Film Pairing — Cinema Noir, Two More From Orson

As I may have suggested a couple of posts ago, Orson Welles could be the poster boy for American film noir. Personally I would only go so far as to say he is certainly one of the prime contributors. One of his films, Citizen Kane is among those films at the top of everyone’s “best list” and some argue that it is the first American noir. There are those who claim the classic is not noir at all.

For tonight, we’ll leave the sacred Citizen Kane and the noir debate for another day, focusing instead on two other Orson Welles’ films, each with a unanimous noir stamp.

The Third Man — This film is the basis for the novella by Graham Greene in an odd turn around of process. Here, we visit moody post-war Vienna, deep in shadows and shadowy deeds.  Joseph Cotten visits in search of an old friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). And the mystery begins. Cotton’s friend is hard to find and the pieces left behind become increasingly suspicious to Cotton. There is evil here; but where does it reside? The authorities or Harry Lime?  The old world backdrop is the the true beauty of the film, and cinematographer Russell Metty takes full advantage of it, including the final scene as Welles, the missing Harry Lime, explains his view of the world to his old friend as they are atop a Ferris wheel observing the people below as ants not particularly worthy of any empathy in their suffering at the hands of Lime, himself.  The film was directed by Carol Reed and released in 1949.  Trevor Howard is also featured, as is Alida Valli as Lime’s love interest.

A Touch of Evil — Charlton Heston, as the force for all that is good, never really challenges the slovenly evil Orson Welles for the center of attention in this late noir (1958) film, also shot by cinematographer Russell Metty. The action takes place in seedy adjacent towns straddling the border of Mexico and the U.S. With exception of those scenes in which Welles — bloated, unshaven, sweating and slobbering — held forth as a corrupt border town sheriff, I had the feeling I was watching a film made for television. But when Welles was on, he filled the screen and, well hell, he scared me. Even the sets he chewed were more impressive during his scenes.  No doubt this is a worthwhile film for noir lovers, but there was more ‘60s than ‘40s in the atmospherics and I prefer the latter. The cast was also a curious lot.  In addition to Janet Leigh and the notable performance of Akim Tamiroff, we have brief appearances by Joseph Cotten, Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Dennis Weaver. Orson Welles directed the film based on author Whit Masterson’s novel, Badge of Evil.

The dirty sheriff in Touch of Evil drank his bourbon straight up perhaps one too many times.  Don’t be a dirty sheriff. Think Vienna.  As I understand it, the Viennese drink lots of coffee and beer.

Film Pairing — Orson Welles And The World Of Noir

The 1940s seemed to be the best years of film noir. Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Sterling Hayden, and Richard Widmark were the regular tough guys of the genre. Another actor stands out, not only for being the center of attention on screen, but one of the major forces off screen.  Not always my personal favorite, Orson Welles, has nonetheless created four of the best in the genre just short of single-handedly.  Here are two of them.

The Stranger — In black & white, in high contrast and with a huge cast of shadows, Welles teams with an innocent beauty, Loretta Young in small-town post WWII America. Released in 1946 to an America recovering from the war and the horrors of Nazism, we are introduced to a fleeing war criminal (Welles), his pursuer, Edward G. Robinson and the criminal’s love interest  (Young). The film, directed by Welles, is melodramatic, stilted and yet suspenseful. Notes from various critics suggest Welles had wanted a more Nazi-oriented slant to the film rather than a small town murder story. It nonetheless works in its released form. In addition to the excellent cinematography by Russell Metty, I was also pleased to see a very young and talented Richard Long, who played Loretta Young’s younger brother.

  

The Lady From Shanghai — If The Stranger was muted by too much convention, The Lady From Shanghai might have suffered at the time of its release in 1947 by being too unconventional. We have Rita Hayworth, at her most devastatingly beautiful, playing the girlfriend of an extremely wealthy, older man, Everett Sloane, who doesn’t mind sharing her with the Irish tough guy, Orson Welles. Aside from the constant “sophisticated’ chatter, there is true noir here in my opinion, with twist on twist, dark and ingenious cinematography, and the lovely backdrops of Acapulco, Sausalito and San Francisco. Not Shanghai, however. The last scene was extraordinarily innovative, well worth the price of admission alone. The film was directed by Welles, based on the novel, If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King.

What would you drink on an autumn evening in New England? Maybe a sherry or port? That would do while you watch The Stranger. However traipsing about aboard a yacht in Acapulco might suggest some sort of icy tequila drink to accompany the second half of the double feature.

Film Pairing — On Everyone’s Top Ten List

Why not spend an evening – a long one at that – with two movies on just about everyone’s Top Ten List? Certainly they occupy that status among crime movies. Both films were released in the 1970s. Both were critically acclaimed and represent  two of the world’s most famous directors’ work at the top of their games.

Chinatown — Put this classic in the categories of P.I. films and film noir. A fresh-faced Jack Nicholson plays an L.A. private investigator who finds himself in in the midst of an embarrassing family sexual abuse scandal and inadvertently drawn into a battle about water in a desert in 1937. When only recently the CEO of Nestle, whose products line most of the shelves of your local supermarket, claimed water is not a human right, Chinatown proves itself a timeless reflection of the eternal struggle of greed on behalf of the powerful few versus survival of the rest. John Huston represents the ugliness of pure greed — determined to get whatever he wants at whatever the cost. Directed by Roman Polanski and released in 1974, this film also featured Faye Dunaway, James Hong and Diane Ladd. Robert Towne wrote the screenplay.

