Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[cigar joe]

The Brasher Doubloon (1947) Flawed Classic Noir "The other, other, other Classic Noir Marlowe"

Directed by John Brahm who directed two period piece Noir The Locket, and The Lodger before this film. Brahm began directing some TV after 1951 and eventually transitioned over. He directed a dozen episodes of The Twilight Zone, notably the classic episode "Time Enough at Last" with Burgess Meredith and quite a few of the series Noirish episodes. The Brasher Doubloon was based on Raymond Chandler's High Window, the screen play was by Dorothy Bennett from a adaptation by Leonard Praskins with Ring Lardner Jr. (Laura, The Big Night, and M*A*S*H) probably contributing some satirical material to the script.

The Cinematography was by Lloyd Ahern Sr. (Cry of the City, and later TV notably The Fugitive pilot movie and some episodes.  Music was by David Buttolph. 

The film stars George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe, Nancy Guild as Merle Davis, Conrad Janis as Leslie Murdock,Roy Roberts as Police Lt. Breeze, Fritz Kortner as Rudolph Vannier, Florence Bates as Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock, Marvin Miller as Vince Blair, Reed Hadley as Dr. Moss (uncredited), Paul Maxey as the coroner, and Housely Stevenson (Dark Passage) and Jack Overman (vet of 12 Classic Noir) as the apartment manager.

I'd seen The Brasher Doubloon a long time ago, it was a crappy blurry copy and it didn't impress. I rewatched a very good copy of it the other night. Now after having viewed and having digested a lot more Noirs in between, I've upped my opinion of it.

What did the trick this go round is all the other bit players that I now recognized from all the other Films Noir. Character actors like Paul Maxey (The Narrow Margin, Highway 301, Deadline USA), Fritz Kortner (Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle from Somewhere In the Night), Roy Roberts (from Nightmare Alley, Force of Evil, The Killer That Stalked New York), Reed Hadley (from The Dark Corner plus he V.O. narrated a lot of other Film Noir), Marvin Miller from his turn as the blind piano player at a Manhattan night club in Deadline At Dawn . These character actors now bring a lot of Cinematic Memory from the Film Noir "universe" to the film. 7/10

[titoli]

The Brasher Doubloon (1947) Flawed Classic Noir "The other, other, other Classic Noir Marlowe"

Directed by John Brahm who directed two period piece Noir The Locket, and The Lodger before this film. Brahm began directing some TV after 1951 and eventually transitioned over. He directed a dozen episodes of The Twilight Zone, notably the classic episode "Time Enough at Last" with Burgess Meredith and quite a few of the series Noirish episodes. The Brasher Doubloon was based on Raymond Chandler's High Window, the screen play was by Dorothy Bennett from a adaptation by Leonard Praskins with Ring Lardner Jr. (Laura, The Big Night, and M*A*S*H) probably contributing some satirical material to the script.

The Cinematography was by Lloyd Ahern Sr. (Cry of the City, and later TV notably The Fugitive pilot movie and some episodes.  Music was by David Buttolph. 

The film stars George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe, Nancy Guild as Merle Davis, Conrad Janis as Leslie Murdock,Roy Roberts as Police Lt. Breeze, Fritz Kortner as Rudolph Vannier, Florence Bates as Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock, Marvin Miller as Vince Blair, Reed Hadley as Dr. Moss (uncredited), Paul Maxey as the coroner, and Housely Stevenson (Dark Passage) and Jack Overman (vet of 12 Classic Noir) as the apartment manager.

I'd seen The Brasher Doubloon a long time ago, it was a crappy blurry copy and it didn't impress. I rewatched a very good copy of it the other night. Now after having viewed and having digested a lot more Noirs in between, I've upped my opinion of it.

What did the trick this go round is all the other bit players that I now recognized from all the other Films Noir. Character actors like Paul Maxey (The Narrow Margin, Highway 301, Deadline USA), Fritz Kortner (Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle from Somewhere In the Night), Roy Roberts (from Nightmare Alley, Force of Evil, The Killer That Stalked New York), Reed Hadley (from The Dark Corner plus he V.O. narrated a lot of other Film Noir), Marvin Miller from his turn as the blind piano player at a Manhattan night club in Deadline At Dawn . These character actors now bring a lot of Cinematic Memory from the Film Noir "universe" to the film. 7/10

Saw it eons ago and wasn-t impressed, also taking into consideration that the novel is probably the weakest of the canon, or at least a toss up with the last one. I think your rating is quite generous.

