I Found it at the Movies: Film Noir Reviews: Movie Review Series, #1

Film Noir

During a period running roughly from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, Hollywood produced a downbeat genre or style of film known as film noir. The phrase literally translates into black film or cinema. This style represented a backlash against the happy musicals and comedies that Hollywood was known for up until then. It was created around the pulp fiction literature of the time, such as the novels of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Cornell Woolrich, Graham Greene, W.R. Burnett, and Mickey Spillane, to name a few.

The dark cinematography of film noir, along with the stories of anti-hero detectives or victims of femme fatales, reflect the post-World War II anxieties that arose in American society. These movies sometimes reflect a certain amount of misogyny, although in the case of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, the main character sought to act as a white knight to the helpless women he encounters. In that way, Chandler was more of a Romantic pulp fiction writer.

My fascination for this genre began in my youth, when I watched these films on television during the late night movies on a Friday or Saturday night or Sunday afternoon.

It is probably, in great part, due to my early exposure to the hard-bitten heroes in these movies that I came to love the crime fiction genre. These films, along with the crime shows of my youth, such as The Saint, Mannix, Perry Mason, and Name of the Game, were like candy that I just couldn’t get enough of. Not to mention the new breed of woman emerging at the time on television shows like Honey West and The Avengers.

Film noir may have reached its peak (theatrically) during the Forties and Fifties, but its influence continues to this day.

The following film noir reviews are organized in three parts. I hope you find them helpful or, at least, entertaining.

Part One: Film Noir’s Early Years

As the U.S. entered World War II, film noir made its peripatetic appearance. Movies of the film noir ilk were relatively rare and it actually wasn’t until the mid-1940s that this style or genre caught on and an abundance of such movies hit the big screen.

While the film noir style (or genre) borrowed from many sources, it was first inspired by the literary world. Authors like Dashiell Hammett openly criticized the Sherlock Holmes stories as puzzle-solving exercises. For Hammett was less interested in the solution of a mystery than in portraying his detective hero’s encounters with the evils of modern society in a vivid and compelling fashion. (According to Out of the Shadows: Expanding the Canon of Classic Film Noir by Gene D. Phillips.)

As Raymond Chandler put it, according to that source, The solution of the mystery is only the olive in the martini.

The third major literary influence in creating the film noir craze was James M. Cain.

By focusing on the darkness and corruption their protagonists faced while doing their jobs, these writers took the crime out of the parlor room and onto the streets.

You may notice that I refer to the film noir genre or style, as there is controversy among film aficionados about which one it is. If it’s a genre, it’s one based on the conventions of various pre-existing movie genres. And it’s a genre with a distinctive tone, philosophy, cinematography … in short, style. But, without a doubt, it was a style captured well by the early pulp fiction writers, whose lone detectives sought answers down the mean streets of whatever city they were in.

HIGH SIERRA (1941)

In this early example of the heist film as noir, a fellow named Big Mac (no relation to the burger, I assume) wants to rob jewelry from a posh Palm Springs resort. But not alone. He wants Roy Earle (played by Humphrey Bogart) to do the deed for him, because he’s so experienced. And Big Mac … well, he’s just a chickenshit, I guess.

Thing is Earle was just released from prison. Plus he was pardoned by the governor. So, as befitting a film noir, we have a situation in which a character who should know better makes a bad choice. In this case, a really, really bad one.

So Earle drives all across the freaking country to pull the job. He meets up with three men and a woman named Marie, the latter played by the awesome Ida Lupino. And even though Earle wants to ditch the babe send Marie home to Los Angeles, she stays on – of course!

Now, you know Earle is essentially a decent man (for a criminal, that is), because of several things. First, on the way to meet the men (and Ida/Marie), he hooks up with this nice couple, whose daughter has a gimpy crippled gamey disabled foot. Earle takes steps to find the daughter a (sorta) doctor, who it turns out can fix her foot. Second, Earle sticks up for Marie when one of the three men bully her. Third, Earle adopts a stray dog, named Pard. And if the dog likes him, how bad can he be?

But, of course, the heist goes all awry, when a security guard butts in and Bogart is forced to shoot him. And the three men? Well, they have an accident, leaving two dead and one alive to squeal to the cops.

