Film-Noir Discussion/DVD Review Thread

[cigar joe]

looks interesting

[greenbudgie]

<spoilers>

He was blow out the cargo door at impact.

anyway today....

Dark City(1950) Dir by William Dieterle

Bad luck begets bad blood when desperate GI Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) gets taken by grifter Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) and his cronies and hangs himself, launching unseen brother Sidney (Mike Mazurki) on a table-turning vendetta against which Haley alone has a shadow of a chance. With chanteuse girlfriend Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott) as his beacon, the hunted sets out to uncover his hunter -- and reckons with his own misdeeds along the way. Just a bit too draggy, with a lot of rear projected processed shots, Heston's debut film also has Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as a punch drunk flunky. 6.5/10

Does Lizabeth Scott actually sing five songs in 'Dark City'? I see that it has a running time of 98 minutes on IMDb and a list of five songs. That rather a lot for a noir. Two songs perhaps at the most. I have noticed that there is a UK TV cut that has a running time of 88 minutes. So perhaps they cut some of the songs out in their edit of the movie.

[T.H.]

I bit the bullet and ordered the three Film Noir Archive sets and will try to not be a complete ass and consistently post reviews here come January.

The way I look at it is I'm paying Twilight Time prices for 711 Ocean Drive and The Lineup, paying 10-15 for The Crimson Kimono and then hoping to get my money's worth on the other movies I haven't seen. There's 27 movies total in the three sets so hopefully there will be some gems.

[drinkanddestroy]

Muller's festival this year will be comprised of foreign films

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/sf-film-noir-fest-proves-darkness-descends-on-the-entire-world-of-cinema

[dave jenkins]

Muller's festival this year will be comprised of foreign films

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/sf-film-noir-fest-proves-darkness-descends-on-the-entire-world-of-cinema

He's desperate. There are no more films noir to discover and present, so he has to look for films abroad and re-brand them. I like Muller, and I've met him a couple times,  but he's a hustler.

[drinkanddestroy]

He's desperate. There are no more films noir to discover and present, so he has to look for films abroad and re-brand them. I like Muller, and I've met him a couple times,  but he's a hustler.

I have no problem with foreign films. To the contrary, I’d be happy to be introduced to them.

If, as you say, he needs to do something new, how about taking the festival to New York!

[dave jenkins]

As he explained when he came to MoMA one year, he's like a visiting mafioso in the Big Apple. The local capos will let him bring a few pictures in, but he can't run a full-fledged festival. If the capos want a festival, they'll run it themselves.

[drinkanddestroy]

As he explained when he came to MoMA one year, he's like a visiting mafioso in the Big Apple. The local capos will let him bring a few pictures in, but he can't run a full-fledged festival. If the capos want a festival, they'll run it themselves.

who are the capos?

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Guillermo Del Toro remake  of Nightmare Alley begins filming

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/collider.com/nightmare-alley-set-photo-filming-begins-guillermo-del-toro/%3famp

[dave jenkins]

who are the capos?

The MoMA guys, The Lincoln Center mob, etc.

[drinkanddestroy]

The MoMA guys, The Lincoln Center mob, etc.

There is not a venue in New York in which he can hold it?

[dave jenkins]

Apparently not.

[drinkanddestroy]

Noir Alley is on vacation now for TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar.

[cigar joe]

For anybody about to  go through Noir withdrawals during 31 days of Oscar here are the Noirs, Transitional Noirs and Neo Noirs that did get Oscar nods that are going to be shown:

2/2/020 - 12:00 PM The Maltese Falcon (1941)

2/4/2020 - 2:00 AM White Heat (1949)

2/6/2020  - 9:15 AM Caged (1950)

2/6/2020 -  1:15 AM Crossfire (1947)

2/7/2020 - 3:30 AM Mister Buddwing (1966)

2/8/2020 - 10:00 PM Atlantic City (1980)

2/9/2020 - 6:45 AM Mystery Street (1950)

2/10/2020 - 4:15 AM The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

2/12/2020 - 10:15 AM The Harder They Fall (1956)

2/15/2020 - 10:00 PM Key Largo (1948)

2/15/2020 - 4:45 AM Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

2/16/2020 - 12:45 AM Taxi Driver (1976)

2/19/2020 - 6:00 PM The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

2/20/2020 - 8:00 PM Dr. Strangelove (1964)

2/21/2020 - 4:15 AM Pennies From Heaven (1981)

2/22/2020 - 12:45 AM A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

2/27/2020 - 6:30 AM Johnny Eager (1942)

2/27/2020 - 10:00 PM Kiss of Death (1947)

3/2/2020 - 2:30 PM The Window (1949)

3/2/2020- 4:00 PM Strangers on a Train (1951)

3/2/2020 - 8:00 PM Laura (1944)

[T.H.]

The Black Book (1949) - aka Reign of Terror. Entertaining and gorgeously filmed by the GOAT John Alton, but the plot is silly and ridiculous. This isn't noir either even though the visuals couldn't possibly be any more noir. I find the overwhelming majority of period pieces to be stiff, stuffy bores, but there's more than enough here to warrant a watch - and it's a very American film of its time, in a good way. Any Mann + Alton collaboration deserves to be seen. C+

As for the transfer on the Noir Archives set, it surpassed my low expectations considering Mill Creek had involvement and the general reviews for the sets weren't exactly glowing.