It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Thanks! You should! ;)
Raymond Chandler: The BBC Radio Drama Collection: Eight BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatizations Audio CD in a charity shop as good as new for £3.99 they usually retail for around £40.
The collection includes...
The Big Sleep
Farewell My Lovely
The High Window
Poodle Springs
The Lady in the Lake
The Little Sister
The Long Goodbye
Playback
Edited: Listening to The Big Sleep dramatization now, cast sound great as does the production and music.
YES!
Yeah, it's one of those movies that took me a couple viewings to appreciate. I love it now. It's so odd and great.
+1000 %.
Several months ago, I had the pleasure of seeing THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER on the big screen as part of a Lillian Gish retrospective here in New York. As wonderous as my prior TV and Blu-Ray screenings of the film have been, you do notice extra things when you “see it large.” If anything, the kids’ (John and Pearl) escape and journey down river is even more surreal.
Although NIGHT OF THE HUNTER was remade in the early 1990s as a TV movie, another remake is apparently in the works – this one set in modern times and not in the depression era south.
The fun of the original is that it was the only film Charles Laughton ever directed. It's like a kid gone wild imagining all the possibilities.
Is it possible to make a film noir in color and widescreen? Hell on Frisco Bay would have to be a better movie to say yes. It's stolid in a very '50s way. And slow, thanks to Frank Tuttle's stately direction; he seems intimidated by cinemascope. Aside from the usually excellent Robinson the acting is restrained. Ladd was never able to convey intensity and doesn't come off as an avenger. The plot is lumpy and unconvincing and the villains make dopey decisions.
I was interested in Hell on Frisco Bay because it was filmed in my hometown of San Francisco, but there's no fog in sight (and nothing looks hellish). Every exterior was filmed on a sunny day and the colors are too warm for film noir. That said, it's good to see Fay Wray again (playing a retired actress!), there's a decent climax on a speedboat, and the film looks fine on the Warner Archive Blu-Ray.
Tonight I finally watched this once again:
That being said, the image doesn't represent the BD that I have, because when I bought it about six years ago, there wasn't a bargain-price version available except the Italian one, so what I have is actually Il mistero del cadavere scomparso. That also being said, it was (I think) the first movie besides The Rocky Horror Picture Show which I saw in a German cinema which was never dubbed for the purpose (it happened later when they showed it on TV). And the Italian BD has the original English-language version, or I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.
Anyway, I saw this several times (in the OV) at cinemas in the eighties, and probably later on as well, so this was perhaps the 8th or 9th time I've seen it. I once more enjoyed it immensely (I'm normally not a big fan of Steve Martin's, by the way). And I probably have seen less than half of the "film noir" movies quoted, so I recognized only a few.
But with Miklos Rosza writing his final score and Edith Head designing her final costumes for this movie, how could anyone go wrong?
I'll have to be on the look out for this film before passing judgement.
A film noir in color?
While they were rare, they did exist. The two that immediately spring to mind are PARTY GIRL (1958) and LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945).
PARTY GIRL was directed by Nicholas Ray and (according to Wikipedia at-least) filmed in CinemaScope. Its’ a fair to middling noir (IMO), mostly due to the tonal split between the musical numbers (which Ray had limited involvement in) and the more traditional noir scenes. The film does showcase good performances by Robert Taylor and Lee J. Cobb (naturally!).
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN is, of course, a film noir essential, and other than LAURA (1944) and THE GHOST and MRS. MUIR (1947), its’ probably the Gene Tierney’s best-known role.
“Keep swimming Danny. I’m here to (NOT) help in case anything happens!”
:))
Anyway, those are the two films that I can think of at the moment. Maybe others can add to the list.
I bought the KINO LORBER blu-ray several months ago and I still haven't gotten around to watching it. I saw it on TV some years ago, but it was before I got into film noir so a lot of the references were lost on me.
Yes, those are two good examples. Leave Her to Heaven is a stone-cold classic, and its feverish color is an asset. The other color film noir that springs to mind is Point Blank (1967). Like Hell on Frisco Bay it's in widescreen, and its first and last scenes are set in San Francisco.
Back in the '80s I had a version taped from a network airing and it included several scenes that weren't in the theatrical release. Wish that version would resurface some day.
There was a whole subplot between Bogie and Steve Martin. It was quite funny.
