Category: Crime Movie
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Amnesia Noir: 30 Films Worth Remembering
Alan Ladd, William Bendix, “The Blue Dahlia” (1946). When Returning War VetsSuffer Memory Blackouts,Murder is Often Afoot By Paul Parcellin Total amnesia, the kind that wipes out memories like a damp sponge on a chalkboard, probably happens more often in movies and television than in real life. Rare as it may be, it’s a frequent…
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How a Real-Life Prison Sentence Added Another Dimension to Mitchum’s Performance as a Woozy Doctor on the Run in a Nightmarish Flight From Justice
Robert Mitchum, “Where Danger Lives” (1950). By Paul Parcellin This article contains spoilers A lot of red flags should go up when Dr. Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum) meets Margo Lannington (Faith Domergue). But she’s a real dish and this is noir, so naturally he ignores the many warning signposts screaming at him that he’s about…
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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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He Directed Gripping Noirs … But You May Not Recognize His Name
John Payne, Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand, Preston Foster, “Kansas City Confidential” (1952). By Paul Parcellin Everything seemed to come together for Phil Karlson in the 1950s. It was an era in which his talent, energy and unique sensibilities were made to order for a public with an insatiable appetite for raw, gritty crime films.…
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One Step Beyond: Film Noir and the Supernatural
Edward G. Robinson, ‘Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ (1948). We can all daydream of possessing special powers, because who wouldn’t want greater insight into their life and extraordinary abilities to manipulate the hands of fate? But if there’s one thing that speculative fiction teaches us is that supernatural powers — mind reading, communicating with the…
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Jazz Mania: Film Noir, Bebop and the Devil’s Music
Elisha Cook Jr., ‘Phantom Lady’ (1944) You might be surprised to learn that jazz didn’t show up in film noir right away even though by the 1940s swing was part of the popular music landscape and bebop was well on its way to becoming a solid American art form. But you wouldn’t know it by watching…
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It Took Two Directors to Tell the Murder, Inc. Story
Humphrey Bogart as Dist. Atty. Martin Ferguson “The Enforcer” is one of the lesser appreciated Bogart films, but it deserves more attention than it gets. Granted, it’s no “Maltese Falcon.” It would be a tall order equaling “Falcon” director John Huston’s artistry. But “Enforcer” directors Bretaigne Windust and Raoul Walsh (uncredited) pull off an impressive…
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High Mass: Whitey Bulger, LSD and a Devil’s Deal
Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger? Yup, the actor who played Dillinger in “Public Enemies” is going to play another crime icon, and the movie is slated for release next year. More about that later. Dick Lehr, a former Boston Globe reporter and co-author of a new book about the life of James “Whitey” Bulger was…
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Crime in the New Wild West
A lot of people say that “No Country for Old Men” is Joel and Ethan Coen’s best film so far. I’d find that a difficult choice to make. But I’ll say that “No Country” is one of my favorites. Javier Bardem has gotten all the kudos for his portrayal of devil incarnate Anton Chigurh —…