Down These Mean Streets A Man Must Go - The Film Noir Thread

[Inspector Abberline]

The Drowning Pool 1975 directed by Stuart Rosenberg
The Louisiana bayou may seem odd location for a Noir setting,but this sequel to Paul Newmans 1960s Harper movie has this hard boiled detective thrown into a complicated story of blackmail,money and corruption.Paul Newman gives us his usual top notch perfrormance,In his character Harper he gives us a rather laid back kind of detective that reminded me of Elliott Gould's Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye another great modern noir.
Since its set down south,no not Plymouth but Louisiana,nearly everybody is slightly sweaty or slimey in some way. Murray Hamilton is the slightly sweaty slimey Kilbourne a rich oil baron, Paul Koslo as one of his sweaty henchmen,then again did he play any other type of role during the 70's or 80's,remember he played a similar character in Mr. Majestyk as Bobby Kopas.THen we have Andrew Robinson as the local stud ,he probably sweated quite abit since a rather young Melanie Griffith throws herself at every available man.Cult favourite Anthony Franciosa is also on hand to wrong foot our detective,Franciosa is such a versatile actor he seems to be almost forgotten now,shame as he was brilliant in Across 110th Street as top gumba goon Nick D'Salvio .
Not forgetting Mrs Paul Newman aka Joanne Woodward as the centre of the films story.All in all its a cracking detective story that combines all the gumshoeness of a noir but has that tacky 1970's quality we all know and luv.By the way its called the drowning pool because of a scene later in the film that is quite clever and has a great conclusion.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Rififi (1955)

Down these mean Paris streets a man must go.

Jules Dassin's quite magnificent crime thriller is as tough and gritty as film noir gets. Full of unscrupulous characters, in fact even the crooks are crooked. Indeed Dassin himself paints a grim picture of the French capital. It's not until the final reel that we get the merest sight of Paris's tourist attractions thus ensuring there is no celebratory mood in evidence.

Anyone who enjoys watching modern heist films will notice some thng from the very best of them probably appeared first in Rififi....

I could go on, however i know the Inspector hasn't seen this and has ordered it so i won't spoil anything for him.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Rififi (1955)

Glad you enjoyed it. Did you know Jules Dassin also acts in the film, under a pseudonym, playing César le Milanais?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Glad you enjoyed it. Did you know Jules Dassin also acts in the film, under a pseudonym, playing César le Milanais?

I knew he was in it. It says so on the case but i didn't know whom he played so thanks for that.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I knew he was in it. It says so on the case but i didn't know whom he played so thanks for that.

I didn't know when I saw it first, and read it in a newspaper shortly afterwards (I think it was the New York Times!).

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Fallen Angel (1945) - Otto Preminger

Otto Preminger's classic film noir offering captures the common postwar struggle to get ahead, and one man's balancing act between two women. Dana Andrews stars as a drifter named Eric Stanton, who, after landing in a small California town, falls in love with Stella (Linda Darnell), a diner waitress. She makes it clear that she'll have nothing to do with Eric unless he has some money, so he hatches a plan to marry June Mills (Alice Faye), a wealthy reclusive spinster who is in love with him. Unfortunately, right after the wedding, Stella turns up dead, and the blame is placed on Eric.

A very character-driven Noir, Fallen Angel concentrates more on the exploits of a few key characters who at first appear to be your usual noir stereotypes (hustler, femme fatale etc.) but as the story progresses and the characters are fleshed out you quickly learn that these are no mere stereotypes and start to be dragged into their little world. The film seems to attract mixed reviews due to it concentrating more on the characters and their relationships than being driven by an action-packed plot but Fallen Angel remains a firm favourite of mine which I enjoyed revisiting in HD thanks to the good folk at the BFI.

Oh, and watching Linda Darnell eating a hamburger is pure pornography.

8/10

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Dana Andrews is one of the more unsung noir actors, in comparison to Bogart, Mitchum etc.

His presence even makes Night of the Demon feel noir-like at times.

[mr 420]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Dana Andrews is one of the more unsung noir actors, in comparison to Bogart, Mitchum etc.

His presence even makes Night of the Demon feel noir-like at times.

What? Even with the c@ck ripping scene? Hmm, I need to re-evaluate that one.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by mr 420

What? Even with the c@ck ripping scene? Hmm, I need to re-evaluate that one.

The only Night of the Demon worth discussing doesn't involve a ridiculous bigfoot costume.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Demon

[Inspector Abberline]

Oh, and watching Linda Darnell eating a hamburger is pure pornography.

You should see me when I eat a hotdog then...