
I will definitely check out Night and the City; I have always heard it is a good one, and besides, I need very little in the way of an excuse to check out a Criterion.
When I said "neo-noir," which I did not qualify at all, I also was wondering about films like Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, Blood Simple, or The Last Seduction. Would any of these (or others) match the noirs of the earlier era?
Alas, I cannot read French well at all, despite having taken an academic translation class in it a couple of years ago. But I may bring the French/English dictionary out of mothballs and give it a go...
Johnny Waco
I see what you mean ; Chinatown would definetly fit the bill for me. More recently, I liked L.A. Confidential for its tone and character development.