Category: crime film
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Knockout Punch Noir: The Runyonesque, Raw-Boned World of Prizefighting Inspires Tales of Corruption, Violence and Redemption
Humphrey Bogart, “The Harder They Fall” (1956). By Paul Parcellin This post contains spoilers, so you may want to see the films before reading the article. You’d be hard pressed to find a sport more noir-like than professional boxing. It’s got all of the elements of noir rolled into a savage athletic competition whose object…
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Femmes Fatale Are Deceptively Charming, Dangerous and Often Lethal; But One Among Them Tips the Scales When It Comes to Evil Doings — And She’s Probably Not The One You’re Thinking Of
Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor, “The Killing” (1956). By Paul Parcellin Be forewarned: Many spoilers are included throughout the text below. Sure, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), the husband liquidating murderess of “Double Indemnity” (1944) might be your go-to gal whenever the term “femme fatale” is mentioned. She’s as coolly detached and methodical as a hangman,…
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Ripped From the Headlines, Part III: True Stories About Dangerous Characters, Corrupt Officials and Gangs of Criminals Who Hold the Public at Bay
John Dall, Peggy Cummins, “Gun Crazy” (1950). By Paul Parcellin It only takes a couple of desperate, determined outsiders with a gun to start a crime wave. At times, a single perpetrator can do the work of two — or more. That’s what happens in several of the films based on true stories that make…
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Ripped From the Headlines, Part II: A Feast of Murder, Robbery and Exploitation
Cecil Kellaway, John Garfield, Lana Turner, “The Postman Always Rings Twice” (1946). By Paul Parcellin As you’ve probably gathered by now, the 1940s and ’50s saw a bumper crop of sensational tales ready-made for the screen. It was an era when Hollywood greedily harvested stories from news tabloids’ front pages. In the last post, we…
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Ripped From the Headlines: True Crimes Explode onto the Screen in Noir Movies
Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, “Double Indemnity” (1944) By Paul Parcellin It’s no wonder that Hollywood in the 1940s and ’50s scooped up lurid true crime stories and made hard-hitting, gritty dramas out of them. Following the war, the public’s appetite for rough textured tales could not be surpassed. Cold, savage murders that bled off the…
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Meet the Press: Bullies, Brutes and News Hounds of Noir
Kirk Douglas, Robert Arthur, ‘Ace in the Hole’ (1951). By Paul Parcellin Gossip, Lurid Facts, Scandal Keep the Tabloid Presses Rolling This article contains spoilers, so you may want to see these films before reading any further. When we see a disheveled, groggy Richard Conte breaking into his own office in the middle of the…
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Danger Lurks in the Shadows of Noir-Tinged ‘Cat People’
Under hypnosis, Simone Simon, ‘Cat People’ (1942). By Paul Parcellin This article contains spoilers, so you may want to see the film before reading it. Director Jacque Tourneur said “The less you see, the more you believe” and his film, “Cat People” (1942), proves his theory. It shows how a movie can spark an audience’s…
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‘Double Indemnity’: Two On a Conveyor Belt Toward Doom
Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson, ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944). This article contains many SPOILERS, so if you haven’t seen the film yet be forewarned. By Paul Parcellin In “Double Indemnity” (1944), housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) seduces insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) and gets him to kill her husband. She’s after a big payout from…
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‘Repeat Performance’: Happy New Year! — You’re Dead
Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, ‘Repeat Performance’ (1947). By Paul Parcellin Sometimes we could all use a do-over, and that’s certainly the case with Sheila Page (Joan Leslie) who’s just capped off her year by turning her husband, Barney (Louis Hayward), into a corpse. But then something supernatural happens. Come midnight New Year’s Eve she finds…
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‘Dementia’: A Feverish, Tortured Night on Skid Row
Adrienne Barrett, ‘Dementia’ (1955). “Dementia” (1955) has many of film noir’s hallmarks: a dingy hotel room with a well-worn electric sign outside that nervously flashes off and on, shady characters prowling skid row’s streets and a posh-looking fat man who glides around town in the back seat of his limo. And of course tobacco smoke, deep,…