My BD has a runtime of 89 minutes (IMDB states 88 minutes as runtime). I can't rule out that somewhere out there is a longer version, but the "subplot" with Bogie is quite pronounced as it is, with Rigby Reardon employing Philip Marlowe as his assistant in finding out about the Carl Reiner character's fiendish plot.
Anyway, the most important thing here is CLEANING WOMAN!!!
Yeah, Bogie strangles Steve Martin who is dressed as Gloria Grahame from IN A LONELY PLACE. All that is missing in the theatrical version. John Barry's music track "I'm Frightened" from BODY HEAT played during that scene in the TV airing I had taped.
…and if Director Nicholas Ray hadn’t changed his mind at the last minute, that’s how IN A LONELY PLACE would have actually ended. Throwing almost everyone off the set, he came up with the ending that we know and love.
I’ve been meaning to do a write-up of IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) as it has become my second favorite film of all time (you get two guesses as to my top pick. Hint: it is not a noir and I’ll be seeing it on the large screen tomorrow!). For over a year, I’ve had a draft almost ready to go, but then I think of some new aspect of the film to dive into and I put things on hold. In fact, I’m current reading both the Dorothy B. Hughes novel and BFI’s film summary so I should be finished a week from Tuesday – in the year 2035!
I’ll just say this for now: the character of Dix Steele is probably Bogart’s best performance IMO and – according to some of those that knew him – the one that best summed up what he was really like at times. As TCM’s Eddie Muller has stated, IN A LONELY PLACE is film noir for fully grown adults.
It is a film that I can’t recommend enough.
I love it as well. Always been a favorite.
It seems like I have more reading to do in the next few weeks as the new issue of NOIR CITY has been released. I’m particularly excited to dive into Orson Welles’ THE TRIAL (1962) since I missed it when it was screened here in New York several months ago. They also have a review of MARLOWE (2023).
After watching THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON (1950) – a little slow but it really picks up in the last half hour – I came across this great interview with Eddie Muller by the Barbara Stanwyck fan website.
https://www.barbara-stanwyck.com/an-interview-with-eddie-muller-film-noir-and-barbara-stanwyck/
Finally, I saw this several weeks ago – and I’ve been smiling ever since. For fans of noir, I highly recommend ONCE A THIEF (1965) with Ann Margret, Alain Delon, Jack Palance and Van Heflin. Ms. Margret is really great in a dramatic role as the wife of ex-con Delon – who gets pulled back in.
Delon’s LE SAMOURAI (1967) has also been on my must watch list for some time, so I’m glad to see it finally on the TCM Schedule.
Loved ABANDONED and THE SLEEPING CITY. Tomorrow I'll watch the Barbara Stanwyck movie in this set
Great blu-ray transfers as well!
Enjoy!!!! =D>
These films are excellent. I watched all three in just the last day.
One of those noirs I've always wanted to see but never got around to.
Well worth the wait for me. Betty Grable was excellent, as was Laird Cregar. You can never go wrong with Victor Mature. So many noir actors in this film.
Oddly came out a few weeks after THE MALTESE FALCON under the title HOT SPOT, flopped, and was re-released under the original title I WAKE UP SCREAMING early in 1942. Is that correct, @Dwayne ?
This film seems to have a fascinating history.
The film appears to be the public domain.
The Movies Network paired off films that were essentially sourced from the same material.
https://moviestvnetwork.com/stories/noir-vs-noir
- The Letter (1940) vs. The Unfaithful (1947)
- High Sierra (1941) vs. I Died a Thousand Times (1955) *
- I Wake Up Screaming (1941) vs. Vicki (1953)
- To Have and Have Not (1944) vs. The Breaking Point (1950)
Note: one could have easily paired off High Sierra with COLORADO TERRITORY (1951) since they were both directed by Raoul Walsh. I had an opportunity to re-watch HIGH SIERRA earlier this week, and absolutely fell in love with Ida Lupino again (as well as Bogart’s own little doggie “Pard").Question: If there were ever an Ida Lupino bio-pic, who should play her? One person on twitter suggested Marisa Tomei, but I countered with Anna Kendrick. What do you guys and girls think?
Ms.Lupino
Ms. Kendrick
Redbox for $4.99 No cover art. :(
Saw this in the theater back in February and wanted to give it another shot. Several elements I like about this film, but I completely understand the overall underwhelming response.