Anyhow, Earle makes off with the jewels. But being that there’s dragnet out to catch him, it gives him little time. Despite that, he drops by the nice couple’s house to watch their now-mended daughter dance with her fiancé. And, instead of thanking Earle profusely, the daughter proceeds to tell him she doesn’t love him. In fact, she acts like a total bitch, who should die screaming.

Yet, it’s the newspapers that have dubbed Roy Earle as Mad Dog Roy Earle. As if.

This all leads up to a tearful parting between Earle and Marie (who takes Pard in a basket, not unlike Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz). However, they eventually reunite (kinda), when Earle and the cops have a big shoot-out in the high sierras at the end.

I won’t tell you what happens, but I’ll say this much. The ending is sad and ironic, because everyone gets so screwed.

Directed by Raoul Walsh

Produced by Mark Hellinger

Screenplay by John Huston and W.R. Burnett (based on the novel by W.R. Burnett)

Trivia question: Who owned the dog who played Pard in the film?

I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941)

Originally entitled Hot Spot, this movie is one of the (if not the) earliest movie recognized as a film noir.

Essentially, the plot boils down to this. A promoter, Frankie Christopher (played by Victor Mature), accepts a challenge posed by friends he dines with at a restaurant—namely, that he can play Pygmalion and turn their waitress, Vicky Lynn (played by Carole Landis) into a big star. Frankie proceeds to make good on that bet.

However, behind Frankie’s back, Vicki (note the cool new spelling of her name, because she’s so awesome now) signs with a Hollywood producer. And the day before her departure for the Golden State, she tells Frankie about it. Then Vicki’s sister, Jill (played by Betty Grable, in one of her few dramatic roles) comes home (because the sisters lived together) and finds Vicki dead and Frankie right there.

Frankie is, of course, suspected of killing her. And his antagonist is the extremely hard-assed police officer, Ed Cornell (played by Laird Creeger). Basically, Cornell plays the role like an early Dirty Harry—and pretty much obsessively hounds Frankie. And while the cops (or, at least, one of them) suspect Frankie, Jill tries to help Frankie out.

I wouldn’t want to say more, in case you haven’t seen it. I will mention that frequent B-movie patsy Elisha Cook, Jr., makes an appearance. And if the police seem a bit too hard-assed, know that there is a reason.

About the rest, I’ll only say that Betty Grable acquits herself well in the role of Frankie’s ally. I’m disappointed she didn’t get more dramatic roles.

This is pretty much a movie to pass the time with. It had just enough in it to keep me interested. And also wondering why they included the song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow in the soundtrack. That was just weird.

Directed by H. Bruce Humberson

Produced by Milton Sperling

Screenplay by Dwight Taylor and Steve Fisher (based on the novel by Steve Fisher)

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)

This third adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel is without a doubt the best.

Unlike most films based on books, the movie sticks closely to the novel’s plot. In fact, it is nearly a word-for-word re-creation.

The only two deviations that come readily to mind include the casting of Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. In the novel, Spade is described as looking like a blonde Satan. Not a bit like Bogey!

The other is the Flitcraft Parable, a story within the story Spade tells Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Unfortunately, the parable’s existential bent goes right over Brigid’s head and digresses from the plot enough to make it extraneous from a filmmaking perspective.

The film is one of the great classic noir movies. You can feel the tension between Bogart and Mary Astor as Brigid.

Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Elijah Cook, Jr. play their respective roles to perfection. Their characters will do anything to get their hands on the titular prize—an enameled, jewel-encrusted bird statuette.

However, Spade is something of a hard case. One who can only be pushed so far. And, while he plays each of the supporting characters off one another, it’s for a purpose that he won’t reveal to them.

The ambiguity of Spade’s allegiances is what makes the plot so memorable. Why is he looking for the Falcon? For Brigid? For money? And what about the one who killed his partner?

In the end, Spade gets what he wants—sorta.

Directed by John Huston

Produced by Hal B. Wallis

Screenplay by John Huston (based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett)

Trivia question: How many copies of the Maltese Falcon used when making the film and why?

THE GLASS KEY (1942)

This movie, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett tells the story of a political fixer and social media manager marketing manager helpful assistant named Ed Beaumont (played by Alan Ladd). Ed provides his services to