[dave jenkins]

The film stars George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe, Nancy Guild as Merle Davis, Conrad Janis as Leslie Murdock,Roy Roberts as Police Lt. Breeze, Fritz Kortner as Rudolph Vannier, Florence Bates as Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock, Marvin Miller as Vince Blair, Reed Hadley as Dr. Moss (uncredited), Paul Maxey as the coroner, and Housely Stevenson (Dark Passage) and Jack Overman (vet of 12 Classic Noir) as the apartment manager.

I'd seen The Brasher Doubloon a long time ago, it was a crappy blurry copy and it didn't impress. I rewatched a very good copy of it the other night. Now after having viewed and having digested a lot more Noirs in between, I've upped my opinion of it.

What did the trick this go round is all the other bit players that I now recognized from all the other Films Noir. Character actors like Paul Maxey (The Narrow Margin, Highway 301, Deadline USA), Fritz Kortner (Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle from Somewhere In the Night), Roy Roberts (from Nightmare Alley, Force of Evil, The Killer That Stalked New York), Reed Hadley (from The Dark Corner plus he V.O. narrated a lot of other Film Noir), Marvin Miller from his turn as the blind piano player at a Manhattan night club in Deadline At Dawn . These character actors now bring a lot of Cinematic Memory from the Film Noir "universe" to the film. 7/10

I can see how you'd appreciate it more now, but I find the casting of Nancy Guild fatal. She absolutely makes my dick shrivel. And my rule is: No Hard-on, No Noir.

[cigar joe]

I can see how you'd appreciate it more now, but I find the casting of Nancy Guild fatal. She absolutely makes my dick shrivel. And my rule is: No Hard-on, No Noir.

When is the last time you watched it? I watched it about 4 times before I changed my opinion.

https://ok.ru/video/2859522460340

[dave jenkins]

Thanks, CJ, I gave it another shot, but the other thing I've got against it is the plot: dullsville.

I will grant that it's better than Neil Jordan's Marlowe (2023).

[T.H.]

I Walk Alone (1948) - Outside of the photography, which is phenomenal at times, this is sort of a dull movie, and a long 97 minutes. The script is definitely flawed, and had to come from the stage (or be influenced by it) and for me that usually bogs down a potential good movie. That is certainly the case here. This isn't a bad movie by any means, but it needed to be a tight 82 minutes, and the script definitely needed another draft - and the movie needed a little more scope. C

[noodles_leone]

La Vie au Ranch (Sophie Letourneur, 2009) - 8/10
Les Coquillettes (Sophie Letourneur, 2013) - 7.5/10

Those two are exactly as funny as they are exhausting.

[dave jenkins]

Cien / Shadow (1956) - 8/10.  A man, having been hurled from a train, soon dies. As his face is battered, and he was carrying no documents, he is almost impossible to identify. Security agents, police and a medical examiner try to piece together his identity, and in the process, three accounts emerge: one set during World War II, one in the immediate aftermath of the war, and one in contemporary Poland. The dead man is the link among all three. Great suspense cinema directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. https://35mm.online/en/vod/feature-films/shadow

[T.H.]

I Wake Up Screaming (1941) - Very notable, because it's arguably the first, and the photography is phenomenal. But like This Gun for Hire, it's more important or influential than great, but the heavy noir visuals give an ordinary (at best) plot a nice bump. B

[dave jenkins]

I Wake Up Screaming (1941) - Very notable, because it's arguably the first, and the photography is phenomenal. But like This Gun for Hire, it's more important or influential than great, but the heavy noir visuals give an ordinary (at best) plot a nice bump. B

On the Fox DVD you get a deleted scene of Betty Grable singing a provocative song. I can see why it was cut, but the movie would have been much improved if they'd left it in.

[T.H.]

On the Fox DVD you get a deleted scene of Betty Grable singing a provocative song. I can see why it was cut, but the movie would have been much improved if they'd left it in.

I don't know why the character wasn't a singer. They could have added two musical scenes while not abandoning the darker tone. Instead of waiting tables, Grable's character should have been a singer in a low rent type establishment, and then add a scene where she performs at a classier place. It definitely would have helped the movie since the plot wasn't great, and the movie would lose momentum at certain points.

