Film Pairing — So So Noir And Not So Noir

I’m not sure you’d call them curiosities. Maybe movies that might have slipped by everyone except the most devout followers of old crime films.

Fred MacMurray And Kim Novak

Pushover — The movie Double Indemnity is regarded as a classic and classic “noir.” Fred MacMurray played his first bad guy and did it well, giving him a whole new life as an actor in1944. In1954, MacMurray essentially reprised his role as a decent guy lured into murder by a twisted, beautiful, evil woman.  In this case we see for the first time in a major role Kim Novak as the Barbara Stanwyck character. Roy Huggins wrote the screenplay, based on two novels, The Nightwatch and Rafferty by Thomas Walsh and Bill S. Ballinger, respectively. For me, the dialogue was the only bright spot in this theft of the classic.  The cinematography, though attempting to create the dark, shadowy mood of most film noir was flat, and the soundtrack was distracting. Richard Quine directed. Philip Carey, Dorothy Malone and E. G. Marshall co-starred.

Lloyd Nolan And Mary Beth Hughes

Dressed To Kill  — Not to be confused with an earlier Sherlock Holmes film or the later erotic thriller by Brian DePalma, this is one of the films featuring popular fictional private eye Michael Shayne. The character came to life in 1939 in the first of 50 novels by Davis Dresser under the nom de plume, Brett Halliday. Shayne was so popular in the 1940s and ‘50s, the character was on radio and in comic books and eventually on TV (1960) with Richard Denning as Shayne. There was even a popular Michael Shayne Mystery Magazine featuring short stories. Dressed To Kill was one of seven Shayne films starring Lloyd Nolan.  I wasn’t expecting much. And during the first few minutes I was sure my doubts were justified.  Not so. The 1941 black and white film turned out to be a lot of fun. Shayne comes upon a couple of dead bodies in a hotel room, cons a newspaper and a couple of suspects to pay him to investigate. He continually cons the cops and his supposed bride to be (Mary Beth Hughes) in the kind of well-plotted but slightly silly drama in The Thin Man tradition. Good banter. Interestingly, Richard Burke wrote the novel on which Shayne creator Brett Halliday based the screenplay. It was directed by Eugene J. Forde and also featured William Demarest (later of “My Three Sons” with Fred MacMurray). Actor Hugh Beaumont would go on to play Shayne in a series of even lower budget films in 1946.

I’d go for something light and bubbly as an accompaniment despite the intended serious nature of Pushover. The sassy dialogue of the second light-hearted movie calls for it.

Film Pairings — An Escapist Night With Harrison Ford

Forget for a moment Harrison Ford’s work in Indiana Jones, Star Wars and the superior Blade Runner. He has anchored dozens of popular movies reflecting our times and dozens more of pure escape. I do not know him, nor do I have any knowledge or opinion about the man as a human being. Like everybody else I’ve seen an occasional interview on TV.  Ford seems uncomfortable, awkward, as most of us non-celebrities would be with a camera in our face. That may be the magic he brings to his roles, a man uncomfortable with the expectations others have of him or those he has of himself. He is much like us.  He is for his generation what Jimmy Stewart was for his — our stand in.

There are actors — James Garner, Tom Hanks, Gene Hackman among them – who have an easy believability.  Harrison Ford is also one of those. He’s not Daniel Day Lewis or Christian Bale, an actor convincing us he’s Lincoln or a serial killer; but this guy, essentially the same guy he’s been in the last several movies, effortlessly it seems, convinces us that Harrison Ford is not the character, but that the character is Harrison Ford. And he’s damned good at it.

Instead of going for Indiana Jones, Hans Solo, or Jack Ryan, characters he helped make icons, there are several films that are especially well done thrillers: Frantic, Witness, and Presumed Innocent. They are well worth your time. Then there are those in which Ford adds just enough to standard fare, making what might otherwise be a mere modest evening’s entertainment an enjoyable adventure.  Here are two:

Air Force One — If one wanted to learn how to put together a thriller, he or she would do well to study Air Force One.  The bones of the movie’s structure are entirely visible. It’s about a nice guy, former war hero, his lovely wife and daughter whom he loves.  Make him the leader of the free world and put the lives of that world and his lovely family in constantly changing yet increasing jeopardy. Next, once this thing takes off (plane and story) don’t let anyone take a breath. Add lots of patriotism, including a stern President Harrison Ford telling villainous Russian Gary Oldman, in Reagan-like tones, “Get Off My Plane.” Nothing new here. However this is a solidly made film that does what it sets out to do and you will watch it on the edge of your seat while you moan at its predictability and overwrought patriotism. Directed by Wolfgang Peterson, this 1997 film also features Glenn Close, Dean Stockwell, William H. Macy and Paul Guilfoyle.

The Fugitive — This is a story thrice told. It is based, however loosely, on real life story in which a physician is accused of killing his wife. The reporting of of the crime and trials were sensationalized and formed the basis for the wildly popular TV series starring David Janssen and making the “one-armed man” a regularly used phrase to create doubt in an excuse or alibi. In film as in the TV series, to prove his innocence he must be free to find the actual murderer. But the main pursuer is no idiot and he has resources the lonely runner does not. It is cat and mouse all the way. Who knows why anyone would try to top the TV show? But producer Roy Huggins and his crew did so in a remarkably successful way.  The 1993 movie, with Harrison as fugitive Dr. Kimble accused of the crime, goes on the run and the rest is cinematic history. This was a huge box office triumph and whatever negative criticism surfaced was buried in the film’s success. In the end The Fugitive not only made tons of money, but was also nominated for seven Academy Awards, with Tommy Lee Jones winning Best Supporting Actor for his role as the chaser in this thrilling chase movie. Andrew Davis directed.

If you’re having a mixed drink, nothing too sweet.  Think about Scotch and water, soda or on the rocks.  These are old-fashioned thrillers.  They will keep you wide awake without taxing the gray matter.  If you’re going alcohol free, I’ve found tonic with a bit of lemon to have the right touch.  It’s not wrong to have popcorn and Coke with these two.