The Godfather — As I watched it for the umpteenth time I was again reminded of how much the film seemed to be a series of moving oil paintings, rather than mere moving pictures.  John A. Alonzo is credited with the astounding cinematography. He is probably the least known of the masters working together on this film.  Based on Mario Puzo’s blockbuster novel, master director Francis Ford Coppola created a film judged by the U.S. National Film Registry as one of the greatest American films of all time, exceeded only by Citizen Cane. Marlon Brando is the godfather. Al Pacino is the favored son. Both are riveting. The entire cast is stellar: James Caan, Sterling Hayden, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Richard Conte, and Abe Vigoda.  Keep your eye out for other surprises, Al Martino and Morgana King, for example. The film’s story — about a major crime family unfolds over a ten-year period starting in 1945.

While Chinatown is a perfect mystery that delivers a socially conscious and powerful punch, The Godfather is delivered on a larger and richer canvas. Settle in for a classic double feature.

To accompany the long evening   (Chinatown runs more than two hours while The Godfather is nearly three), I’d suggest having a Tom Collins with Chinatown in honor of Faye Dunaway’s character.  Sip the cocktail slowly and then open a bottle of Nero D’Avola, a dry Sicilian wine, for The Godfather. Non-imbibers could do the Virgin Tom Collins, that is make the cocktail, but forget the gin.

Film Pairing — Off To The Land Of The Rising Sun and Ken Takahura

Tired of American gangsters? Board a jet in the comfort of your own residence and travel across the Pacific to watch American cops track down Japanese criminals in their own land.  Both are older films; but they hold up very well.

Black Rain — In this 1989 Ridley Scott-directed film two New York cops, played y Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia are assigned to take a Japanese criminal back to Japan.  He escapes and the Americans decide they must track him down despite all the language and cultural barriers.  Douglas does well as the ugly American and Andy Garcia does equally well as the charming sidekick as they sink deeper into the world of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia.  The real star is the subdued Ken Takahura who is assigned to reign in the two rowdy and initially out-of-their depth American policemen.  Black Rain makes for a nice evening of quality escapist action.

The Yakuza — Before there was Black Rain there was The Yakuza. Not exactly heralded when it was released in 1974, the film noir directed by Sydney Pollack has more than redeemed itself. The plot is relatively complicated, but introduces the audience to the intricacies of Japanese culture as well as residue from World War II and the ongoing influence of the yakuza. This is an intelligent thriller, with all the violence that goes with it. Robert Mitchum plays a slightly aging, retired police detective who travels to Japan to help an old friend rescue his kidnapped daughter. Paul and Leonard Schrader wrote the screenplay with help from Robert Towne. A younger Ken Takahura is outstanding in a principal role.  Brian Keith and James Shigeta are also featured.

To augment your viewing pleasure – Saki. Cold or warm. For many of us westerners  who have no idea how varied Saki may be, it’s worth investigating.  For those who avoid alcohol, nothing wrong with a plum spritzer. Just remember, it’s a pretty tough night on screen.

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 — Farley Granger Times 2

Granger and O'Donnell

Farley Granger had a look — corruptible innocence — that worked for those mid-century film noir and black & white B movies. Nice guy makes a mistake and things run amok. Granger turned out to be an Alfred Hitchcock favorite (Strangers on the Train and Rope). However earlier in his gracefully-aged, long career, Granger made a couple of movies that put him on the road to stardom. In the following two movies he is paired with Cathy O’Donnell, the feminine version of corruptible innocence. There was something oddly and attractively androgynous about both of them. There was magic between them.

Edward Anderson's Novel

They Live By Night (1948) — Veteran gangsters help a young and green prisoner (Granger) escape. In return, they expect him to help them in their chosen field of employment.  When he meets a semi-tough daughter (O'Donnell) of grifters (O’Donnell), they both see a way out of their current existence.  The movie, directed by the highly regarded Nicolas Ray (Rebel Without A Cause), was based on a depression-era novel, Thieves like Us by Edward Anderson. Escaping his fellow escapees, as well as the police, proves to be more than he can handle. Character actor Howard Da Silva gives an outstanding performance as “One-eye” Mobley.

Side Street (1950) — While current critics seem to dote on the noir qualities of They Live By Night, I favor this one right up to, but not quite all the way to the end. What could have been the perfect noir turned out to be a perfectly fine police procedural with exquisitely photographed scenes of 1950 Manhattan. Granger plays a down-and out, part-time postman whose wife (O’Donnell) is pregnant. He engages in what he believes to be a petty theft. The opportunity (temptation) practically falls in his lap. Unfortunately there’s nothing petty about his crime. And each time he tries to clear himself, he gets in deeper. Blackmail and a couple of murders later, Granger’s character is running for his life. Anthony Mann directed.

Both films are not only blessed by great cinematography both are able to draw from a stable of under-rated character actors, many of whom will be familiar to fans of “B” films of he era.

Netflix has put both these films on one disc.  If you are staying in and you are looking for some spirits to get in the mood, get a blanket, dim the lights and pour a glass of whiskey. Somehow wine spritzers and tough guys and gals don’t go together.