[dave jenkins]

I don't know why the character wasn't a singer. They could have added two musical scenes while not abandoning the darker tone. Instead of waiting tables, Grable's character should have been a singer in a low rent type establishment, and then add a scene where she performs at a classier place.

They should have invited you to the story conferences. Great suggestion.

The film was based on a Steve Fisher novel, and the filmmakers may have taken things from it that hampered their re-imaginings. But they changed it a lot (Eddie informs us): they moved it from LA to New York, added the flashback structure, and changed the characterization of the bad cop, Ed Cornell. Apparently, the Cornell in the book was based on Cornell Woolrich, who was a beanpole and a strange guy. Fisher knew him and was either sending him up or doing some heavy speculating. In any case, casting Laird Cregar really changed things.

I think there's been an over emphasis on this being a film noir. Noir hadn't even been invented yet. This is a hybrid of things that would later come to be known as noir and a standard melodrama but also a Betty Grable picture. There are a lot of jokes in the film. Eddie is really good about pointing out the disparities: for example, a bar-counter scene where the three Svengalis try to out-snark each other is shot with Dutch angles. The jokes and the mise-en-scene just don't go together.

[T.H.]

They should have invited you to the story conferences. Great suggestion.

The film was based on a Steve Fisher novel, and the filmmakers may have taken things from it that hampered their re-imaginings. But they changed it a lot (Eddie informs us): they moved it from LA to New York, added the flashback structure, and changed the characterization of the bad cop, Ed Cornell. Apparently, the Cornell in the book was based on Cornell Woolrich, who was a beanpole and a strange guy. Fisher knew him and was either sending him up or doing some heavy speculating. In any case, casting Laird Cregar really changed things.

I think there's been an over emphasis on this being a film noir. Noir hadn't even been invented yet. This is a hybrid of things that would later come to be known as noir and a standard melodrama but also a Betty Grable picture. There are a lot of jokes in the film. Eddie is really good about pointing out the disparities: for example, a bar-counter scene where the three Svengalis try to out-snark each other is shot with Dutch angles. The jokes and the mise-en-scene just don't go together.

I agree with everything you've said, but I believe the studio wanted to go for a darker tone when it was re-released. The movie almost feels accidentally noir.

[cigar joe]

I think there's been an over emphasis on this being a film noir. Noir hadn't even been invented yet. This is a hybrid of things that would later come to be known as noir and a standard melodrama but also a Betty Grable picture. There are a lot of jokes in the film. Eddie is really good about pointing out the disparities: for example, a bar-counter scene where the three Svengalis try to out-snark each other is shot with Dutch angles. The jokes and the mise-en-scene just don't go together.

Wrong Charles O'Brien researched the term in "Films Noir in France Before the Liberation" The original coinage of the term "Films Noir" was by French Right Wing and Religious publications in the mid 1930s and was used to condemn any films that depicted crimes that went against the laws of the state (i.e. criminals successfully getting away unpunished), or films that had charachters of low morals in films about any taboo subjects. characters with no redeeming values (i.e. they wanted the protagonists to either be shown paying for their slatternly behaviours (i.e. burning alive in a firey car wreck (subtext for burning in hell)) or seeing "the light" and begging for mercy.

If the film didn't pass their smell test they were Films Noir.

Of the original nine film noir idenified in Charles Obrien's "Film Noir In France: Before The Liberation" Crime and Punishment (1935), The Lower Depths (Les Bas-fonds) (1936), P?p? le Moko (1937), The Puritan (1938), Port of Shadows(Le Quai des brumes) (1938), La B?te Humaine (1938), H?tel du Nord (1938), Le Jour se l?ve (Daybreak) 1939, and Le Dernier Tournant(1939), only five of the films are of the poetic realism movement. These are the ones with the predominate Visual Style that has become identified as the Film Noir Style. It's the creative use of light and dark, shadows, shilouettes, Camera angles (Dutch, High, Low,) Deep focus and erattic perspectives of these films, that was used to depict Visually aienation, obsession, a slightly nausia inducing world out of control, one of madness and insanity, (partially influenced by the earlier German Expessionisim, Surrealist Films, and Horror Films) a VisuaL STYLE that is now predominately associated with Films Noir.
 

 

[noodles_leone]

Voyages en Italie (Letourneur, 2023) - 8.5/10
None of you will ever even have a chance to catch it, but this is absolutely great.