The longevity of television’s Dexter speaks to audience interest in and creative potential of the premise in which an authoritative figure, a Bloodstain Pattern Analyst in the case of the Showtime drama, commits the very crimes he or she is specialized in thwarting.
After all the dust had settled and leaked blood had dried following the nightmare that was World War II, the Allied states co-organized a special commission for the purpose of investigating the details thought out by the sick minds of the Nazi regime who perpetrated the ghastly horrors in Europe.
Guest in the House Written by Hunt Stromberg Directed by John Brahm USA, 1944 The family unit is, or should be, the strongest in one’s life, the one from which a solid emotional backbone is based from, the unshakable bond that brings its members together through thick and thin. For that reason, a troubled familial …
Who can tell when they are being conned? Or lied to for that matter? Some people are blessed (or cursed) with a potentially dangerous gift, that of being able to fool their way into earning other people’s confidence. It is a perverse talent to say the least, a double-edged sword.
Where the Sidewalk Ends Written by Ben Hecht Directed by Otto Preminger USA, 1950 To those paying attention, film history teaches that groups of like-minded artists enjoy working together. The better the result of their initial project, the higher the likelihood the same team shall reconvene to produce one, two, or more films, hopefully of …
Marilyn Monroe’s legacy in popular culture and film varies greatly depending on whom one asks. For some, her photo shoots and the unforgettably attractive looks advertised through them meant she was, and for some, still is, the epitome of sex appeal. For others, her roles in films like Some Like It Hot or The Seven Year Itch painted her image as a great leading lady in romantic comedies and, in the case of the former, somewhat of a ditsy dame.
Cry Danger Written by William Bowers Directed by Robert Parish USA, 1951 The road that ultimately leads creative people in the filmmaking business to the highly coveted director’s chair is rarely the same from one candidate to the next. Some are fortunate enough to direct a feature from the get-go. The number of directorial debuts …
A reoccurring question in the ongoing study and appreciation of art is whether art reflects life or vice versa. The real answer ostensibly lies somewhere in the middle, each informing and influencing the other, both embraced in seamless synchronicity. Knowing that, it stands to reason that art can, in effect, comment on itself and has at many a given opportunity in history.
This Gun for Hire Written by Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett Directed by Frank Tuttle U.S.A, 1942 The great American actor Alan Ladd died at the unfairly young age of 50. With a series of leading roles in some timeless classics during the 1940s and 1950s he carved himself a firm place in Hollywood lore. …
Last week’s column entry, White Heat, was a film directed by Raoul Walsh which exemplified some of the very best assets of both the gangster and noir genres within the same picture. Given that the latter evolved, in part, out of the former, it only seemed natural that by the end of the 1940s, when the gangster pictures were less prominent at the theatre and noir was picking up considerable steam, the two would coalesce seamlessly.
The Long Goodbye Directed by Robert Altman Written by Leigh Brackett USA, 1973 My introduction to classic film was through Humphrey Bogart. I would watch Casablanca (1942) and To Have and Have Not (1944) with my mother, but none of his films had as much of an effect on me as The Big Sleep (1946) …
Where would people be without their mothers? Whether by birth, adoption or simply maternal figures, these great dames have, since time immemorial, commanded love, admiration, respect and devotion from their children. Codes of conduct, signs of affection, life lessons, mothers are so often considered the obvious heart and soul of one’s family, the father more commonly seen as the backbone.
Film noir comes full circle in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). Thirty years before its release, crime dramas saw the birth of a fundamental character – the noir hero. From Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler, The Maltese Falcon (1941) to The Big Sleep (1946), the noir hero inhabits a world of hopelessness and dark tragedy. The Maltese Falcon saw Humphrey Bogart’s inaugural portrayal of this amoral anti-hero and began film noir as we know it.
2005, judging by the theatrical releases, was an exceptional year for the neonoir sub-genre. Last summer, for the special Friday (neo)Noir series, reviews for Rian Johnson’s breakout independent hit Brick and Robert Rodriguez’s cinematic visualization of Sin City, both from 2005, were written. A couple of weeks ago another neonoir from the same year was put under the microscope, Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. This week features, yes, still another entry from that illustrious year, one from the most lauded director of the bunch, David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence.
‘White Heat’ Directed by Raoul Walsh Written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts Starring James Cagney, Virginia, Edmond O’Brien USA, 114 min – 1949. “Made it, Ma! Top of the world! Raoul Walsh’s White Heat stars James Cagney as yet another gangster (Cagney being known for other films such as …
It was only a few weeks ago that the Howard Hawks classic The Big Sleep, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, was reviewed for the purpose of this column. Certainly an amusing film, the highlight of which is the pitch perfect acting from each and every cast member.
Four small time gangsters, Kochak (Lewis Charles), his cousin Poldi (Guy Thomojan), Fitch (Zero Mostel) and their de facto leader Blackie (Jack Palance) are playing cards in a seedy part of New Orleans. Kochack, a little dizzy and very sweaty, is visibly ill and demands to leave, much to the consternation of his playing mates, who have unfinished business with him, namely, the cold hard cash he owes them.
Detour Written by Marin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer U.S.A., 1945 The women of film noir, those seductive, cruel creatures baptized ‘femmes fatales’ (French for ‘deadly women’) present a unique sort of challenge for the male protagonists. All too often the latter is at least somewhat aware of the former’s cold …
Strangers in the Night Written by Bryant Ford and Paul Gangelin Directed by Anthony Mann U.S.A., 1944 Coping mechanisms vary from person to person, innumerable variable influencing how, why and when an individual must invest a conceited effort in attenuating psychological and emotional stress caused by past trauma. Visits to the doctor, medication, a …
From the first shot of Trust Me, Clark Gregg makes it obvious that his satirical picture owes a huge debt to Sunset Boulevard. Both are film noirs set in Hollywood that concern themselves with female actors clawing desperately at fame, but each is told from an opposite end of the spectrum. Billy Wilder’s classic memorably depicts an aging has-been desperate to reclaim her former glory, and Trust Me follows an up-and-coming starlet willing to go to any lengths to obtain celebrity. And the allusions just pile on after that.
Fictional private detective icon Philip Marlowe, a creation from the mind of famed author Raymond Chandler, was one such character who always succeeded in putting millions of puzzle pieces together. 1944 saw the release of a great film adaptation of a Marlowe story, Murder, My Sweet, with Dick Powell playing the aforementioned private dick. 1946 was the year a Philip Marlowe adventure with a lot more star power behind it was bought to the silver screen, The Big Sleep, directed by legend Howard Hawks and starring none other than Humphrey Bogart.
Harmony Korine explores the oft avoided subcultures of the United States, John Carpenter’s greater strengths lie in sharing thriller and horror tales and Elia Kazan’s most famous and respected projects were those which directly concentrated on critical social issues affecting the United States during this time, issues which far too many preferred to either shove under the rug or virulently disagreed to reach compromise on. Gentleman’s Agreement, Pinky and On the Waterfront come to mind. He did venture into different territory however, although it felt like even in such attempts his desire to comment on politics or society was never far behind. In 1950 he made Panic in the Streets, a film that falls firmly into the film noir mould while turning a few of its perceivable qualities on their heads.
Out of the Past Written by Daniel Mainwaring Directed by Jacques Tourneur U.S.A., 1947 Sometimes, there is no eluding one’s past, regardless of how hard one tries. The reasons are numerous. Perhaps the emotional and psychological weight of an event in one’s life are too great to shake off. In other instances the shackles exist …